COVID-19 Small Grants Fund

Overview Grant Size and Eligibility Submission Guidelines

Overview

Note: This grant is now closed. You can find more information on the ten research proposals that were awarded the grant here.

The EGAP network, like everyone else, is grappling with the rapid spread of COVID-19, and this has led us to look for ways that social science can contribute to our understanding of best responses to this pandemic as well as its consequences for a wide range of outcomes. EGAP is particularly well placed to provide insights from our members’ research on the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on governance and how governance-related factors moderate the effects of COVID-19 across multiple regions and subregions of the planet. To this end, EGAP will launch an RFP for small grants to support Global South-based researchers in partnership with the EGAP network pursuing new insights.

The EGAP network is soliciting proposals for quantitative field studies that address two topics relating to the COVID-19 pandemic:

  1. the role of political conditions in enabling or preventing effective societal responses to the COVID-19 pandemic;
  2. the way the COVID-19 pandemic, and its associated economic, social, and psychological stresses, is affecting different dimensions of elections around the globe.

Our goal is to fund 10 grants of up to $10,000 each to teams led by principal investigators from the Global South. 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 the Global South that may lead to an accumulated understanding of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in both these areas of study.

For studies relating to the first topic, we invite proposals that explore how political conditions have (1) affected governments’ responses to the pandemic, (2) exacerbated or mitigated the extent to which the pandemic’s effects have been unequally felt, and (3) enabled or prevented communities who have suffered disproportionately from being able to find redress. 

For studies relating to the area of elections, we invite proposals that address questions relating to how the COVID-19 pandemic affects (1) the administration, participation, and outcome of elections; (2) the manner in which governments respond to the pandemic within the context of elections; (3) implications of the pandemic on government accountability and legitimacy; and (4) potential strategies for mitigating the negative effects of the pandemic on elections.

Grant Size and Eligibility

  • EGAP will award up to USD 10,000 to successful proposals and expects to select around 10 award winners. Level of funding will be determined by the amount requested, the justification given in the budget narrative, and the experience of the applicant, based on the following schedule:
    • Up to USD 10,000 for individuals who meet the below stated eligibility criteria and are currently enrolled in a PhD program or in possession of a PhD and/or have prior experience leading research projects with similar levels of funding (please highlight relevant experience in your CV).
    • Up to USD 5,000 for individuals who meet the below stated eligibility criteria and have completed a Master’s degree but are not currently enrolled in a PhD program or in possession of a PhD and have limited prior experience in leading research projects.
    • Up to USD 2,000 for individuals who meet the below stated eligibility criteria and 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 Global South scholars. This refers to individuals who (a) currently hold a PhD and are employed or at a university or research institute in the Global South; (b) currently study at the doctoral level at a university or research institute in the Global South; or (c) received an undergraduate or graduate university degree from a Global South university and are currently a graduate student, postdoc, or faculty elsewhere.
    • Note: Collaborations between Global South scholars and other researchers (including US-based collaborators) are eligible to apply for this grant; however projects must be clearly led by a Global South-based scholar, and if funds are awarded, the funds will be transferred directly to the Global South-based applicant and not the non-Global South researchers. 
    • Note: Applications from unaffiliated researchers are not eligible (i.e., those who do not study, teach, or conduct research at a university, international institution, center, or government department). 
    • Please contact admin@egap.org with any questions regarding eligibility. 
  • Grant recipients will be required to secure necessary research approvals where appropriate (e.g., IRB approval must be acquired unless there exists an explicit and legal reason for exemption and such approval must be shared for any primary data collection prior to the start of data collection).
    • Note: EGAP has developed a set of protocols for the ethical implementation of field research during the pandemic. All research proposals submitted for this call must be able to demonstrate that they meet the safety standards established in the protocols. Please review the documents and ensure your compliance to the guidelines prior to submitting a proposal. Applicants for the COVID-19 Small Grants Fund will be asked to complete the protocol forms by January 6th to be eligible for funding.

Submission Guidelines

For further details on the research topics that the proposals should cover and the expected deliverables, please see the full Request for Proposals document.

Eligible applicants should complete the following forms:

Send completed forms to admin@egap.org by Tuesday, December 15, 2020 at 5:00PM US Pacific Time.