Research funding

British Institute in Eastern Africa, GB

The British Institute in Eastern Africa invites proposals for its research grants. These support original research projects in east Africa studies across the humanities and social sciences. Research should focus on the following thematic areas:

•contemporary lives;

•governance and the rule of law;

•heritage research;

•the history and practice of elections;

•landscape archaeology;

•memory and belonging.

Priority is given to researchers based in the UK or eastern Africa. The institute particularly encourages applications from the wider eastern African region, including Tanzania, Uganda and South Sudan. Members of academic staff based at a UK university are not eligible. All grant recipients must be members of BIEA, minimally for the year the grant is awarded.

Grants are normally between £500 and £1,000; in exceptional circumstances up to £1,500 may be awarded. The grant should contribute towards actual research costs and should not include institutional overheads, applicants’ stipends or publication costs.

For more information visit the funder’s website.

IGC Country Economists

The IGC has Country Economists based in its partner countries which currently include Bangladesh, Ethiopia, Ghana, India, Liberia, Mozambique, Myanmar, Pakistan, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. There are currently vacancies in India (Bihar office), Mozambique, Pakistan, Rwanda and Tanzania, though candidates will also be considered for a reserve pool for all countries.

Country Economists work with the country leadership team in implementing the country strategy, with a particular emphasis on identifying and developing opportunities for policy influence and connecting researchers with policy makers. They support researchers in facilitating research projects; manage country programme activities including country visits and events as well as regular reports on research and policy developments; contribute to the ongoing evaluation of the programme; support the dissemination of research outputs to maximise policy impact; and can potentially work on IGC research projects where opportunities arise.

Good economics and policy analysis skills, written and oral communication skills, as well as excellent organisational skills are essential, as is the ability to work under pressure, both as part of a team and independently. Applicants should hold a post-graduate degree (MSc/MPA/MPP) in economics, public policy/administration, development economics, or a related discipline.

Closing Date for Applications: 6 July 2014.

For more information and to apply, please click here.

Small grants

Department for International Development (DFID), GB and other funders

The Department for International Development (DFID) and the International Development Research Council (IDRC) invite applications for small grants under the Pathways to Resilience in Semi-arid Economies (PRISE) research project. These aim to support PRISE’s objectives in its inception phase. Projects should develop baselines and assessments of current socio-economic and environmental contexts of semi-arid lands and assess drivers of change and vulnerability in semi-arid lands over the period to 2030. Research should focus on one or more of PRISE’s core countries, including Burkina Faso, Kenya, Pakistan, Senegal, Tajikistan and Tanzania.

Applicants must be early career researchers, either studying towards a PhD or completed their PhD within the last three years. Researchers from developing countries are particularly encouraged to apply. Applicants may not be enrolled as a student, or employed by, the PRISE core consortium partners, including Overseas Development Institute (ODI), the London School of Economics (LSE), University of Dar es Salaam, Innovation Environnement et Développement en Afrique (IED Afrique)and the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI).

Grants are worth between £3,000 and £5,000. There is potential for projects that bring exceptional value to the programme to receive funding of up to £10,000. Research must be completed by December 2014.

Closing date 23 Jun 14

Funder’s website

Economic development and institutions research

Department for International Development (DFID), GB

The Department for International Development (DFID) invites tenders for its economic development and institutions research programme. Tenderers will consider the relationship between institutions and economic growth in low income countries and create a body of evidence designed to be academically ground-breaking and of sufficient magnitude to be game-changing in terms of policy. Tenderers should deliver:

•a set of 10 to 20 path-finding papers reviewing current evidence on institutions’ relationship to growth, to set out the current research frontier;

•a tool for growth-orientated institutional diagnostics that would draw on existing knowledge to identify the feasible institutional reforms that would have the biggest growth pay off;

•a set of coordinated trials (RCTs) studying the effects of real institutional reforms across a range of contexts to inform general conclusions about one or two specific institutional reforms;

•a set of coordinated case studies on the interactions among institutions.

The project value is approximately £15 million

Funder’s website