The Global Development Network (GDN) invites researchers from low-income or middle-income countries to submit research proposals within the theme ‘Post-COVID-19 Governance – Learning from challenging circumstances to build better governance systems’for the Japanese Award for Outstanding Research on Development (ORD).
The Award
The Japanese Award for Outstanding Research on Development is a competitive research grant program under the umbrella of the Global Development Awards Competition (GDAC), administered by GDN, funded under the Policy and Human Resources Development Fund (PHRD) trust fund managed by the World Bank, and generously supported by the Ministry of Finance, Government of Japan. This award program identifies and funds outstanding research proposals in low- or middle-income countries with high potential for excellence in research and clear policy implications for addressing development issues.
The three winning projects will receive grants worth US$ 60,000. Finalists will be invited to join a communications training in preparation of a pitch of their project in front of a high-level Jury, which will decide which research proposal to award. A physical event is planned in early November 2022 for the presentations to the high-level Jury by the finalists, if conditions allow it, and projects are expected to start in early 2023. In case social distancing policies do not make travelling possible, the event will be held on a virtual setting. The awards will be given to the researcher(s) whose proposals hold the greatest promise for improving our understanding of development issues and puts forth clear, articulate and well researched policy implications to address relevant developmental problems.
The first prize winner will receive a grant of US$ 30,000. The second prize and third prize winners will receive a grant of US$ 20,000 and US$ 10,000 respectively. The funds will be used to support the research work proposed by the winners towards the completion of their research. Additionally, awardees will be paired with world-class academic in their area of work who will play the role of a Scientific and Technical Advisor.
The deadline for submission of applications is on the 6 January 2023 (Indian Standard Time 6:00 PM)
Gender Bias
GDN recognizes the imbalance in the opportunities provided to women in professional research, as well as the consequences of unconscious gender bias in review processes in environments across the world. GDN also recognizes the impact these factors can have on the prospects of women researchers in securing awards and funding.
Starting with the 2022 edition, GDN is planning to embed more equitable grant-making processes to guarantee that more women have the opportunity to compete and win while still maintaining a high-quality standard on the evaluation. Therefore, GDN will institute a selection process for GDAC where we will make all efforts to guarantee gender representation amongst the 3 finalists of the ORD category.
We are taking this step in parallel to a revamped Capacity-building Framework for individuals or NGOs that are interested in GDAC since we will aim to support them regardless of their success in the review process. This means that we will develop activities for prospective applicants, grantees, and past grantees so that they develop some skills useful for other competitions or endeavors. We hope this will contribute to building capacity and empowering southern researchers including women.
GDN strongly encourages female researchers to engage and apply.
Connector Grant
The 2022 edition will introduce the Connector Grant which aims to stimulate international cooperation through the development of collaborative projects to support scale-up efforts with research-based evidence. The Connector grant will be awarded to ORD grantees, based on a project developed in collaboration with the MIDP grantees who received the JSDF grant. This grant will support the award recipients’ collaborative efforts towards measuring and analyzing scale-up impact, as well as to enhance the robustness of their M&E activities. The application to this grant will only take place after the full implementation of the funded ORD project and will not be part of the selection of the ORD winners.
Finalists are expected to be available for the Communications Training and the VIRTUAL event for the presentation of their projects to the jury in April.
How to register
- How to Apply
Follow the steps given below:
- Submit your application
- Follow to GDN’s dedicated online submission platform using the following link: www.gdn.int/gdac/2022/apply
- Register or Log-in into the platform to have access to your profile. You will receive an email confirming the successful registration of your profile and define your password. Only after verifying your profile, will you be able to submit an application.
- On your profile page, follow the displayed instructions and go to [Applications] “Funding Opportunities” to select the Call you wish to apply to or resume one from the [Applications] “In Progress” section.
- You must pass the automated Eligibility Screening before having access to the Full Proposal. If you fail it, you will not be able to submit an application but reach out to GDN if you are facing issues.
- A collaborator must accept and fill their Collaborator Form which is found at [Collaboration Forms and Applications] “Action Required” before being filled. Afterwards, he/she will have access to the proposal they are associated with and can make edits and even submit it. This application will not be at [Collaboration Forms and Applications] “Applications”
- Take note that you will be able to resume your entry at any time up to the deadline. If there are duplicate entries, the most recent one will be considered as only one proposal per applicant is allowed.
- You will be asked to provide the details of the proposal and you must invite your team members by placing their name and email address on the “Collaborators” tab. Don’t forget to press “Invite” and check if people have accepted by checking their status on this tab.
- Upload all necessary documents and fill all sections otherwise your application will not be submitted.
- Once you have completed your application, click on “Submit”. You will receive an email notifying you on the successful submission of your application with a copy of the entire submission.
Check our website for additional information on how to interact with the platform or reach out to us if you need any assistance.