Project Funding Research Articles

Virtual Reality on Public Speaking Phobia mitigation

The capacity to speak in public requires personal skills that not everyone has. Anxiety and nervousness, many times easily classified as phobia, can represent serious handicaps and committing the expected speaking performance. Being a subject rather explored by contemporaneous literature, this research wants to contribute to exploring Virtual Reality and Gamification strategies for mitigating those difficulties. During this project a VR application for Google Cardboards was developed, to allow speakers to immersively face simulated 3D scenarios. With the aim of representing real-life scenarios as closely as possible, after each speaking session, the assessment process allows the user to find his limitations and reorient future experiences. Speakers are assessed on four indicators, namely voice tone, audience visual contact, head movements, and speech duration. Scenarios and speeches can be created dynamically by specialists, and classified into different difficulty levels, allowing each participant to define his own learning path. Experimentations were done with two distinct groups of students and the main results outcomes are described and analyzed.This research constitutes part of an ERASMUS+ funding project.

دالة الزكاة في الاقتصاد الإسلامي: دراسة تحليلية

The paper focuses on the significant role of Zakat in the Islamic economic system and how it can be effective in solving various economic issues, particularly poverty eradication. The priority of Islamic Sharia is to ensure everyone has a dignified life by using Zakat funds to their fullest potential. The key aspects discussed are defining Zakat, its conditions, and its economic impact, as well as addressing economic problems like recession, inflation, and unemployment. The objective of the study is to transform these economic challenges into positive aspects that contribute to economic development and foster a robust Islamic society with a minimal presence of poverty and unemployment. Zakat's significance lies in its contribution to achieving economic equilibrium, just wealth distribution, and enhancing the overall welfare of society. The effective collection and distribution of Zakat funds for investment projects stimulates consumption, boosts production, generates employment, and balances societal aspects, particularly in the economic realm. The study's problem statement focuses on comprehending the importance of Zakat in Islamic economics and its role in fostering a highly efficient economy. The aim is to clarify the nature of Zakat, its obligatory status in Islam, its effect on demand and consumption, and its contribution to solving economic issues and ensuring equitable economic development. The study's value lies in pointing out the importance of Zakat in the creation of a prosperous and successful economy. By redistributing wealth in a fair way, eliminating poverty and unemployment, and providing everyone with a dignified life, we can foster growth and progress within a solid foundation. The study's methodology is based on a descriptive-analytical approach that relies on religious sources (Quran and Hadith) in addition to the previous studies to emphasize Zakat's importance and its role in achieving effective economic development within an Islamic framework.

Зеленые инвестиции: инструменты и сектора классификации

Green investments can have both characteristics as sovereign-national and transnational. Green projects are risky and have a long payback period, and for their implementation it is necessary to consider attracting various sources of investment financing. The article presents the main characteristics of the green economy, examines the concept of green investment, and examines various tools of green finance. It was emphasized that companies can use alternative innovative sources of raising funds for green projects – green leasing, green bonds, syndicated loans or crowdfunding.

МЕХАНИЗМЫ УПРАВЛЕНИЯ РЕСУРСАМИ ДЛЯ НАУЧНЫХ ИССЛЕДОВАНИЙ ПО КРИТЕРИЯМ ЭКОНОМИЧЕСКОЙ ЭФФЕКТИВНОСТИ

The purpose of the study is to develop mechanisms for managing the labor, financial and logistical resources available to the university for carrying out scientific activities, providing infor-mation about the human resources potential of scientific research and selecting employees to form the most effective scientific team for the implementation of each scientific project. Research methods include the method of critical analysis of scientific publications, content analysis, comparison, and systematiza-tion. Mechanisms have been developed to determine the amount of funding for scientific projects, taking into account indicators of macroeconomic performance and an indicator related to the use of the results of work obtained within the framework of previous research conducted by the project manager and re-search team. The criteria for the creation of Centers for the collective use of scientific equipment and the transfer of high-tech expensive equipment to them and their acquisition by qualified personnel to meet the needs of various projects, in order to optimize the cost of purchasing material and technical resources for scientific projects, in particular, equipment, are substantiated.

Fostering Entrepreneurial Mindsets in Deep Tech Disciplines: Exemplary Development of a Toolkit

Nowadays, the role of entrepreneurship education has grown dramatically in significance, as a driver for innovation, employment, and economic development. The acquisition of entrepreneurship skills empowers individuals to recognize and capitalize on opportunities, effectively manage risks, and navigate the dynamic landscape of the Deep Tech industry. These skills enable engineers to identify viable business models, understand market dynamics, secure funding for research projects, and effectively communicate their ideas to stakeholders, including investors, industry partners, and policymakers. To realize the aforementioned objectives, Higher Education Institutions play a critical role by educating future (engineering) experts and are seen as drivers of innovation. This paper presents a use case in the form of an educational toolkit. It focuses on how to professionalize entrepreneurship education, fostering entrepreneurial mindsets among engineering experts, academic staff, and non-academic staff at Higher Education Institutions in Deep Tech-related disciplines.

Fintech's Role in Green Finance: Procuring Funds for Sustainable Energy

Green financing is the furthermost significant name for the procurement of sustainable energy projects like renewable energy etc. Green bonds and green insurance are currently the two financing mechanisms for environmental businesses' sustainable procurement. There have been some problems that the issuing companies and the investors have encountered during the green bond procurement process. However, financial technologies such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), cloud computing, blockchain, and robotics are promising solutions for green financing because they have already proven their significance and impact in a variety of fields such as finance and sustainable energy projects. The purpose of this study is to address and analyze the role and significance of fintech technologies in the procurement of greenfinanced sustainable infrastructure, as well as highlight research implications, limitations, and future work. In this study, we have followed inclusion and exclusion of the articles on the basis of key criteria. Following this, we have discussed the perspective of the different existing research on green finance, green bonds, insurance, fintech and sustainability for the sustainable energy procurement. The findings of the study are Fintech based high-level architecture proposed for the procurement process of funds for green financed sustainable energy projects. This study is the first attempt to group information from previously published research about green financing and integration of fintech for the smooth process of procurement of funds for sustainable energy projects.

Exploring Cutting-Edge Approaches to Reduce Africa's Carbon Footprint through Innovative Technology Dissemination

This paper investigates the possibility of revolutionizing Africa's carbon footprint through innovative technology dissemination strategies for GHG emission reduction. It highlights the importance of harnessing renewable energy sources to mitigate climate change and promote sustainable development in Africa. This paper also examined several technology diffusion theories in order to unleash Africa's climate-smart potential by tying them to the recommended techniques for dealing with technological diffusion concerns. These theories varied from diffusion of innovation theory to planned behaviour theory. By analysing these theories, it was found that the most appropriate technology diffusion theory for the assessment of innovative technology dissemination strategies for GHG emission reduction in Africa would be the Diffusion of Innovations Theory. This is due to the theory's emphasis on the dissemination and adoption of new ideas, technologies, or innovations by people or groups within a social system. It would give useful insights into the variables influencing the adoption and dissemination of novel technology for reducing GHG emissions in Africa. The paper also discusses the challenges and barriers faced in the diffusion of renewable energy technologies across the continent while proposing innovative strategies to overcome these obstacles and unlock Africa's untapped climate-smart potential. These strategies include promoting policy and regulatory frameworks that incentivize investment in renewable energy, fostering partnerships between governments, private sector entities, and international organizations to support technology transfer and capacity building, and implementing financial mechanisms such as green bonds and carbon pricing to mobilize funding for renewable energy projects. These proposed strategies were also used to develop seven policies required for innovative technology dissemination strategies for GHG emission reduction in Africa. These policies aim to address the unique challenges faced by African countries in adopting and implementing innovative technologies for GHG emission reduction. By focusing on capacity building, financial incentives, and knowledge sharing, these strategies seek to promote the widespread adoption of sustainable technologies across the continent. They emphasize the importance of collaboration between governments, private sector entities, and international organizations to ensure the successful implementation and long-term sustainability of these policies.

Funding projects for sustainable agriculture and resource-efficient practices

The funding of projects for sustainable agriculture and resource-efficient practices is essential for addressing environmental concerns, enhancing productivity, and ensuring long-term food security. This abstract outlines the importance of such funding initiatives, highlighting their potential impact on agricultural sustainability and resource management. Investing in sustainable agriculture projects promotes the adoption of practices that minimize environmental impact, such as precision farming, organic farming, and agroforestry. These practices contribute to soil health, biodiversity conservation, and water resource management while reducing greenhouse gas emissions and chemical inputs.

Text Mining Approach for Identifying Product Ideas and Trends Based on Crowdfunding Projects

Current research and development investments and innovation developments show that there are more failed innovation attempts than ever and there are numerous occasions where companies need to be highly selective by assessing customers’ needs or preferences. Crowdfunding is a great approach for this purpose, where investments are made if there are funders who are interested in the proposed innovations. As crowdfunding platforms have proved to assist in the introduction of innovations, the details of these projects can be a great inspiration for others. The aim of this study is to integrate crowdfunding projects into innovation and product developments as a source of potential ideas and trends. We use a text mining approach to analyze 8021 crowdfunding projects from the period 2009–2018. In this study, we cluster these projects into nine innovation areas desired by consumers. Through our methodological approach, we examine the linkage between associated text, features of projects, and funding of projects to uncover emerging product features that illustrate the desires of consumers. Our proposed model offers theoretical contributions to the innovation processes, especially the fuzzy front end with an open innovation approach. We provide practical contributions by revealing crowdfunding platforms as a means to gain insights into product elements for the design of new products and services.

Теоретико-методичні аспекти формування стратегії розвитку підприємств будівельної галузі України в умовах воєнного стану

The article summarizes the theoretical and methodological aspects of the formation of the strategy for the development of enterprises in the construction industry under martial law. It is noted that the consequences of the war were felt globally by all participants in the construction market of Ukraine and European countries. The situation, which has developed primarily due to the military aggression of the russian federation, holds back investors and forces them to reduce funding for projects at different stages of their implementation or abandon them at the pre-investment stage. In addition, many construction companies face problems related to the loss of financial stability, which requires the formation of appropriate financial strategies that must take into account the availability and proper distribution of external and internal resources. It is determined that the main problem for enterprises of the construction industry is the creation of a favorable investment climate in Ukraine and real financial and credit mechanisms to stimulate industrial and residential construction in order to increase the competitiveness of the industry. It is noted that there are many factors that determine the development strategy of a construction enterprise. To determine the strategic directions of development of enterprises in the construction industry, a SWOT analysis and a PEST analysis of the functioning of enterprises in the construction industry were carried out. Within the framework of the formation and implementation of the strategy for the development of enterprises in the construction industry, strategic goals are defined. It is determined that the formation of a strategy for the development of enterprises in the construction industry of Ukraine under martial law requires the integrated use of effective organizational, financial and economic tools to solve problems that have arisen over the years and intensified during the war. An algorithm for forming a strategy for the development of enterprises in the construction industry is developed. It is concluded that the formation of a strategy for the development of enterprises in the construction industry under martial law is based on the use of all available production resources, the formation of an appropriate system of State regulation of investment processes in construction, the use of effective organizational, legal, financial and economic tools for the implementation of strategic goals for the development of economic entities.

Challenges for the implementation of the jurisdictional REDD+ in the Brazilian state of Amazonas

The forestry sectors of developing countries can contribute to the fight against climate change through financial negotiations, which include the REDD+ mechanism. The jurisdictional REDD+ (J-REDD+) approach has emerged as an option for large countries, such as Brazil, which have profound regional idiosyncrasies that can influence the dynamics of the implementation of a REDD+ system. The study analyzes the implementation of a J-REDD+ system in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, between 2005 and 2022, based on the analysis of official documents and academic studies. The data were used to compile a SWOT matrix, which was employed to identify the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats involved in implementing the J-REDD+ in the state. This analysis revealed that the principal forces include public policy, the combat of deforestation, governance, monitoring, and the targets for reducing deforestation rates. The primary weaknesses include the lack of a state REDD+ plan, recent increases in deforestation rates, strategic challenges, the limited representation of traditional and indigenous peoples on advisory councils, and the lack of adequate transparency mechanisms. External opportunities lie in the potential for increasing the funding for projects, although the external threats include a lack of continuous funding, changes in the composition of working bodies, and the discontinuous nature of local government programs. These findings indicate that implementation of J-REDD+ at both state levels will be crucial to ensure that this approach provides an effective mechanism for the mitigation of climate change, as well as achieving present and future goals for conservation and sustainable development.

Who spends what, and why? The constituency project fund and electoral politics in Ghana

Ghana's version of MPs Constituency Project Fund is a component of the District Assemblies Common Fund, introduced in 1993. Since its introduction however, no steps have been taken to ensure efficient use of the fund, thus justifying assertions that it is often used as a tool for rent-seeking and perpetuating clientelist relationships. This paper examined how MPs in selected constituencies in Ghana used the fund between 2013 and 2016, and what impact the expenditure had on their performances in the 2016 parliamentary elections. It was found that the MPs were more inclined towards spending their constituency project fund on the personal needs of constituents. However, the findings do not show that the expenditure of the MPsCPF has a significant impact on electoral fortunes of an incumbent MP. While shedding light on an aspect of Ghanaian voter behavior, the study highlights the clientelist motivations underpinning legislative spending in Ghana and emphasizes the need for appropriate laws to regulate the use of the MPsCPF, and empowering the local government system to perform its functions effectively.

Construction of Intelligent Financial Supervision Mechanism for Colleges and Universities Based on RPA Technology

Abstract The RPA financial monitoring mechanism utilizes a predictive model to capture and store university data in preprocessing, and adopts a decision tree algorithm to construct a specific predictive model with good classification ability, and its logical structure is very similar to the decision-making ideas of human beings in the natural environment. CNN-LSTM financial risk assessment model is also utilized to carry out scientific risk assessment, the output of CNN is used as the input of LSTM, combining the advantages of the two to improve the learning ability of the financial fraud risk assessment model, and dynamic early warning can be accomplished beforehand for potential risk points. By analyzing the accuracy and coverage of the financial violation prediction model, 10.28% of violations were found with 96.7% accuracy. The accuracy is lower when the proportion of financial violations is higher. Risk assessment of fundraising activities and working capital of universities can be found that Z private universities have a relatively single source of income, tuition income is dominant, and in 2019, 2020 and 2022, the proportion of constructive expenditures of Z private universities reaches more than 20%, while the expenses of scientific research costs are less, however, the university’s comprehensive early warning status is relatively good. The financial risk is not significant and is in a safer range. In the university research fund violation supervision, the weight of researchers still have balance funds after two years after the completion of the project is 0.073, which indicates that the research project fund management supervision is not in place.

Revealing Risk Factors and Risk Levels in Housing Construction Projects in Sukoharjo Regency, Indonesia

Business in the housing sector attracts many business actors to invest, because of the large market opportunities and high-profit prospects. However, numerous danger factors that occur because of the house-building process are present after this situation. Project goals are frequently not met by developers who lack the necessary project risk management skills. This study tries to identify risk variables and establish which factors in a housing development project have the highest risk level. An organized survey questionnaire was used for the investigation. Critical risk factors were identified by data analysis using SPSS version 26.0 software and the statistical method of the mean score. According to the viewpoint of the respondents who took part in the survey, the level of risk is established based on the frequency of risk occurrence and the severity of the danger. According to the findings, Sukoharjo Regency housing construction projects were at risk for 31 major reasons. Three risk factors are categorized as high risk, namely errors in estimating costs, not considering unexpected costs, and limited project funds, and 9 risk factors are categorized as moderate risk. Knowing the risk level of each factor will make it easier to manage project risk.

Discussion on the Current Status of Project Management of the NSFC-Joint Fund Project

Discussion on the Current Status of Project Management of the NSFC-Joint Fund Project

Adoption of Lean Approach to Enhance Performance of Fast-Track World Bank Funded Projects in Kenya  <br>

Adoption of Lean Approach to Enhance Performance of Fast-Track World Bank Funded Projects in Kenya  <br>

Visualization and Analysis of Infectious Disease Research on Nursing Care Based on CiteSpace in China.

To analyze the relevant research publications on infectious disease nursing in China to understand the current research status of infectious disease in nursing. Retrieve relevant literature on infectious disease in nursing from the establishment of the Chinese Biomedical Literature Database, China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), VIP Database, and Wanfang Database until May 10, 2021. Conduct bibliometric analysis using CiteSpace software. Key words were analyzed using cluster analysis. A total of 4693 relevant literature on infectious disease research in nursing care were included in this study. The overall number of publications on infectious disease research in nursing showed an increasing trend, with a peak in 2010. There were 324 papers funded by scientific research funds, mainly from provincial-level fund projects. The core journal with the most published articles was Nursing Research. The research on infectious disease in nursing mainly focused on various aspects of infectious disease in nursing and infection control. CiteSpace cluster analysis of keywords showed that a total of six clusters were formed: infectious diseases, infectious disease care, health education, mental health, infectious disease nurses, and etiology. After 2015, high-mutation keywords included "quality nursing" and "infection control". Chinese research on infectious disease research in nursing closely follows clinical reality and has developed rapidly. Currently, research focuses on infectious disease research in nursing and infection control. Future research trends will further broaden the depth and breadth of the research, enhance research on infection control and quality nursing, and improve the breadth and depth of the research.

The Positive Impact of University-Community Engagement Projects: A Case Study in the Context of Universiti Malaya

Collaborative partnership or engagement between university and community are essential and have become a widespread practice adopted by many universities worldwide. While university-community-engagement projects which are undertaken in a variety of ways of multidiscipline are growing rapidly, questions about its impact on communities remain largely ignored. Little empirical evidence is available exploring the impact of such partnerships for either the community partners or the university. This study presents a case study of the Universiti Malaya’s experience of evaluating the impact of such engagements through several funded community projects. These university-community engagement funding are disbursed and managed by UM’s Community Engagement Centre (UMCares). The result chain model was applied to collect data on the input, activities, output, outcomes and impact of the funded projects. Differences in nine impact areas and indicators were also identified. The results show that the funding projects are able to create an impact in different areas of community engagement. However, the development and maintenance of a dedicated database, in combination with periodic, systematic impact assessments is crucial to increase impact in community engagement.

Overview of social attitudes and applications towards the use of crowdfunding in renewable energy

Background: Crowdfunding has become a popular method for raising funds for various projects, including those related to renewable energy sources. Research objectives: This paper aims to present crowdfunding and the social attitudes of the Poles towards its use in renewable energy sources. Research design and methods: The first section discusses the theoretical assumptions of crowdfunding and presents the possibilities of using this form of financing in the renewable energy sector in Poland and worldwide. The second section of the paper is devoted to presenting the results of my research on the attitudes of Polish society towards renewable energy sources and the use of crowdfunding in the energy transition in Poland and worldwide. The paper uses literature analysis, criticism, comparative analysis, desk research, and a survey method. Results: Crowdfunding is used extensively in various projects in the area of renewable energy sources. There is social support for this type of activity (especially in the age groups 18–29 and 30–44 years) and a growing awareness and openness to support initiatives in the area of renewable energy sources. Conclusions: Based on the analysis, it was concluded that crowdfunding allows local actors to optimize their share of the economic benefits of solar energy projects, including solar energy, and to participate in the energy transition at the same time.

Assessing whether peri-urban agricultural land or plantation forest is a better green infrastructure for ground arthropods at local and landscape scales

City agencies across multiple continents have invested millions of funds in ambitious afforestation projects in urban and peri-urban areas to enhance the city green infrastructure. One example is the Beijing One Million Mu Plain Afforestation Project, which has established 146,000 ha of plantation forests, mainly on arable lands. This contradicts the national arable land conserving policies and has dramatically changed local habitat types and landscape context. However, the impact of these processes on biodiversity is not well understood. To investigate this impact at local and landscape scales, we explored a space-for-time approach. We selected 12 plantation forests and their nearby arable lands along a gradient of plantation forest cover in the surrounding landscapes. We surveyed ground spiders and carabids and analyzed their responses to local habitat type, landscape context, and their interaction. In the sampled landscapes, plantation forest cover increased (12.0%–35.9%), while arable land cover decreased (58.3%–31.8%). 96.3% of the new plantation forests were established on arable lands. Intensive afforestation on arable lands did not increase local ground arthropod diversity. In fact, ground arthropod abundance and species richness in plantation forests were significantly lower than in arable lands when the surrounding arable land cover was relatively high. With surrounding arable land cover decreasing, ground arthropod abundance and species richness in plantation forests increased but did not exceed those in nearby arable lands. Hence, the overall ground arthropod diversity at landscape scale was not improved. These findings suggest that, from a biodiversity conservation perspective, plantation forests did not surpass peri-urban agricultural lands as a better green infrastructure . However, ground arthropods benefit from rich local non-crop herb communities. Conserving peri-urban agricultural lands and implementing extensive management regimes for agricultural lands and existing plantation forests are more effective tools than ambitious afforestation of agricultural land in peri-urban areas of Beijing and other metropolises.