ATA is an independent not-for-profit foundation, based in Amsterdam, with field offices in Belgrade, Mitrovica, Pristina and Skopje. ATA supports the ongoing processes of economic transition through strengthening the capacity of economic and higher education institutions. Its Private Sector Development (PSD) project focuses on shared economic challenges in the Western Balkans and provides opportunities for PSD stakeholders in the region, including Ministries, Chambers of Commerce, SME development agencies, and Universities, to build their capacities, and work together to promote Private Sector Development.

Possible areas for research include regional economic collaboration, Small- and Medium Enterprise (SME) development, entrepreneurship development and training, higher education and labour market needs, obstacles to doing and/or starting-up businesses, trade (intra-regional or with the EU), etc.

Proposals will be evaluated and selected by an independent international selection committee. To be selected, proposals will:

• Be practice-oriented and relevant to Private Sector Development in the Western Balkans;
• Be regional in scope, i.e. include at least three countries from the Western Balkans (covering B&H, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia);
• Have been developed and be implemented through regional collaboration between different partners (independent researchers, research institutes, Universities, etc);
• Demonstrate originality (i.e cover topics that have not yet been widely researched in the region and/or provide new perspectives);
• Contain clear ideas about the dissemination of the findings and recommendations to a relevant audience (eg from business, academic and/or government backgrounds);
• Contain a clear budget, proportional to the project scope, activities, and objectives;

International reviewers will be selected by ATA to guide the research teams of selected proposals.

Proposals of up to 12,000 euros will be considered. Proposals should be written in English and jointly submitted (i.e. signed by the different partners) in this pre-described format to be downloaded from www.academictraining.org.

ATA stands ready to assist interested parties in identifying potential research partners. ATA will also consider financing and co-organizing a regional event to discuss and disseminate research findings of successful research projects.

Please submit your proposal (or any queries) before December 20, 2006 to psd@academictraining.org (Reference: PSD Research).

Source: http://www.academictraining.org/, as accessed in November 2006.