WGAPE 2022 Small Research Grants Request for Proposals

Overview

WGAPE is pleased to announce a Small Grant Program for junior African researchers to explore a question of interest in African political economy. Successful applicants will receive between $6,000 and $9,000 USD in support, and will be matched with a senior researcher from the WGAPE organizers or executive committee, who will provide feedback and general guidance on the project. The lead investigator of each funded project will present their research design during the 2023 WGAPE Annual Meeting, held in June or July 2023.

WGAPE has approximately $17,500 total to grant in this round, and expects to make awards that will support two or three researchers. Individual projects may apply for funding up to $17,500 if there is a demonstrated need, but we are significantly more likely to support projects with a lower budget that will allow us to meet the goal of supporting at least two researchers. We expect projects to be self-contained and can be completed and result in a working paper within one year from the disbursement of funds. Thus, while we would be pleased if these grants serve as a springboard for a larger or more long-term research project, funding is designed to support a discrete research project rather than provide seed funding for future grant applications.

Funding can be used to support the investigators’ time, research assistance, survey or other data collection costs, data purchase or storage, travel, and other reasonable research expenses. Indirect Costs are not permissible for these grants.

The deadline for submission is 11:59 pm U.S. Pacific Time on October 15th. Please read the full RFP here for further details and submit your application here.

Grant Details

Submissions

We invite submissions that reflect WGAPE’s broad research agenda on the political economy of African development, including ethnic politics, civil conflict and violence, decentralization and democratization, corruption, local governance, public economics, and other related topics. Successful proposals will include a quantitative, empirical component. Research that is purely theoretical or qualitative will not be funded under this RFP; however, mixed-methods research designs will be accepted.

Eligibility

Eligibility is restricted to junior African scholars, who are pre-PhD, in a PhD program, or within five years of receiving their PhD.  This refers to individuals who are (a) currently studying at a university or research institute in Africa, and/or b) currently teach at an African university or research institute.

• Note: Junior African scholars collaborating with scholars based outside of Africa are eligible to apply for this grant; however, if awarded, funds will be transferred directly to the Africa-based applicant. Given that the objective of the program is to support junior African scholars, collaborations with non-African researchers will receive additional scrutiny.
• Note: Unaffiliated researchers (i.e., those who do not study, teach, or conduct research at a university, international institution, center, or government department) are not eligible to apply.

Please see this FAQ sheet for questions regarding eligibility, and contact amyshipow@berkeley.edu with any remaining questions.

Timing and Deliverables

The period of performance from this grant is from April 1, 2023 to Dec 1, 2023 (approx).

Awards notices will be sent by December 1st 2023. Funded scholars should be ready to present a Research Design or a working paper at a WGAPE meeting in 2023 or 2024 Annual Meeting, based on progress of research at time of the convening).

To Apply

By 11:59 pm U.S. Pacific Time on October 15th, 2022, the application should be submitted via this link: https://cega.submittable.com/submit/233833/2022-wgape-small-grants-rfp

The form includes:

• Name, email address, current affiliation(s), and eligibility criteria for primary investigator as well as other research team members.
• Project title

• Research proposal: This proposal narrative must not exceed three (3) pages in length and should be written in Times font, Size 11 and may be single-spaced. The proposal narrative should be saved as a separate file named LastName_WGAPE_Proposal. It should address the 6 items in Appendix 1.

• Detailed budget: A budget template can be found here. The budget should be saved as a separate file named LastName_WGAPE_Budget.

• Potential mentors: All successful applicants will be matched with a project mentor, most likely from among the WGAPE organizers and executive committee (you can see their names here). Please list up to five of these scholars whom you would like to request as a mentor. Note that we cannot guarantee that you will be matched with these potential mentors, but your list will help guide the matching process.

• Connection to WGAPE themes: Briefly describe how your research project advances the study of political economy in Africa, in line with WGAPE focus areas.

Eligibility FAQ

Q. Do I need to hold a PhD to apply to WGAPE?
A: No. Eligibility is restricted to African scholars, who are pre-PhD, in a PhD program, or within fiveyears of receiving their PhD. This refers to individuals who are: (a) currently studying at a university or research institute in Africa, and/or b) currently teach at an African university or research institute.
If you anticipate receiving a PhD in the future, or have received a PhD in the past 5 years, we highly encourage you to apply!

Q. I’m from an eligible East or West African country, but am currently based in Europe/East Asia/ U.S. etc. Am I eligible to apply?
A: Yes, as long as you hold a staff or student position in an eligible East or West African country and have plans to return to the country to do research.
Moreover, if you are collaborating with scholars based outside of Africa you are eligible to apply for this grant; however, if awarded, funds will be transferred directly to the Africa-based applicant.

Q: I am a Master’s student at a European institution, but I am from an African country. I have returned to my home country to build a curriculum for a non-profit organization that is not affiliated with a university. Am I eligible to apply?
Because you did not receive your graduate degree at an African institution, the only way you might be eligible is if you anticipate receiving a PhD in the future. Alternatively, if the curriculum or training is applied through a university, international institution, center, or government department you would be eligible to apply.

Q: Does the term “Junior scholar” mean that the applicant (and/or their team) needs to be below a certain age?
We do not consider the age of the applicant. Rather, our interpretation of Junior scholars only connotes where they are academically, which we define as pre-PhD, in a PhD program, or within five years of receiving their PhD.