USAID Research Support Program

Summary: The Policy and Global Affairs (PGA) Division of the U.S. National Research Council (NRC) provides technical and administrative support to the U.S.-Israel Research Programs of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Through two international collaborative research programs, the U.S.-Israel Cooperative Development Research (CDR) Program and the Middle East Regional Cooperation (MERC) Program, USAID provides research grants to scientists for the application of advanced scientific techniques and innovative technologies to important problems in USAID-targeted areas of the world, while helping to strengthening international scientific capacity. MERC grants provide for collaboration between Israeli and Arab scientists. CDR grants are directed towards Israeli cooperation with developing-country scientists, with a separate component for collaboration with the Central Asian Republics (CAR). PGA staff provides USAID with assistance in securing peer-review of research proposals and in the technical monitoring of grants for CDR and MERC. All program and funding decisions are made by USAID.