Characteristics

• For this call, they particularly welcome proposals in the STEG areas of interest that have the following characteristics:
  • Focus on the collection, harmonization, and/or curation of macro-relevant cross-section or panel data. (Proposals should disclose any potential barriers to making the data publicly available, including any relevant privacy or property rights constraints.)
  • Focus on the potential impacts of artificial intelligence (AI) and/or advanced automation on labour markets and growth trajectories in low-income countries. Work in this vein should be grounded in empirical work (from other contexts) and/or theoretical modelling; they cannot fund work that is purely discussion-based.
  • Research on gender and structural transformation, including issues such as constraints to women’s labour force participation or macro consequences of restrictive policies, norms or constraints affecting women’s work.
  • Projects in STEG’s areas of focus that have been directly affected by aid cuts and where additional funding from STEG can bring the project to completion.

Themes

• Theme 0: Data, Measurement, and Conceptual Framing
• Theme 1: Firms, Frictions and Spillovers, and Industrial Policy
• Theme 2: Labour, Home Production, and Structural Transformation at the Level of Households
• Theme 3: Agricultural Productivity and Sectoral Gaps
• Theme 4: Trade and Spatial Frictions
• Theme 5: The Role of the Public Sector
• STEG is also focused around three cross-cutting issues that are simultaneously relevant to many areas of structural transformation, including the six research themes:
  • Issue 1: Gender
  • Issue 2: Climate Change and the Environment
  • Issue 3: Inequality and Inclusion

Categories

• Small Research Grants:
  • SRGs can fund research assistance, data collection and/or purchase, and potentially research stipends/teaching buyouts (if sufficiently justified). They view this kind of travel (with the possibilities for field visits and conversations with policymakers) as particularly important for researchers who lack prior experience in the countries that they intend to study.
• PhD Research Grants:
  • While PhD students are eligible to apply to their Small Research Grant calls, they also issue special calls exclusively for PhD students in order to encourage broader participation in the programme. Applicants must be currently enrolled in a PhD programme to be eligible for these calls and will require a letter of support from their PhD supervisor sent no later than two weeks after the deadline to the STEG Team.

Funding Information

• Small Research Grants (SRGs) of between £10,000 and £25,000 are their primary funding vehicle. Grants also support travel to field sites, even when secondary data is utilised.
• PhD Research Grants (PhD RGs) of up to £15,000 can fund research assistance, data collection and/or purchase, and stipends. Stipends should only be requested if they allow the researcher(s) to reduce teaching/administrative duties and therefore free up time for research. Stipends are capped at £12,000 for PhD students in programmes located in high-income countries and the PPP equivalent for PhD students in programmes located in low- and middle-income countries. Grants will also support travel to field sites, even when secondary data is utilised.
• A Small Research Grant is intended to be completed within 12 months.

 Eligibility Criteria

• They welcome applications to their SRG and PhD calls from researchers all over the world, and encourage applications that propose collaboration between researchers from lower- and higher-income countries.
• In view of the current political situation and the imposition of economic sanctions on various Russian entities by Western governments, they are not currently able to accept proposals for projects that include researchers or members of the research team who are based at Russian institutions.
• Principal investigators applying to SRG calls should currently have a PhD or be enrolled in a PhD programme. In exceptional circumstances, they will consider applications submitted by principal investigators who do not fit these criteria, however, they must be able to demonstrate a history of high-quality academic and/or policy-relevant research. Although there are no formal qualification requirements for co-investigators, co-investigators on STEG-funded projects usually have a PhD or are enrolled in a PhD programme. The knowledge, expertise, and qualifications of the entire research team will be taken into account when evaluating the proposal.

Evaluation and Selection Criteria

• Evaluation and selection are based on the following criteria:
  • Quality of the proposed research
  • Relevance to policy
  • Feasibility and credibility of the proposal
  • Value for money
  • Contributions to expanding the field

For more information, visit STEG.

https://steg.cepr.org/call-for-proposals/ninth-call-proposals-steg-small-research-grants