Seventh Call for Proposals: PhD Research Grants

Deadline Date: May 20, 2024

 Donor Name: Structural Transformation and Economic Growth

 Grant Size: $10,000 to $100,000

The Structural Transformation and Economic Growth (STEG) invites applications to the Seventh call for proposals for PhD Research Grants.

Themes

• Research may focus on broad systemic patterns and processes of structural transformation and growth for low- and middle-income countries, in a comparative sense across time or space, or more narrowly defined topics related to one or more of the following six research themes:
  • Data, measurement, and conceptual framing;
  • Firms, frictions and spillovers, and industrial policy;
  • Labour, home production, and structural transformation at the level of households;
  • Agricultural productivity and sectoral gaps;
  • Trade and spatial frictions;
  • Political economy and public investment.
• STEG is also focused around three cross-cutting issues that are simultaneously relevant to many areas of structural transformation, including the six research themes:
  • Gender;
  • Climate change and the environment;
  • Inequality and inclusion.

Funding Information

• PhD Research Grants of up to £15,000 can fund research assistance, data collection and/or purchase, and stipends. Stipends should only be requested if they allow the researcher(s) to reduce teaching/administrative duties and therefore free up time for research. There is scope for other stipend usage in the case of researchers from the Global South. 
• Stipends are capped at £12,000 for PhD students in programmes located in high-income countries and the PPP equivalent for PhD students in programmes located in low- and middle-income countries. Grants will also support travel to field sites, even when secondary data is utilised. They view this kind of travel (with the possibilities for field visits and conversations with policy makers) as particularly important for researchers who lack prior experience in the countries that they intend to study.
• A PhD Research Grant is intended to be completed within 12 months.

Eligibility Criteria

• Applicants must be currently enrolled in a PhD programme to be eligible for this call and will require a letter of support from their PhD supervisor.
• They welcome applications to the SRG and PhD calls from researchers all over the world, and encourage applications that propose collaboration between researchers from lower- and higher-income countries.
• In view of the current political situation and the imposition of economic sanctions on various Russian entities by Western governments, they are not currently able to accept proposals for projects that include researchers or members of the research team who are based at Russian institutions.
• An important criterion for funding is that the research is relevant to policy in low-income countries (LICs), particularly in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). While STEG is willing to fund research elsewhere, a clear case for the relevance of the research to policy in specific low-income countries must be made. Further, particular consideration will be given to PhD researchers from LICs or based at institutions in LICs in order to encourage broader participation in the programme.
• Principal investigators applying to SRG calls should currently have a PhD or be enrolled in a PhD programme.

For more information, visit STEG.