Applications open for Coral Accelerator Program

The Coral Accelerator Program (CAP) will fund international collaborative teams with impactful ideas in coral conservation and restoration. Awards will span across the full range of novel early-phase projects through to final proof-of-concept development and testing.

Program Priority Areas

• The following are areas CORDAP considers ‘high need’:
  • Assisted Evolution, Web Optimized version (7MB))
  • Aquaculture/Automation
  • Cold-Water Corals (CWC)
  • Preserve and conserve existing corals
  • Limit early life mortality
  • Blended artificial and natural reefs
  • R&D capacity building
  • Developing country R&D methods.

Funding Information

• Successful applicants will be awarded funding up to USD$ 1.5 million per project.
• The Award Term can be between a minimum of 12 months to a maximum of 36 months.

Eligible Projects

• Types of projects supported in this call
  • Novel R&D projects
  • Improving or scaling up existing interventions
  • Translation R&D
  • Foundation science to support the implementation of interventions
  • R&D capacity building and local implementation.

Eligibility Criteria

• With CAP, they seek proposals that focus on advancing the next generation of science and technology to help save corals and reefs. They are looking for projects with the potential to create a significant global impact. They strongly encourage the engagement and inclusion of users of the proposed project outputs in the proposals. An additional and important aspect is that the proposed technologies can be scalable and affordable to those needing them most.
• CORDAP awards can also be used to increase support for and complement the vital existing work being carried out at national, regional and international levels.
• The awarded projects can span across the full range of novel early-phase projects through to final proof-of-concept development and testing.
• The following organization types are eligible: research organizations, universities, higher education institutes, non-governmental organizations, cooperatives, non-profit organizations, community-based organizations, privately held companies, for-profit organizations, and government institutes/agencies.
• CAP funds International teams, each application must consist of:
  • A minimum of 3 Applicants: one Lead Applicant and a minimum of two Co-Applicants, and
  • Organizations from at least 2 different countries, one of which must be a low or middle-income country. The OECD List of low and middle-income countries should be used to determine eligibility.
  • An individual can only be the Lead Applicant on one proposal and participate in up to a maximum of two additional proposals as a Co-Applicant.
  • Organizations can only be the Lead Organization on a maximum of two proposals but can be a participating organization on multiple proposals.
  • Eligible organizations include not-for-profit organizations, for-profit organizations, higher education institutions, research institutes, and government organizations in any country.
  • If a for-profit organization wishes to submit as an applicant, then they must be willing to co-invest to the point that they are not making a profit.
  • If the research activities are to take place in a third country (a country different from that of any of the applicants), it is strongly encouraged to have that country represented in the application.
• Please note that CAP awards cannot go directly to individuals. There is no upper limit to the number of organizations in an application.

For more information, visit CORDAP.