On March 12, 2002, the U.S. Civilian Research and Development Foundation for the Independent States of the Former Soviet Union (CRDF) and the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences (ANAS) signed a cooperative funding agreement.
It was agreed to establish a new private, non-profit foundation in Azerbaijan, known as the Azerbaijan National Science Foundation (ANSF), to fund research competitions and to conduct training programs based upon the principle of merit-based peer review by the Azerbaijan scientific community, and designed to increase cooperation between the research and development communities of the United States and of Azerbaijan and to promote alternatives for scientists formerly involved in weapons research.
In May 2002, with the encouragement of the CRDF and the Academy of Sciences of Azerbaijan, the Ministry of Justice of Azerbaijan officially registered the Azerbaijan National Science Foundation (ANSF) to offer funding support for the Azerbaijani scientific community on a competitive basis. On October 8 2002, the ANSF received a start-up award of $50,000 from the CRDF to develop its infrastructure and begin operations.
Funding for CRDF activities in Azerbaijan, including the Azerbaijan National Science Foundation, comes from the U.S. Department of State (DOS) as part of a DOS program of scientific and technical assistance to Azerbaijan.
Both organizations agreed to pursue the following common goals:
- Promoting successful redirection of scientists once devoted entirely to weapons design and production to civilian research and development activities.
- Increasing participation in CRDF programs of Azerbaijani scientists, including training opportunities in the area of commercialization of technologies;
- Providing Azerbaijani scientists with additional opportunities to continue pursuit of scientific endeavors within Azerbaijan;
- Facilitating efforts by Azerbaijani scientists to establish connections with U.S. companies with which they can collaborate in a mutually beneficial way on civilian subjects,
- Training the next generation of young scientists to ensure that Azerbaijan will continue to make important contributions to international science and technology development
