Deadline: 29-May-23

The Structural Transformation and Economic Growth (STEG) invites applications to the sixth call for proposals for Small Research Grants (SRGs).

Themes

Research may focus on broad systemic patterns and processes of structural transformation and growth for low- and middle-income countries, in a comparative sense across time or space, or more narrowly defined topics related to one or more of the following six research themes:

• Data, measurement, and conceptual framing;
• Firms, frictions and spillovers, and industrial policy;
• Labour, home production, and structural transformation at the level of households;
• Agricultural productivity and sectoral gaps;
• Trade and spatial frictions;
• Political economy and public investment.

Other areas of interest may not fit cleanly into any of the themes but are centrally relevant to STEG and are also encouraged.

STEG is also focused around three cross-cutting issues that are simultaneously relevant to many areas of structural transformation, including the six research themes:

• Gender;
• Climate change and the environment;
• Inequality and inclusion.

Research proposals speaking to these issues will receive particular consideration.

Funding Information

• Small Research Grants (SRGs) of between £10,000 and £25,000 are the primary research funding vehicle.
• STEG aims to issue funding decisions within three months of call deadlines. An SRG is intended to be completed within 12 months. Please note that contracts should be signed within one month of the return of the final decision, which is also the expected project start date.
• STEG also currently have a call open specifically for PhD students with grants up to £15,000.

Country and Policy Relevance

Please note that an important criterion for funding of proposals is the relevance to policy in low-income countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa. Proposals focused on middle- and/or high-income countries need to make a clear case for the relevance of the research to policy in specific low-income countries. Proposals are also evaluated on the extent to which the research findings (including those from comparative work or from studies in other geographies) might be relevant to policy in specific sub-Saharan countries.

Eligibility Criteria

• STEG welcomes applications to its SRG calls from researchers all over the world.
• In view of the current political situation and the imposition of economic sanctions on various Russian entities by Western governments, STEG is 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, STEG 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.
• Doctoral Students
  • STEG welcomes submissions from PhD students/candidates to its regular SRG calls. For all PhD students acting as principal investigators, STEG requires a letter of support from your PhD supervisor no later than two weeks after the deadline.

For more information, visit STEG.