Middle East Regional Cooperation (MERC) | NEAAC23MERC1001

Opportunity Information: Apply for NEAAC23MERC1001

The Middle East Regional Cooperation (MERC) program is a U.S. government assistance grant opportunity designed to strengthen scientific and research collaboration between institutions in Israel and partners across eligible countries and territories in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). The program is framed around using science and technology cooperation as a practical bridge for regional development, capacity building, and longer-term peacebuilding. In other words, MERC is not just funding stand-alone research for academic interest; it is funding joint, peer-reviewed R and D projects that are meant to matter for real development challenges in the region, with an explicit preference for benefits that reach developing, USAID-presence countries and resource-limited populations.

MERC eligibility is centered on direct collaboration between at least one Israeli partner and at least one eligible MENA partner. The eligible MENA list (subject to change based on U.S. law and country-specific funding restrictions) includes Algeria, Bahrain, Kuwait, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, and the West Bank and Gaza. Proposals must be developed jointly by investigators from the partner institutions, and the program emphasizes that cooperation should be strong and direct rather than superficial. Collaborations involving three or more partners are allowed and are explicitly encouraged, and any party within the collaboration may serve as the submitting applicant.

The program is seeking proposals in three main funding categories. Applied research grants support multi-year cooperative research projects that address development-relevant topics and technology needs with regional significance. Continuation grants provide additional funding to extend existing or recently ended MERC-supported projects, essentially allowing productive collaborations to continue or scale. Travel and workshop grants support shorter-term cooperation activities such as workshops, meetings, and researcher exchanges, which can be used to build partnerships, align methods, share findings, or coordinate multi-country work programs.

A key structural rule appears when projects involve Israel and one of the relatively affluent MENA countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, or the United Arab Emirates). In those cases, the project must also include a developing eligible MENA country or territory (Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Sudan, Tunisia, and the West Bank and Gaza) as a partner and/or as a direct beneficiary of the research outcomes. This requirement is meant to ensure that projects do not concentrate benefits among better-resourced settings and instead deliver tangible outcomes for developing contexts in the region. Relatedly, affluent-country participation comes with expectations such as observing budgetary restrictions (including cost-sharing of salaries), maintaining the spirit of regional cooperation rather than relying primarily on foreign expatriates, and clearly targeting benefits and outcomes toward developing, USAID-presence countries and resource-limited groups.

MERC is fundamentally a regional program, so participation from outside the MENA region, including the United States, is not considered a core feature. External partners may be permitted only in exceptional situations where they fill an essential technical need that cannot reasonably be met by the regional partners. Even then, their role is expected to be modest, and applicants are expected to provide a clear, well-justified rationale. The program also discourages using non-regional partners to lead or administer the overall project. In addition, satellite or portal campuses of foreign institutions (for example, U.S. or Indian universities operating branch campuses in the region) are explicitly not treated as eligible MENA partners for purposes of meeting the regional partnership requirement.

From an administrative standpoint, this opportunity is a discretionary grant (Funding Opportunity Number NEAAC23MERC1001) issued by the Assistance Coordination office, with an original closing date of February 15, 2024. The listed award ceiling is $1,000,000. The assistance listing is associated with CFDA 19.600, and the funding activity category is labeled as "Other." Overall, MERC is best understood as a mechanism to fund credible, jointly designed scientific and technology work that produces development-relevant outcomes while deepening practical cooperation between Israel and neighboring MENA partners in ways intended to contribute to a more stable and peaceful region.

• The Assistance Coordination in the other sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Middle East Regional Cooperation (MERC)" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 19.600.
• This funding opportunity was created on 2023-08-10.
• Applicants must submit their applications by 2024-02-15. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $1,000,000.00 in funding.
• Eligible applicants include: Others.

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