In February 2021, the HTRI launched an open call for proposals for seed grants for partnership building, pilots, and data analysis. This RFP is closed as of March 21, 2021. Thank you to all who shared your submissions.

The Human Trafficking Research Initiative (HTRI) invites proposals from researchers and organizations that intend to design and carry out studies on how to reduce human trafficking or respond to the needs of human trafficking victims, but need some additional time and support to push the research project to the next stage. We expect to fund a total of 6 to 9 proposals in this round that, as noted below, could cover a range of different activities. 

With this call for proposals, IPA solicits proposals from researcher teams interested in expanding the evidence to further investigate this important topic. The fund will consider human trafficking research projects from all approaches to reduce human trafficking, including prevention, protection, prosecution, advocacy, and reestablishment programs. The primary focus of the fund for this round of study is to strengthen the evidence around potentially impactful programs. Proposals are due by March 21, 2021. These grants are geared to rapidly turn around usable data and analysis, so we expect all projects to produce substantive progress reports by December 31, 2021 and complete project closure by March 31, 2022. Those interested in applying are asked to first read through our funding priorities, which are listed in the guidelines document. 

Please refer to the linked PDF document on this page (click the "Download" button or the preview image) to review the application guidelines in full. The link to apply is here. Please direct any questions to the HTRI team.

As the guidelines state, the application materials are:

• Application Form
• Budget Template
• CVs of all researchers on the project (see pg. 2 of the guidelines PDF for more details)
• Letters of support from implementing partners, if applicable (see pg. 2 of the guidelines PDF for more details)
• Please complete all materials listed above and submit them via our online Application Submission Form

The HTRI will give preference to underrepresented researchers in the field. We encourage applications from minority researchers, such as women, junior scholars, first-generation college graduates, and citizens of lower- or middle-income countries. Local researchers and local organizations are necessary for the success of many human trafficking programs and assessments; this will be incorporated into our proposal assessment.