Deadline: 5-Mar-23
Le Centre de Recherche et d’Action pour la Paix (CERAP), EGAP’s West Africa Regional Hub, is soliciting proposals for quantitative field studies on the theme of democracy, conflict, and polarization.
CERAP will aim to fund approximately 14 grants of up to USD 3,000 each to teams led by principal investigators based in/from sub-Saharan Africa that will conduct research in a sub-Saharan African country.
A critical feature of the grant is that it seeks to fund quantitative research (e.g., surveys, field experiments, or large-N analysis of administrative data) in sub-Saharan Africa that may lead to an accumulated understanding of promising governance innovations or civil society-led innovations in this area of study. They are especially interested in proposals for formative research that can then inform future larger-scale collaborative studies between researchers and practitioner organizations, including NGOs, civil society organizations, or government agencies.
Topics
- They invite proposals for quantitative field studies in sub-Saharan Africa countries on the topic of Democracy, Conflict and Polarization.
- The Democracy, Conflict, & Polarization research area addresses the challenge of polarization across partisan and other identity lines, including both increased affective polarization and polarization in perceptions on core issues like the economy, public safety, inequality and climate change. This research area builds on work by many members of the EGAP network who have studied polarization and its consequences for democratic backsliding, mistrust in public institutions, and poor government response to crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Focusing on citizens who differ in partisanship, identity, or policy preferences, potential topics include:
- Strategies for productive public deliberation and problem solving for public policy;
- Strategies to reduce partisan animosity and dehumanization in politics;
- Strategies to counter hateful rhetoric in political campaigns;
- Strategies to reduce the spread or belief in misinformation;
- Strategies to reduce actions or norms that support political violence or extremism at the expense of democracy
Funding Information
- EGAP will award Up to USD 3,000 for individuals
Deliverables for Grants
Projects that are awarded funding will have the following deliverables:
- Analysis plan, implementation plan, budget, and Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval before launch of field activities and transmission of funds. If there is no formal ethical approval process in the country of study, the researcher will work with the funder to identify alternative solutions.
- Implementation reports on progress toward completion of project milestones.
- Budget and financial report, including copy of receipts or other proof of expenditure after completion of field activities.
- A working paper based on the data collected in the field research.
- Funded scholars may be invited to participate and prepare a presentation at an in-person or online EGAP meeting in 2023/2024. The timing for these deliverables will be determined at the time of award.
Eligibility Criteria
- EGAP will award:
- are currently enrolled in a PhD program or in possession of a PhD;
- have completed a Master’s degree, but are not currently enrolled in a PhD program or in possession of a PhD; or
- are currently pursuing a Master’s degree.
- Funding can be used to support the investigators’ time, travel and lodging associated with field research, research assistance, phone survey implementation costs, data purchase or storage, and other reasonable field research expenses.
- Eligibility is restricted to scholars based in/from sub-Saharan Africa. This refers to individuals who (a) currently hold a PhD and are employed or at a university or research institute in sub-Saharan Africa; (b) currently study at the doctoral level at a university or research institute in sub-Saharan Africa, (c) received an undergraduate or graduate university degree from a university in sub-Saharan Africa and are currently a graduate student, postdoc, or faculty elsewhere, or (d) currently teach at an university or research institute in sub-Saharan Africa and received their PhD within the last five years.
- Notes:
- Collaborations between scholars based in/from sub-Saharan Africa and other researchers (including US-based collaborators) are eligible to apply for this grant; however projects must be clearly led by a scholar based in/from sub-Saharan Africa, and if funds are awarded, the funds will be transferred directly to the applicant based in/from sub-Saharan Africa and not the non-African researchers.
- Applications from unaffiliated researchers are not eligible.
For more information, visit EGAP.