Proposals due 31st October, 2012
Call for applications are invited for Competitive Grants Program. The National Economic Council of Pakistan adopted a new Framework for Economic Growth recommended by Deputy Chairman Dr. Nadeem Ul Haque and the Planning Commission in May 2011.
The new Framework aims to foster sustained higher growth and enhanced quality of life through improved governance, vibrant markets, creative and connected cities and energetic youth and communities. The Framework calls for Pakistan to adopt an ongoing process of reform to improve public service delivery, foster economic competition and international trade, enhance innovation and entrepreneurship, increase youth employment, and raise labour and total economic productivity.
In July 2011, with the support of the Planning Commission, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), in collaboration with Innovative Development Strategies (Pvt.) Ltd., launched the Pakistan Strategy Support Program (PSSP). The PSSP is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and guided by a National Advisory Committee chaired by Dr. Nadeem Ul Haque. The PSSP has a focus on agriculture and the rural economy with an overall agenda that supports the Framework for Economic Growth.
The PSSP joins with the Planning Commission of Pakistan to announce this second Call for Applications for Research Competitive Grants fostering innovation within the academic and policy-oriented research communities of Pakistan is vital to the new growth strategy, under the leadership of Dr. Nadeem Ul Haque. The Competitive Grants Program is guided by a Research Advisory Committee (RAC) comprised of fourteen senior Pakistani and international economic development scholars. Under the first grants program, 22 awards were announced 6 June 2012 with total funding of $490,000 for the first year of the projects.
Eligible Research:
Proposals are sought for economic and other social science research that identifies key policy decisions that will support the new growth strategy; assesses empirically the impacts of those decisions; evaluates constraints to policy reform; and examines alternative policy recommendations to enhance their impact. This is a broad-based call for proposals across the four thematic areas of the Framework for Economic Growth. Specifically, the proposals should be in conformity with reform ideas envisaged in the Framework. The intent is that the research will deepen knowledge of the Framework issues at the local and the national levels.
Categories of Grants:
The second PSSP Competitive Grants Program offers two categories of grants:
Small Grants: For project to be completed within one year, grants up to US$20,000
Large Grants: For projects of one or two years duration, grants up to US$50,000 per year
An applicant’s choice of which grant size to apply for and their proposed budget should be commensurate with the scale of the proposed research. As with the first set of grants awarded (6th June 2012), the RAC may initially fund two-year projects for their first year only, with extension of funding dependent upon progress of the project.
Applicant Qualifications:
Proposals are solicited from faculty members and staff at national and provincial universities and research institutes within Pakistan. Proposals are also solicited from scholars at foreign universities and research institutes with interest in the economic growth and policy issues of Pakistan. Proposals are encouraged that support Pakistani graduate students enrolled in PhD and thesis-based master’s degree programs at Pakistani and foreign universities. Special
Consideration will be given to proposals from institutions located in disadvantaged areas of Pakistan. Proposals from each of the three groups of applicants will be evaluated in separate competitive categories. Outstanding proposals from each category are anticipated to be funded. Proposals may be submitted by individual applicants or by teams of up to four co-investigators. Collaborative proposals by teams based at multiple institutions are invited.
For further information, visit the link.
