Researchers based in Low-Income Countries:
Second Special Call for ERG Proposals
Application deadline:
1 September 2014 23:59 GMT
The PEDL programme invites applications from researchers based in Low-Income Countries (LICs) to a Special Call of its Exploratory Grants Programme (ERG). A key goal of the ERG programme is to encourage research on issues related to private enterprise development in low-income countries by scholars based in these countries. To date, the ERG programme has funded 67 projects. Summaries of funded projects can be found on the PEDL website, www.pedl.cepr.org.
While LIC-based researchers are eligible to apply to any ERG funding round, we are issuing an exclusive special call in order to encourage broader participation in the programme. Our first Special Call for LIC-based researchers, which closed in February 2013, received over 30 applications, of which we selected 5 for awards. The grantees from this Call were invited to participate in a workshop and attend a conference in London in December 2013. The aim of the workshop was to give all the Special Call awardees a chance to present and get feedback on their projects or proposals, as well as network with other PEDL grant holders and researchers working on firms in LICs. In light of the highly positive feedback we received on this event, we are planning a similar workshop for the winners of the second Special Call to be held in the UK in December 2014. All successful applicants in this call will be expected to participate in the December 2014 workshop.
Applicants must be based in low-income countries or middle-income countries with a DFID programme in order to qualify for this Special Call. Please see the list of eligible countries here.
As with all our other previous calls for proposals, eligible projects will address one or more of the PEDL research themes:
· Modelling market frictions in LICs using newly available data
· Micro-foundations of aggregate private sector performance
· The dynamics of SMEs: Informality and entrepreneurship
· The role of export-oriented industries in driving growth
PEDL also encourages proposals that address three cross-cutting issues: Fragile and conflict affected states; Gender; and Climate, environment and social compliance.
The objective of PEDL is to fund cutting-edge, policy-oriented research that could be published in leading academic journals and be relevant to the policy dialogue in Low-Income Countries. Applications will be assessed on the basis of these criteria. Young scholars are encouraged to include a letter of support from an advisor or senior colleague, while PhD students must include a letter from their supervisor in order to be eligible for PEDL funding.
The call has an initial limit of £10,000. However, successful applicants may be able to apply for further funding of up to £25,000 as the project is developed, and after incorporating feedback from the December 2014 workshop. . We encourage applicants to fully explain and justify all expenditures. Details on how to apply can be found on the Funding section of our website here. Please try and keep your proposals under five pages - excessive length may hinder your application.
