Science for Impact Newsletter USAID Announces New SPARK Solicitation On March 8th, the Research Division announced a call for concept notes for a new Strategic Partnerships For Advancing Research And Knowledge (SPARK) solicitation. This activity is envisioned to support research generation, providing researchers in the U.S. and USAID partner countries with an opportunity to collaboratively study international development challenges and develop possible solutions through research projects. USAID welcomes applications from all types of organizations with administrative, grant making, and contract management experience. Concept note submissions will be accepted through 12 PM ET on Monday, April 8, 2024. You can find additional information in the full solicitation on grants.gov. In the News Percy Salas holds a rotten cacao fruit, opened to display the damaged seeds. Credit: PERU-Hub New PERU-Hub ClimateLinks Blog Post Percy Salas Isuiza has been farming two acres of his family’s land in Peru for as long as he can remember. As a cacao farmer in the highlands on the outskirts  of the Amazon, he faces many obstacles to growing a healthy tree crop to support his family. In 2023, Percy’s family farm lost approximately 70 percent of its cacao fruit because of inadequate soil management, pests, and disease. In the face of this adversity, the USAID-supported Peruvian Extension and Research Utilization Hub (PERU-Hub) stepped in to work hand-in-hand with Percy and other farmers to combat these challenges and prevent further losses that could hurt the farmers’ livelihoods and weaken Peru’s economy. Read the full blog post on USAID’s ClimateLinks. Marie Martin, Ph.D., M.Ed, Associate Director, Education & Training at Vanderbilt University Medical Center with the Camp xSEL poster. Credit: Marie Martin BRIDGE-U: Liberia Presents Three Posters at International Conferences The BRIDGE-U: Applying Research for a Healthy Liberia project has had three posters accepted for presentation at recent and upcoming conferences, including the Association of Schools and Programs in Public Health Annual Meeting (March 2024) and the International Consortium for Educational Development Conference (June 2024). Check out the posters for concise updates on three of the most impactful activities of the project: ELAB: Multi-Mentor Model for Simulation Success: Building the First High-Fidelity Medical Simulation Center in Liberia Through International Partnership Pedagogy Training: Implementation of an innovative localized Training-of-Trainers program to enhance skills of faculty in Liberia Camp xSEL: Strengthening the health professions pipeline through an innovative educational intervention Resources New LASER Resources on Policy Briefs One way to communicate research results to the right audiences is through a policy brief, a  document that advocates for changing or creating a policy that could address a problem identified in research. Two new Long-term Assistance and Services for Research (LASER) blogs, Contextualizing Deliverables: Policy Briefs and So Much to Say: Tips for Shortening Your Policy Brief, provide tips and recommendations on writing policy briefs. Reminder: Check out the Research Translation Toolkit USAID’s Research Technical Assistance Center (RTAC) developed a Research Translation Toolkit to help researchers communicate research findings effectively, so the right people are informed at the right time for better decision-making and greater impact. Each toolkit section features exercises, fillable forms, templates, and other resources to guide researchers through a series of steps to prepare specific outputs, including a communications plan and stakeholder analysis.  Stories from the Field A black soldier fly perched on a ierrycan at CIRD. Credit: Melissa Trimble Black soldier fly larvae (BSFL) are recognized as one of the most environmentally-friendly sources of insect protein, and research demonstrates that BSFL is a highly nutritious replacement for more expensive animal-protein feed ingredients. In Uganda, BSFL farming is growing rapidly; the Centre for Insect Research and Development (CIRD) has been piloting small-scale commercial BSFL farming since 2019. Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) grantee Dr. Deborah Ruth Amulen and her team have trained over 100 youth and women to create BSFL farming businesses as well as created a national, multi stakeholder platform for actors along the BSFL value chain to interact with each other. They have presented to the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry & Fisheries to provide more information on BSFL as an integral part of the climate smart agricultural value chain. Learn more about their ongoing work on PEER’s website or at https://cird.co.ug.  usaid.gov/research