“Health and Livelihoods in the Arab Region: Welfare, Fragility and Conflict”

Deadline: 23-Nov-21

The Arab Council for the Social Sciences (ACSS) is pleased to announce the launch of the ninth round of the Research Grants Program on the topic of “Health and Livelihoods in the Arab Region: Welfare, Fragility and Conflict”.

Funding for this program comes from a grant from the Canadian International Development Research Center (IDRC), the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (SIDA), and the Andrew W. Foundation. Mellon for the Arab Council for the Social Sciences.

This call encourages the submission of innovative research on health related to the Arab region and health crises and challenges raised and exacerbated by conditions of vulnerability, conflict, fragility and insecurity. Research proposals must be innovative, demonstrate critical thinking, and take well-established approaches in the social sciences to the study of health in conflict and precarious situations in the Arab region.

The program aims to attract a wide range of research proposals in different countries and locations in the region. The program’s long-term goal is to create evidence-based knowledge that seeks to advance the well-being of marginalized and vulnerable groups. The program encourages multidisciplinary proposals that link the social and health sciences on the one hand, and draws from approaches in the fields of history, humanities, and arts on the other. They also welcome proposals that adopt quantitative and qualitative approaches, mixed approaches, and research that reflects current methodologies for studying health and well-being in the Arab region. They also welcome proposals that offer new methodological approaches to the study of health.

Areas

• The intersection of health and livelihoods in everyday life.
• The impact of migration (forced, voluntary, illegal or otherwise) on health and well-being.
• The role of the global humanitarian system in providing health services at the national and local levels.
• The role of culture (local, global, and public), religion and faith, social structures and societies in shaping, supporting or undermining health and health care provision.
• Experiences and narratives of fragility and resilience in the context of conflict and poverty.
• Health care systems: structures and services of health care systems in the Arab region; Impact and dynamics of global, regional, rural and urban health care systems.
• Biosecurity, patriotism, and border control: discourses, politics, and the politics of health and disease.
• Historical approaches to health in the Arab region (eg the history of health practices, health and medicine under colonialism, post-colonialism and neo-colonialism).
• National health policies and conditions within a global, political, and economic context (eg neoliberalism, privatization of health services, the role of corporations affecting health conditions and food security (insecurity).
• Examining health from an institutional perspective: The role of the state, NGOs, and practitioners in defining the healthy and sick body, and the impact of health education on societal understanding of health and well-being.
• Producing knowledge about health, livelihood and well-being in the Arab region: research types, agendas and contents, validation of international and local health procedures and concepts, global diagnostic tools and methods for their implementation in a local context, and development of alternative and locally well-established tools.
• Ethics and professionalism of health care providers: bioethics and the relationship between health care providers and patients.
• research ethics; and research on vulnerable groups in the context of conflict and violence.
• Pandemics, epidemics, and endemic diseases: responses and their impact on livelihoods, health care systems and providers, and patient experiences.
• The COVID-19 pandemic: different responses in different environments and their implications.
• The artistic and cultural embodiments of medicine, health, illness and disease, care, and medical practice.

• This program is open to individual researchers, research teams, active research groups, and institutions. For the purpose of this call:
  • The research teams include researchers from the same institutions, geographic regions, and disciplines, or from different institutions, geographic regions and disciplines, provided that they are interested in conducting multidisciplinary research on the aforementioned topic.
  • An active research group is an independent, informal group of researchers who may not be registered as an institution, but have been working collaboratively on a specific topic or area of  interest for many years. The group should have an action statement (mission) and a set of practices or outputs that reflect its identity and goals. Unlike research teams, which may include researchers from one or different institutions, in active research groups, only the members of the same group initially undertake the research project.
  • Foundations are formal legal entities, which may be a university or college in a university, a think-tank, a research non-governmental organization, etc.
  • Research teams, activist groups, and institutions must submit their applications in teams of no more than four members, including the principal investigator and co-researchers.
• Nationality/Residency
  • In the case of individuals: researchers have:
    • nationality of an Arab state (namely , the state Arab state affiliated with the League of Arab States),
    • residents in the Arab country for a long time, staff five years ago , at least in an organization based in the Arab region, and that they have produced academic work on the region, and will remain residing and participating in the region for the foreseeable future,
    • Refugees and stateless persons from an Arab country and currently residing in the Arab region. Preference in selection will always be given to researchers currently residing in an Arab country.
  • In the case of research teams: At least two researchers from the team, including the team leader/principal investigator, must be:
    • nationals of an Arab country,
    • long-term residents of an Arab country, or
    • refugees from an Arab country residing in the region Arab, or stateless persons from an Arab country and currently residing in the Arab region. The other two members can be Arabs in the Diaspora or non-Arabs.
  • In the case of active research groups: The group’s headquarters should be in the Arab region. The group should also present clear future plans for operating in the region. At least two researchers from the group, including the principal investigator, must be:
    • nationals of an Arab country,
    • long-term residents of an Arab country and based in the Arab region, or
    • refugees from an Arab country residing in the Arab region, Or a stateless person from an Arab country and currently residing in the Arab region. The other two members can be Arabs in the Diaspora or non-Arabs.
  • In the case of institutions: The headquarters of the institution should be in the Arab region, regardless of the country of its primary registration. Institutions that are branches of international foreign organizations are not eligible to apply for the scholarship. The principal investigator and all researchers participating in the project must be:
    • nationals of an Arab country,
    • long-term residents of an Arab country and based in the Arab region,
    • refugees from an Arab country residing in the Arab region, or stateless persons from an Arab country Currently residing in the Arab region.
• Educational Qualifications
  • In the case of individuals: Applicants must hold a PhD in one of the fields of social sciences, humanities and/or related interdisciplinary fields. Grants are especially encouraged for individual researchers who are in the early stages of their post-doctoral career. Individuals who are expected to obtain their Ph.D. by January 2022 are also eligible to apply. For individual applicants who wish to hire research advisors or assistants and assign them with significant research assignments for the entire period of the grant, it should be noted that this is more appropriate for applications within research teams.
  • In the case of research teams: At least two team members, including the team leader/principal investigator, must hold a PhD in the field of social sciences or humanities. The other two members must have a master’s degree in social sciences or human sciences as a minimum. They particularly encourage proposals from interdisciplinary research teams (eg teams that include researchers in the social sciences or humanities and public health).
  • In the case of active research groups: At least two members of the active research group, including the principal investigator, must hold a PhD in the field of social sciences, humanities and/or related interdisciplinary fields. The other two members must have a master’s degree in social sciences or human sciences as a minimum. They particularly encourage proposals from interdisciplinary research teams (eg teams that include researchers in the social sciences or humanities and public health).
  • In the case of institutions: The principal investigator in the institution must hold a PhD in the field of social sciences, humanities and/or related interdisciplinary fields and demonstrate successful research experience. Other participating researchers must hold a master’s degree in the field of social sciences or humanities, as a minimum. They particularly encourage proposals from interdisciplinary research teams (eg teams that include researchers in the social sciences or humanities and public health).

For more information, visit http://www.theacss.org/pages/rgp-cycle9-call-for-proposals