Updated: Added new call for proposals for systematic reviews for international development
Overview
This page is aimed at organisations and researchers looking for information on funding opportunities in development research. It lists a selection of current calls with a research, evidence or evaluation theme which are being run by DFID or by our programme partners. If you are interested in working for DFID you should also look at our Supplier Portal.
Developing Operational Research Capacity in the Health Sector - project evaluation. Call for expressions of interest.
DFID is tendering for experienced evaluators to conduct an independent evaluation of the Developing Operational Research Capacity in the Health Sector project undertaken by the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease (IUTB). The purpose of this evaluation is to assess IUTB’s performance and impacts during the period of October 2011–August 2014.
The evaluation will assess the project’s performance to date for accountability and lessons learning purposes. The findings will inform decisions on the future direction of this programme and provide valuable lessons to the wider research and development community on this approach to capacity building.
For more details on submitting an expression of interest, please read the
call notice.
[PDF, 27.6KB, 3 pages]
The full project timeline is given in the
terms of reference.
[PDF, 71.7KB, 12 pages]
Deadline for expressions of interest: 9 August 2013 at 5:00pm
Deadline for full proposals: 5 September at 5:00pm
Stimulating innovations in robust methodological approaches to impact assessment in agriculture, nutrition and health
DFID is seeking a service provider or consortium to establish a new research programme on ‘Stimulating Innovative Metrics and Methods in Agriculture, Nutrition and Health’.This programme aims to contribute to the goal of a step change in the generation of high quality evidence linking agriculture, nutrition and health, by stimulating innovations in robust methodological approaches to impact assessment in agriculture and human nutrition/health, including the development of novel indicators, metrics and tools.
The service provider or consortium will be required to manage a grant fund to support the development of innovative evaluation metrics, establish a network of expertise in this interdisciplinary approach to impact assessment, and build capacity and future capability in this area through career fellowship schemes. As a minimum, suppliers will be expected to demonstrate expertise in the management and delivery of high quality applied and operational research, ideally in the field of agriculture and nutrition. Experience of capacity building and managing research networks is also required.
DFID is tendering this opportunity with the following eligibility requirements: both lead organisations and consortium partners/sub-contractors may also bid for the research grants, as long as robust management of conflict of interest is demonstrated and the selection, peer review and quality assurance processes for research are independent.
The contract is scheduled to commence in January 2014 and will run for a period of up to 5 years until December 2018. A further extension of up to 2 years may be granted subject to resources and need.
If you would like further information or to access the full tendering pack, please register your interest for this opportunity through DFID’s supplier portal. Please note you must register for this first or login in using existing account details.
Deadline for applications: 26 August 2013
Domestic violence in Ghana – short term research on prevalence, incidence and causes
DFID and Ghana’s Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) wish to appoint a 3-member consultancy team to undertake national research on the prevalence, incidence, nature and key drivers of domestic violence in Ghana. The purpose for this research is 2-fold:
provide up-to-date national data and information on domestic violence in Ghana which can be used as a baseline for measuring progress on the issue
strengthen the knowledge base, describing the nature and extent of domestic violence, that can be used by governments and development partners to assess the situation as it stands in the context of achieving Millennium Development Goal 3 (MDG 3) in Ghana, and to advance legal, policy and programmatic interventions
The consultant team will be required to undertake specific tasks and produce deliverables related to research and analysis as well as capacity building. The key deliverables include, but are not limited to, a published final research report that has been quality assured on domestic violence in Ghana, a fact sheet and policy brief on domestic violence, a brief on methods and lessons learned in conducting research of this nature, and a workshop to launch the report and share key findings.
The government of Ghana, DFID and other development partners are the main recipients of this research. The duration of this research is 13 months, commencing in October 2013 and ending in November 2014. The team will be based at the Domestic Violence Secretariat (DVS), a unit of the MoGCSP, in Accra. Planning, management and delivery of the research should, throughout, be done in close collaboration with the DVS.
Please read the
call notice
[MS Word Document, 18.6KB]
for details on how to submit an expression of interest. This
questionnaire
[MS Word Document, 39.5KB]
should be used as the basis of your expression of interest response. Full project details are available in the
terms of reference.
[MS Word Document, 104KB]
Deadline for expressions of interest: 30 August 2013
Notice - Humanitarian Evidence Synthesis and Communication
As part of the Humanitarian Innovation and Evidence Strategy DFID wishes to engage a Service Provider (SP) to manage the Humanitarian Evidence Synthesis and Communication Programme platform. The aim of the platform is to provide humanitarian practitioners and policy-makers both within DFID and beyond with an improved evidence-base that they can draw on in their decision making.
The Humanitarian Emergency Response review, published in May 2010, highlighted the need for more and higher quality research in relation to humanitarian assistance, and that this research should be readily available to policy makers and practitioners. At present, where humanitarian evidence does exist, it is often scattered and not available in a consistent format. Better evidence can help to increase the effectiveness of humanitarian interventions, save lives, minimise disaster losses, increase value for money and improve accountability.
Over the next 3 years, DFID will contract 1 lead organisation to commission the production of a series of high quality evidence synthesis products (systematic reviews and rigorous literature reviews). This lead organisation will also be responsible for packaging and presenting these products to appropriate policy maker and practitioner audiences in the international humanitarian community. It is envisaged that up to 5 systematic reviews and at least 10 rigorous literature reviews will be produced which address “what works” type questions. Questions will be selected through a consultation process with a range of stakeholders for their relevance to the humanitarian community.
For more details about the call and guidance on submitting the pre-qualification questionnaire, please read the
full call notice.
[PDF, 136KB, 2 pages]
Deadline for submission of the pre-qualification questionnaire: 9 September 2013 at 2.00pm
Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises (R2HC): building collaborations between humanitarian programmes and researchers
A new research programme that will save lives in the aftermath of a humanitarian crisis has been launched by Enhancing Learning and Research for Humanitarian Assistance (ELRHA) with support from DFID and the Wellcome Trust.
The Research for Health in Humanitarian Crises (R2HC) programme aims to increase the quality and quantity of collaborative research undertaken on recognised public health challenges in humanitarian crises occurring in low- and middle-income counties. The R2HC programme will:
Facilitate new research collaborations between public health researchers and operational organisations. Research collaborations will address key identified research questions.
Establish a rapid response facility set aside for pre-approved research projects and consortia to be set up and undertaken in the acute phase of an emergency.
Further information on the R2HC programme and how to apply for funding is available on the ELRHA website.
Deadline for expressions of interest: 10 September 2013
Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC)-DFID Joint Fund for Poverty Alleviation Research - call for new research programme proposals now open
As part of the Joint Fund for Poverty Alleviation Research, DFID and the ESRC are calling for new and innovative proposals across 3 new areas of research in the fields of international development and humanitarian assistance.
Urbanisation and risk in Africa
This research programme will address the evidence gaps around urbanisation and risk in an African context. The programme will map and measure the different dimensions of risk in urban Africa. Up to £3.3 million is available for this research programme.
Poverty in urban spaces
This research will investigate how urban spaces are changing and what the emerging challenges for tackling urban poverty are. Up to £2 million is available for this research programme.
Disability, inequality and poverty
This research programme will examine the barriers to inclusion facing disabled people in low income countries, and will consider how these barriers can be overcome. Up to £2 million is available for this research programme.
All 3 research programmes are open to UK and non-UK researchers based in higher education institutions, research organisations and other organisations with a credible research capacity. Each programme will last for a maximum of 3 years.
Further information about how to apply can be found on the ESRC website.
Deadline for applications: Tuesday 10 September 2013 at 4:00pm.
Recognition of maternal and/or neonatal complications at the community and household level
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) project ‘Translating Research into Action (TRAction)’ has issued a request for applications (RFA) to document community-oriented efforts aimed at improving recognition of and appropriate care-seeking for perceived maternal and/or newborn complications. TRAction will fund the development of descriptive mixed-method case studies that explore the implementation of these interventions.
For the purpose of this proposal, a descriptive case study should answer the “how” and “why” questions around how changes are achieved (or not achieved) in a particular context, using a mixed-methods approach. These case studies will include an assessment of the obstacles, opportunities, and enabling factors that influenced the intervention, including secondary data analyses. The case studies will be shared with national, regional and global decision-makers, programme implementers, researchers, and stakeholders to improve recognition and appropriate care-seeking interventions.
For more information, please see the full RFA with application details.
Deadline for applications: 27 September 2013.
Private Enterprise Development in Low-Income Countries (PEDL) programme - exploratory grant call
The Private Enterprise Development in Low-Income Countries (PEDL) programme carries out research that aims to better understand what determines the strength of market forces driving efficiency in Low-Income Countries (LICs). Exploratory grants are research grants of between £10,000 and £35,000.
For more information, please see the exploratory grant call page.
Next deadline for exploratory grants: 30 September 2013 at 5.00pm
Joint Global Health Trials scheme – fourth call for proposals
DFID, the Medical Research Council (MRC) and the Wellcome Trust jointly announce the launch of the fourth call for proposals under this initiative to fund global health trials.
The purpose of this scheme is to provide funding for the best proposals to generate new knowledge about interventions that will contribute to the improvement of health in low and middle income countries. The programme will give priority to proposals that are likely to produce implementable results and that are designed to address the major causes of mortality or morbidity in low and middle income countries. The breadth of the scheme is deliberately wide, but proposals for research into chronic non-communicable diseases, and innovative proposals which address reproductive, maternal and newborn health are particularly welcome.
This scheme is primarily focused on late stage (equivalent to phase III/IV) clinical and health intervention trials evaluating efficacy and effectiveness. The scheme is aimed at funding Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs), although other types of methodologies may be used alongside the RCT to explore implementation and operational issues. A total of £15 million is available, which is expected to fund several awards.
For more information, please see the MRC website.
Deadline for submission of outline applications: 1 October 2013 at 4.00pm
DFID Research: call for proposals for systematic reviews for international development
DFID is expanding an exciting systematic review programme that aims to strengthen evidence-informed decision making. DFID has developed a set of systematic review questions based on policy and practice priorities and is now calling for proposals from interested reviewers to conduct a systematic review.
The questions include topics such as:
infrastructure
growth
humanitarian assistance
education
Please see the
terms of reference,
[PDF, 71.6KB, 8 pages]
the
list of questions
[PDF, 89.2KB, 16 pages]
and the
application form.
[MS Word Document, 46.9KB]
Background
Systematic reviewing is a well-established method that aims to bring the rigour of primary studies to secondary studies and surveys. In brief, the review team should systematically map the evidence base, critically appraise the evidence and produce a synthesis of the best available evidence.
DFID will encourage a broad-based approach to systematic reviewing that incorporates theory and uses qualitative and/or quantitative data. The systematic reviews should be suitable for publication in a peer-reviewed journal and will also provide a timely and rigorous assessment of the evidence base for key DFID policy questions. Delivery of systematic reviews should be within 12 months.
If you are interested in forming a review team and being part of cutting-edge research to increase the use of evidence in policy, please look at the call in more detail. For more information, contact systematicreviews@dfid.gov.uk or see http://r4d.dfid.gov.uk/SystematicReviews.aspx.
Deadline for applications: Wednesday 9 October 2013
Call for Proposals: Phase III of the Growth and Labor Markets in Low Income Countries (GLM/LIC) program
IZA and DFID are now accepting applications for funding in Phase III of the Growth and Labor Markets in Low Income Countries (GLM/LIC) program.
After two competitive rounds of funding in Phase I and II, we look forward to receiving many high-quality research proposals again in this final call. It is expected that 10 to 12 projects will be selected for funding.
GLM/LIC Phase III invites applications for research projects in the following areas:
Growth and labor market outcomes
Active labor market policies
Labor market institutions
Migration and labor markets
Gender
Data for labor market analysis
Projects funded in previous calls cover a wide range of low-income countries and focus on various topics, including the impacts of trade and globalisation, evaluation of training programs, the functioning of markets for education and skills, and migration and job search. Descriptions of Phase I projects can be found on the GLM/LIC website, where Phase II projects will be added later this month.
Please visit glm-lic.iza.org for more information about the program and the call for proposals. Download the full Call Specifications here.
The deadline for applications: 29 October 2013.