Degrees research funds

map of SRM research pre-2018 — SRM research pre-2018

map of degrees modelling fund research 2018 — Degrees Modelling Fund projects 2018

map of dmf research projects 2023 — Degrees Modelling Fund expansion 2023

The Funds

The Degrees Research Funds are the first international SRM funds and the first ones aimed exclusively at scientists in developing countries.

The Degrees Modelling Fund was launched as the DECIMALS Fund (Developing Country Impacts Modelling Analysis for SRM) in 2018, in partnership with The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). It is the largest SRM research initiative in the world by number of scientists, having supported over 150 researchers working across 26 projects hosted in 21 developing countries. It has awarded over $1,800,000 in grants to date.

In 2023, the Degrees Initiative launched the Degrees Socio-Political Fund. It is the first fund for SRM research in the social sciences aimed exclusively at the Global South. The inaugural projects will be announced in the first half of 2024.

What the Funds do

The Degrees Research Funds provide grants to researchers in developing countries who want to understand how SRM could affect their country, region, or the Global South more widely.

The projects are selected via open calls for proposals and independent peer review. Applicants are free to define their own research questions and methods for answering them; the Degrees Initiative does not tell researchers what to study or how to do it.

The Degrees Research Funds are about much more than grants, however. With support for conferences and publication fees, collaboration with some of the world’s leading SRM experts, and connections with a growing global community. They are designed to help Southern researchers become leading experts in SRM.

Research projects

Twenty six teams have been awarded research grants to date under the Degrees Modelling Fund exploring, amongst other things, how SRM could affect dust storms across the Middle East, droughts in Southern Africa, or the spread of cholera in South Asia.

Degrees-supported climate scientists are working with data generated by large climate model runs such as the Geoengineering Model Intercomparison Project (GeoMIP) or the NCAR Geoengineering Large Ensemble (GLENS).

The Degrees Initiative’s Socio-Political Fund will provide grants to small teams and individual researchers in the Global South, allowing them to investigate the social and political dimensions of SRM.

Research collaborators

Degrees-supported researchers are paired with some of the world’s leading SRM experts to increase international cooperation around SRM research and to build a global community of experts.

DMF Achievements

First SRM study in South Africa

And first SRM study in Africa

Learn moreJanuary 2020

First SRM study in Benin

The first SRM study in a Least Developed Country (LDC)

Learn moreJune 2020

First SRM study in Iran

Also first SRM study in Middle East region

Learn more15th June 2020

First SRM Workshop in Iran

Learn more8th March 2021

First SRM research paper from Jamaica

First SRM study in Caribbean and Small Island Developing State

Learn more11th March 2021

First paper on SRM from Indonesia

First SRM study in Southeast Asia

Learn more19 September 2021

First SRM study in Argentina

And first SRM study in Latin America region.

Learn More26 April 2022

History of the DMF

The Degrees Modelling Fund (DMF) was launched in 2018 as the DECIMALS Fund (Developing Country Impacts Modelling Analysis for SRM). In 2022, DECIMALS was renamed the Degrees Modelling Fund.

The DMF is a partnership between The Degrees Initiative and TWAS, The World Academy of Sciences. The DMF would not have been possible without their expert guidance and hard work.

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