Download - Esra Spec 2013 14 Formsite Tcm8 29390

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ESRC-DFID Joint Scheme for Research on International

Development (Poverty Alleviation)

Evidence Synthesis Research Awards (ESRA) specificationOverview ..................................................................................................................................................... 2Background ................................................................................................................................................. 2ESRA aims and themes ............................................................................................................................. 3ESRA activities and outputs ..................................................................................................................... 4Funding terms and conditions ................................................................................................................. 6Application process ................................................................................................................................... 7Assessment criteria ................................................................................................................................... 8

Stage 1 - Eligibility check ...................................................................................................................... 8Stage 2 - Assessment ............................................................................................................................ 8

Indicative timetable and further enquiries ............................................................................................ 8


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Overview

The ESRC-DFID Joint Scheme for Research on International Development (PovertyAlleviation) aims to fund world-class research from across the social sciences with highpotential for impact on policy and practice in low income countries. It seeks to provide a

more robust conceptual and empirical basis for development and to enhance the quality andimpact of social science research on poverty reduction. Evidence Synthesis ResearchAwards (ESRAs) assist the scheme in these aims. Each ESRA funds a study that reviews andsynthesises evidence on an identified theme that has been generated by scheme-fundedresearch, assesses its existing and potential contribution to the schemes aims, and identifieskey gaps to be considered in future scheme research calls.

ESRA awards in this round will address one of five themes relevant to internationaldevelopment and poverty alleviation research:

research methods gender children and young people governance health.

Award holders must produce a short summary document that pulls out the headline findingsand recommendations from their study, and a full report with executive summary andannotated bibliography. Additional outputs are possible, and applicants are encouraged toshow creativity in their plans for presenting their findings.

Each ESRA will be worth up to 30,000, and must be completed within six months of thestart of the award. All awards will commence between 1 April and 1 June 2014. Applicantsmay apply for more than one ESRA, but must submit a separate application for eachproposed ESRA study, which will be assessed on its individual merits in competition withother applications on that theme.

The deadline for applications to be submitted is 16.00 on 28 January 2014 (UK time), viathe online application formwww.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/ESRA-application.aspx.

Only applications submitted via the Evidence Synthesis Research Awards

(ESRA) application form with a two-page CV for each named individual

involved and a completed financial template will be accepted.

Background

DFID and ESRC formed a strategic partnership in August 2005 to provide a more robustconceptual and empirical basis for development and to enhance the quality and impact ofsocial science research on poverty reduction: the ESRC/DFID Joint Fund for PovertyAlleviation Research. The primary aim of the scheme is to fund world-class scientificresearch which has the potential for impact on policy and practice for poverty reduction.
http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/ESRA-application.aspxhttp://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/ESRA-application.aspxhttp://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/ESRA-application.aspxhttp://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/ESRA-application.aspxhttp://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/ESRA-application.aspxhttp://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/ESRA-application.aspx


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Research has been funded in a series of phases: Phase 1 provided funding from 2005 to2010, Phase 2 from 2009 to 2016. A third phase was announced in 2012 with funding up to2019. A total of 101 small to medium scale poverty-focused research projects have beenfunded through six competitive research calls under Phases 1 and 2, with 14 further projectsrecently awarded funding under phase 3. Details of scheme-funded projects can be found at:

http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/international-funding/esrc-dfid/research-projects.The total scheme funding across all three phases amounts to 66.2million (41.8 million from DFID and 24 million from ESRC).

As well as funding individual projects, resources have also been allocated within the schemeto develop mechanisms to draw out lessons from what is a diverse portfolio of researchprojects. We are commissioning an Evidence and Policy Group (EPG), which will lead onsecuring and enhancing the uptake and impact on policy and practice of scheme-fundedresearch. In addition, in 2012 we funded two ESRA studies - one focused on socialprotection, and one on food security - to outline the knowledge generated on these themes,highlight methodologies used, identify key gaps in knowledge, and document any potential or

actual impact generated. Following this, we wish to commission a second round of ESRAstudies focused on five further themes: research methods, gender, children and youngpeople, governance and health.

ESRA aims and themes

Each ESRA study will review the evidence generated from ESRC-DFID funded research inrelation to one of the five themes in order to achieve three key aims:

To draw out commonalities and contrasts in research findings To assess the researchs existing and potential contribution to the overall schemesaims To identify key gaps for consideration in the development of future scheme research

calls.

Following a desktop review of scheme-funded research to date, five topics have beenidentified by ESRC-DFID as the themes to be covered in this round of ESRA. They havebeen selected for their relevance to the schemes aims and significance in relation tointernational development research in general, and cover both the conduct and substantivefocus of scheme-funded research:

Research methods

A major scheme objective is to improve the quality of social science for development, aswell as to increase its diversity. We have particularly sought to promote greater attentionto and reporting of methodology, to invest in a diversity of methods, and to encouragemulti/inter-disciplinary research. Some scheme-funded projects have explicitly focused ondeveloping innovative methods and methodologies to approach international developmentquestions, while others have applied established methods to new areas of research. Inparticular, we wish to identify trends in how, in what contexts, and with what success andchallenge quantitative, qualitative and mixed-method approaches have been utilised by

scheme research.
http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/international-funding/esrc-dfid/research-projects/http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/international-funding/esrc-dfid/research-projects/http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/international-funding/esrc-dfid/research-projects/http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/international-funding/esrc-dfid/research-projects/http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/international-funding/esrc-dfid/research-projects/


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Gender

ESRC and DFID recognise gender as a cross-cutting structural inequality that is a keystumbling block to human development and poverty reduction. While the importance ofinvesting in this area is increasingly acknowledged, there remain sizeable research and

evidence gaps on what strategies and interventions work, and where and why to promotegender equality. The scheme seeks to address this both by funding research which explicitlyaddresses such questions, and by requiring all applicants to consider and address gender as across-cutting issue. We wish to identify trends in evidence generated both through schemeprojects directly addressing gender and those in which it functions as a cross-cutting issue,including any similarities or differences between the two.

Children and young people

With the largest global generation of young people in history, and the youth bulge affectingmany developing countries, issues around childhood and youth present challenges but also

opportunities in relation to poverty reduction. Age is widely recognised as a structuralinequality, combining with other inequalities to result in disadvantage and exclusion for manyyoung people, particularly young women. Investing in children and young people is likely tohave both short and long term benefits in terms of poverty reduction and economicdevelopment. We are interested both in evidence generated through scheme-fundedresearch that directly explores aspects and experiences of their lives, and in evidencegenerated on other topics of likely relevance to children and young people.

Governance

The relationship between institutions and development has been a central focus ofgovernance research over the last decade. However, consensus has still not been reachedon a number of critical questions, including notions of causality, universality vs. localisation,the political economys role in shaping development outcomes, and the relationship betweenstate and society. Understanding the distribution of opportunities and benefits and theprocesses, incentives and interactions involved is critical to effective poverty reductionprogramming. Much scheme-funded research has direct and indirect findings on governance,and we are interested in evidence generated in relation to local, national and internationalinstitutions and governance processes.

Health

Health is widely recognised as central to poverty reduction. While globally peoples health isimproving, work is needed to improve access to existing treatments for those living inpoverty, marginalisation and in fragile or post-conflict states. Research is also needed on thedevelopment of new solutions to global health problems. ESRC-DFID scheme-fundedresearch has focused on various elements of the relationship between health and poverty atindividual, household, community, national and regional levels. We wish to evaluate scheme-funded research related to both health systems and delivery mechanisms, and to healthexperiences at the individual level, including the relationship between health and poverty.We will provide successful award holders with details of scheme projects whose research

explicitly focuses on these themes. However, their cross-cutting nature means that relevantfindings may have been generated beyond this initial pool. Successful applicants will need to


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be pro-active in identifying and incorporating other relevant findings from scheme-fundedresearch, with input from the scheme secretariat.

ESRA activities and outputs

In order to achieve the aims of the ESRA, award holders will need to:

Identify all relevant reports, published articles and grey literature by DFID-ESRCaward holdersin relation to one of the identified themes

Review the documentation comprehensively to answer the following questions:o What approaches and methodologies has scheme-funded research used to

generate knowledge on this theme? What commonalities, differences andinnovations emerge?

o What are the evidence and core findings from scheme-funded research onthis theme?

oWhat are the areas of consensus and debate - do the findings reinforce orcontradict each other? If the latter, what are the main differences?

o What does scheme-funded research as a whole tell us about the theme?o What are the key gaps in knowledge not covered by the research?o Have any potential or actual impacts been documented, and what are these?

How has scheme research impacted on policy/ practice and research inrelation to the theme?

Each ESRA study should focus on both completed and in-progress research produced byprojects funded through the scheme. It should also contextualise the specific findings ofscheme-funded research within broader trends in international development research on

the relevant theme, identify potential and actual impact on this context by scheme research,and highlight gaps and opportunities for future development. We are particularly interestedin identifying areas of innovation within scheme-funded research, and each study shouldaddress this issue throughout.

ESRA outputs mustinclude, but are not limited to, the following:

Stand-alone summary (maximum 4 A4 pages) setting out key findings Full report including:

o executive summaryo aim of the synthesiso methods used in the synthesiso summary of research projects funded with relevance to the topic, including

number, geographical focus, research questions considered and otherrelevant information

o findings of synthesis study related to questions set out aboveo conclusions and implications, including suggestions for DFID-ESRCo annotated bibliography listing all references (research outputs from the

scheme) used with a one or two paragraph summary of the research contextand findings.

Authors must co-operate with the schemes Evidence and Policy Group and theESRC communications team in the production of other appropriate disseminationmaterials, specifically advising on content and potential audiences.


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Final reports will be published under the joint ESRC/DFID Scheme. Authors are alsoencouraged to plan to publish their work in a peer-reviewed journal. Additional outputs canalso be incorporated into applications, and we are interested in innovative and creativethinking about how applicants will conduct and present the findings of their ESRA. Theaudiences for these studies are broad, including the research community, DFID, ESRC,

other funders and policy research users, and applicants are encourage to think carefullyabout how they will present and communicate their findings. ESRA reports should notassume strong knowledge on the part of the reader and should be prepared to guide thereader throughout the paper. Graphics, charts and diagrams are likely to be helpful.

Applicants must clearly set out the approach that they intend to take to undertaking theseactivities and producing these outputs, as part of achieving the aims of the ESRA. We arenot specifying a methodology for the ESRA, but anticipate that successful applicants willincorporate direct contact with current/ former principal investigators and other projectstakeholders as appropriate. We expect applicants to indicate the methods that will be used,although the final details of the ESRA workplan will be agreed at an inception meeting within

one month of any award starting. This will enable successful applicants to gain a preliminaryoverview of the relevant material and develop more specific plans, in line with the generalapproach set out in their application.

Funding terms and conditions

Applications may be made for up to a maximum of 30,000 and must be completed withinsix months of the start of the award. As Research Awards these studies may be exemptfrom VAT; however, it is the suppliers legal responsibility to apply the correct VATtreatment. The addition of VAT will be excluded from any value for money assessment. The

ESRA awards do not fall within the Research Council Full Economic Costing (fEC)mechanism, and as such will be undertaken via a contract between the successfulapplicant(s) and the ESRC.

The amount requested will cover the time spent researching and writing the synthesis.Requests for equipment funding are not anticipated. Overhead costs may be included inapplications up to a percentage of staff costs, based on the location of the staff membersorganisation: staff members at organisations based in Least Developed Countries (LDCs),Low-Income Countries (LICs) and Lower Middle-Income Countries (LMICs) as defined bythe DAC list (for the current list seewww.oecd.org/dac/stats/daclistofodarecipients.htm)may include overheads of up to 50 per cent of their salary cost, for all other staff members,

the maximum permitted overhead rate is 20 per cent of salary.

All offers of funding will be on the condition that successful projects produce an agreed,detailed workplan for an inception meeting within one month of the start of the award.Further contact with ESRC and DFID is expected at the draft report stage. In addition, thelead author will be asked to attend a meeting with the funders in the UK to present findingsin person once the report is completed1. Costing for attending this meeting should beincluded in the budget.

1If the lead author is not based in the UK, and the cost of attending a meeting is likely to be prohibitive, [email protected] discuss possible other options for this meeting.
http://www.oecd.org/dac/stats/daclistofodarecipients.htmhttp://www.oecd.org/dac/stats/daclistofodarecipients.htmhttp://www.oecd.org/dac/stats/daclistofodarecipients.htmmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.oecd.org/dac/stats/daclistofodarecipients.htm


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Researchers may be based in either UK or non-UK organisations with recognised researchcapacity. The ESRC and DFID welcome applications from researchers, normally located in ahigher education institute. Researchers in non-HE institutions, for example fromgovernment departments or from the third sector, are also invited to apply. Applicationsfrom non-UK institutions and from teams rather than individuals are also welcome.

Applicants may apply for more than one ESRA, but must submit a separate application foreach proposed ESRA study, which will be assessed on its individual merits in competitionwith other applications on that theme.

Application process

Applications should be submitted via the online application formwww.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/esra-application.aspx.To complete your application youmust include the following documents (attach when prompted):

CVs for all staff to be funded by the project (maximum of two pages for each CV). Financial spreadsheet

(using the Financial Template - available to download from the call webpagewww.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/29372/evidence-synthesis-research-awards-(esra)-call.aspx).
http://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/ESRA-application.aspxhttp://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/ESRA-application.aspxhttp://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/ESRA-application.aspxhttp://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/ESRA-application.aspxhttp://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/29372/evidence-synthesis-research-awards-(esra)-call.aspxhttp://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/29372/evidence-synthesis-research-awards-(esra)-call.aspxhttp://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/29372/evidence-synthesis-research-awards-(esra)-call.aspxhttp://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/29372/evidence-synthesis-research-awards-(esra)-call.aspxhttp://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/29372/evidence-synthesis-research-awards-(esra)-call.aspxhttp://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/ESRA-application.aspxhttp://www.esrc.ac.uk/funding-and-guidance/funding-opportunities/ESRA-application.aspx


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Assessment criteria

Stage 1 - Eligibility check

Proposals will be checked for eligibility on the following criteria:

All required documentation submitted and completed correctly, and applicants meeteligibility criteria

Total budget (exclusive of VAT if appropriate) does not exceed 30,000 persynthesis.

Failure to meet the eligibility criteria will lead to the proposal being rejected at this stage.

Stage 2 - Assessment

Applications will be assessed on the following criteria:

Understanding of the objectives and purpose of the synthesis Knowledge and experience of the specific theme, including demonstrable knowledge

of the wider literature and relevant research

Experience in research and in writing research synthesis products Value for money Quality of the proposed work plan and ability to deliver outputs to the required

timetable.

Indicative timetable and further enquiries

Call for applications issued - 9 December 2013 Applications deadline - 16.00 on 28 January 2014 (UK local time) Assessment of applications - February and March 2014 Successful applicants notified - by April 2014 ESRA begins - from April 2014 Inception meeting - within one month of start of ESRA Draft report submitted - within three months of start of ESRA Final report submitted - up to six months from start of ESRA

Questions on the ESRA specification or application process should be directed [email protected]
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]

Download - Esra Spec 2013 14 Formsite Tcm8 29390

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