ESRC-DFID Joint Fund for Poverty Alleviation Research

Deadline: 29 November, 2012
Open to: researchers based in recognised higher education institutions, research organisations or organisations with a credible research capacity
Grants: between £100,000 and £500,000

Description

The Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) in partnership with the UK Department for International Development (DFID) has announced funding for a third phase of the ESRC-DFID Joint Fund for Poverty Alleviation Research.

Development Frontiers research can be broadly defined as involving pioneering theoretical and methodological innovation, and/or research based on the engagement of a range of disciplinary and interdisciplinary perspectives including new links across disciplines that do not usually work together and across non-traditional partnerships. The expectation is that this research will provide a major stimulus to new and novel streams of enquiry or practice.

Research under this call should address one or more of three overarching questions:

• What approaches are most effective in enabling the poorest to exit and stay out of poverty, and under what conditions can such approaches be replicated elsewhere and at scale?
• What political and institutional conditions are associated with effective poverty reduction and  development, and what can domestic and external actors do to promote these conditions?
• What measures can be taken to reduce the risks and impact of violence and instability on the poorest and increase the effectiveness of peacebuilding, statebuilding and wider development interventions in fragile and conflict-affected situations?

Applications which are not deemed to be within the scope of the call will be rejected.

Two key cross-cutting issues are relevant to all of these overarching questions:

• Structural inequalities including those based on gender, age, disability, ethnicity, race, religion, class, educational status and spatial factors
• Measurement and metrics

Eligibility

Principal investigators and co-investigators
The scheme is open to researchers based in recognised higher education institutions,  research organisations or organisations with a credible research capacity (see below for details about recognised organisations and the need to obtain recognition before grants will be given). Researchers may be based in either UK or non-UK organisations with demonstrable research capacity.

Scheme-funded research should generate new knowledge of international relevance that has the greatest potential to benefit the lives of poor people in Low-Income Countries (LICs).

Grants

Applications are invited for projects with a FEC value of between £100,000 and £500,000 (see below for explanation of FEC).

How to apply

Before applying read the application instructions

Deadline for applications: 16.00 UK time on 29 November 2012

Any applicant(s) and their institutions intending to apply to this call must ensure they are registered with the Joint Electronic Submission System (Je-S). It is essential to allow sufficient time to secure Je-S registration – we strongly recommend that applicants register with Je-S at least four weeks prior to the call deadline, as no exceptions can be made for late submission of applications.

If you and your research organisation are already registered for Je-S, electronic applications can be submitted via the Je-S Website

Call specification

For further information contact:
dfid@esrc.ac.uk
Lisa Syers: +44 (0) 1793 413125
Mary Day: +44 (0) 1793 413078
Lyndy Griffin: +44 (0) 1703 413135