Fourth Call for Major Research Grant Proposals
Deadline: 13 April 2015
The fourth call for PEDL Major Research Grants (MRGs) is now open!
About PEDL:
The Private Enterprise Development in Low-Income Countries (PEDL) programme pursues a research agenda that aims to better understand what determines the strength of market forces driving efficiency in Low-Income Countries (LICs). The Initiative supports research related to firms, enterprises, and markets in LICs and gives priority to approaches that promise to produce credible research results relevant for policy-making in these countries. Projects carried out partly or entirely in lower-middle income countries will be considered if a convincing case is made that the results are applicable to LICs. See the list of LICs here.
Topics:
We welcome proposals in any area related to private sector development in low-income countries. We expect that many of the funded proposals will relate to one of PEDL’s four main 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
Proposals that generate data on firms and markets in LICs are particularly welcome. Projects which propose to unlock or create data on firms in LICs which can be used by other researchers may be able to make a case for substantially more than average funding.
PEDL also encourages proposals that address three cross-cutting issues: Fragile and conflict affected states; Gender; and Climate, environment and social compliance
Major Research Grants:
Major Research Grants have an average grant size of £300,000. Note however that whilst there is a lower limit of £100,000 for each Major Grant, there is no upper limit. Cost effectiveness and value for money are important evaluation criteria. These grants will fund research assistance, data collection and new surveys in low-income countries, and teaching buyouts for the principal investigator. Proposals funded in this call may have a term of up to three years.
We awarded 17 MRGs, with an average value of around £300,000, in the first three MRG rounds. You can view the descriptions of these projects here.
Optional Expressions of Interest:
Researchers are invited to submit a one or two-page description of their project in advance of the full proposal. We will aim to provide feedback on the fit of the proposal with the PEDL program within a week of submission. The optional submission of an expression of interest is intended to reduce the initial effort required for those researchers who are unsure of their project’s alignment with PEDL’s themes. Expressions of interest should be submitted to [email protected].
The deadline for submissions is 13 April 2015. For more information on the submission requirement and procedure, please see the How to Apply for a Major Grant page.
