The Africa Initiative today announces a call for proposals as part of its research grant competition for 2012. Applications will be accepted until January 31, 2012, and application material can be found on the Africa Portal at www.africaportal.org/research.
African- or Canadian-based researchers with a doctorate degree are eligible for the research grants, which will support field-based research to be conducted in Africa and include reimbursements for research costs of up to $10,000 (CAD) and an honorarium of $5,000 (CAD).
“This competition gives early-to-mid career researchers a great opportunity to conduct policy-relevant work in Africa,” said Thomas Kwasi Tieku, lead researcher for the Africa Initiative. “Their findings will help to inform decision making on these critical issues and to shape important debates in Africa’s research circles.”
Special consideration will be given to proposals that are amenable to cross-country comparison and develop benchmarks for measuring policy outcomes. Proposed research should be field-based and seek to address challenges facing African policy-makers in one or more of the Africa Initiative’s thematic areas of conflict resolution, energy, food security, health, migration, and climate change. All proposals related to the thematic areas will be considered but particular attention will be given to those that deal with one or more of the following topics:
- Distribution of food and water as a public good;
- Financing for innovative solutions to challenges in the areas of climate change and energy;
- Emerging donors in Africa, such as India, China and Brazil;
- Implications of demographic change and urbanization;
- Policy implementation gaps in local health care delivery and treatment of infectious diseases;
- Sources of funding for rebel movements.
The Africa Initiative is a multi-year, donor-supported program, with three components: a research program, an exchange program, and an online portal. A joint undertaking by The Centre for International Governance Innovation, in cooperation with Makerere University, and the South African Institute for International Affairs (SAIIA), the Africa Initiative incorporates field-based research, online collaboration, and strategic partnerships, to facilitating unique knowledge building and develop policy recommendations for decision makers in Africa.
For more details on the Africa Initiative’s research grant competition, please visit www.africaportal.org/research or contact [email protected].
MEDIA CONTACT:
Kevin Dias, Communications Specialist, CIGI
Tel: 519.885.2444, ext. 238, Email: [email protected]
The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) is an independent, nonpartisan think tank on international governance. Led by experienced practitioners and distinguished academics, CIGI supports research, forms networks, advances policy debate and generates ideas for multilateral governance improvements. Conducting an active agenda of research, events and publications, CIGI’s interdisciplinary work includes collaboration with policy, business and academic communities around the world. CIGI was founded in 2001 by Jim Balsillie, co-CEO of RIM (Research In Motion), and collaborates with and gratefully acknowledges support from a number of strategic partners, in particular the Government of Canada and the Government of Ontario. For more information, please visit www.cigionline.org.
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