Research Funding

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In this image:Participants in an IPA study on teacher transfers digitize marks from copies of students' tests in Kampala, Uganda. © 2018 Aude Guerrucci
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IPA's research funds provide competitive funding for rigorous research on understudied topics of global policy interest.

Our funds are managed by in-house experts and supported by guidance from leading academic researchers. IPA has managed large-scale competitive funds for rigorous research (randomized controlled trials or RCTs, and other rigorous evaluation methods) on numerous topics, including financial inclusion, human trafficking, intimate partner violence, peace and recovery, and small and medium enterprises, along with funds for developing and improving research methods.

IPA has developed robust systems for soliciting, selecting, and managing awards, ranging from travel awards and seed funding for partnership development, to pilot studies, to full RCTs. We have also funded add-ons to existing studies, meta-analyses, policy outreach support, and infrastructure and public goods creation such as panel datasets. IPA research awards are made with the expectation that the funding will eventually lead to a high-quality impact evaluation, publishable in an academic journal.

IPA staff work with academic advisors to form selection committees composed of experts in the topic and research methodology, along with members with deep policy knowledge. Proposals are generally scored based on academic contribution, policy relevance, technical design, project viability, and value of research.

Awards can be made to projects in IPA country offices (with research managed by IPA) or outside of IPA country offices. Applicants may be from any institution so long as they have sufficient expertise to carry out the work. We encourage applications from researchers from multiple disciplines and historically underrepresented groups, and we strongly prefer research teams include researchers from the countries where the project will take place.

 

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Open Funding Opportunities

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A Tibetan woman works as a weaver in the carpet workshop of the Tibetan Refugee Self-Help Centre in Darjeeling, India. © 2017 Shutterstock / Mazur Travel

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Displaced Livelihoods Initiative

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IPA and J-PAL’s Displaced Livelihoods Initiative, supported by the IKEA Foundation, has launched its inaugural Call for Proposals. For proposals for research in Africa, Asia, or Latin America, optional expressions of interest are due Friday, June 2nd, and proposals are due Friday, July 21st at 11:59pm Pacific. Those interested in applying are asked to first read the initiative’s Call for Proposals and Application Instructions. Please reach out to displacement@poverty-action.org with any questions.

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Innovations for Poverty Action logo in white and green on black background, without word-mark

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Request for Expressions of Interest: IPA’s Partnership for Tech (P4T) | Subsidized Research and Testing Partnerships in Edtech

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Innovations for Poverty Action’s Partnerships for Tech (P4T) program—an initiative of IPA's Right-Fit Evidence Unit—aims to unlock the potential of technology for global development. The program’s current focus is on supporting organizations in realizing the potential of digital approaches in primary and secondary education for improved learning outcomes. P4T invites short expressions of interest (approximately 250-800 words) from organizations seeking to enhance their impact through the use of research and testing. IPA will offer tailored, subsidized services to high-performing and/or high potential organizations to address their key challenges and opportunities as part of this request for expressions of interest. While the request for interest will close at the end of day, May 24, 2023 [Eastern Daylight Time], applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis, so early applications are encouraged.

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Closed Funding Opportunities

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Consumer Protection

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IPA's Consumer Protection Research Initiative is a four-year research initiative, which partners with policymakers, financial institutions, and civil society to develop new consumer protection solutions in digital financial services. The Initiative focuses on key consumer protection themes relevant to digital financial services.

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Human Trafficking Research Initiative

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Despite the gravity and prevalence of human trafficking, there is a notable lack of evidence on what programs work to reduce trafficking and support victims. To support research on this critical and understudied topic, IPA has established the Human Trafficking Research Initiative in partnership with the Program to End Modern Slavery (PEMS) at the U.S. Department of State, with the guidance and support of co-scientific advisors Guy Grossman (University of Pennsylvania) and Cecilia Hyunjung Mo (University of California, Berkeley). HTRI's recent call for proposals for seed grants for partnership building, pilots, and data analysis is closed as of Friday, March 31, 2023. Thank you to all who submitted proposals. If you have any questions, please reach out to ipa_htri@poverty-action.org.

 

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Intimate Partner Violence

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IPA's Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) Initiative seeks to inform global development policy and practice on IPV reduction by expanding knowledge and improving research methods. By building on existing studies, the IPV Initiative aims to generate insights on the development programs that shift IPV outcomes and what factors drive these changes.These include studies of programs that impact household finances, increase women’s empowerment, and improve socio-emotional skills. The IPV Initiative's research fund leverages existing research studies to advance our understanding of the underlying causes and influencing factors of intimate partner violence. For reference, see past funded projects.

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Peace & Recovery

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IPA's Peace & Recovery Program (P&R) sector supports field experiments and related research in several broad areas: reducing violence and promoting peace; reducing "fragility" (i.e. fostering state capability and institutions of decision-making); and preventing, coping with, and recovering from crises (focusing on conflict, but also including non-conflict humanitarian crises such as COVID-19). Through its competitive fund, P&R supports full randomized evaluations, pilot studies, exploratory and descriptive work, travel grants, and (in rare but deserving cases) quasi-experimental evaluations. For reference, see past funded projects.

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Research Methods

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The Research Methods Initiative is a collaboration between IPA and the Global Poverty Research Lab at Northwestern University.The initiative supports systematic studies into how to improve the methods and measurement of key outcomes in global poverty research. The initiative was created to examine sources of measurement error in research studies including in questionnaire design, sampling, fieldwork implementation, and validation of key indicators. It is organized around three themes: (1) research design, (2) questionnaire design, and (3) fieldwork implementation and data quality.

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