Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

If my project has to do with Alzheimer's Disease, and I am an international student in Kuwait. Who would fund my project? I have a chance to work with Kuwait University but I acquire some extra funding.

Please help,

Kind Regards and a massive thank you

Rayan

Hi Rayan,

Unfortunately, I'm not familiar with how research is funded in Kuwait. The person you have been speaking with at the university is probably the person who would know the most about how/where to get funding for your project. I'm sorry that I can't be more helpful with this, but funding sources for science vary a lot from country to country.

It can be something from another country according to him. Not necessarily funding from Kuwait. It can be from another country. Like the UK or US. What about NSF grants.

Hi Rayan,

The timeline for obtaining a grant from the NSF typically lasts the better part of a year. The grant application has to be written, submitted, reviewed, approved (or denied), and the money has to be transferred from the NSF to the institution. The fraction of applicants who actually get their grants funded can be quite low. I'm also not certain what the rules are for the NSF to make grants to people in foreign countries. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the odds of obtaining funding from a place like the NSF or NIH (in the US) are quite low.

If the person you will be working with already has a grant from a funding organization (in Kuwait or elsewhere), then your advisor might be able to request a small increase in their funding to help pay for your work. However, the mechanism for making such a thing happen (and the odds of such a request succeeding) will vary greatly, not only from country to country, but also from funding agency to funding agency within a given country. The person you are working with at the university will be the person who will know best where to acquire funding for your project.

I did come across a list of potential grants that *might* be helpful for you, although many of these grants are for teachers, not students. I'm also not sure what geographical restrictions may apply:

http://www.cesa2.org/programs/stem/STEMgrants.cfm

This crowd-sourcing website might be a place to seek funds. Looking at the various options I can think of, crowdsourcing some funding might be one of the avenues with a greater (albeit still small, I suspect) chance for success:

https://experiment.com/