Call for proposals

International Growth Centre (IGC)
Trade Research Program
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
October 2010

The trade program of the International Growth
Centre
(<http://www.theigc.org/>http://www.theigc.org)
invites application for funding of top-quality
research at the intersection of trade and
development. A brief description of the agenda of
the group and additional information regarding
the activities of our programme can be found
<http://www.theigc.org/research/Trade>here.

Proposals addressing the key themes identified in
the agenda – (i) product composition, (ii)
externalities, (iii) measurement, (iv) winners
and losers – are particularly encouraged,
although proposals on other topics in
international economics relevant to policy issues
in the poorest developing countries are also welcome.

Timing

Proposals should be emailed using the attached
form (no other attachments please) to the program
directors, Andres Rodriguez-Clare
(<mailto:andres_at_psu.edu>andres_at_psu.edu) and Eric
Verhoogen
(<mailto:eric.verhoogen_at_columbia.edu>eric.verhoogen_at_columbia.edu).
The deadline for proposals is Oct. 29 2010.

Although funding decisions are made by the IGC
Steering Group, we can provide preliminary
feedback on proposals; to receive feedback, it
would be best for proposals to be received by Oct. 20.

Criteria for Assessment

The Steering Group will assess proposals on the following four criteria.

(i) The extent to which the proposed research is
innovative and contributes to substantive,
relevant knowledge. This criterion captures
general academic rigor and quality, and rewards
proposals which are able to effectively define
their contribution with respect to the existing literature.

(ii) Whether and how the proposed research
responds to the emerging growth policy problems
faced by the world's poorest countries.
Researchers should make the case that the
proposed study will have the potential to inform
policy which relates to economic growth in
developing countries. A direct way (but not the
only way) to establish relevance is to respond to
a demand for knowledge from one of the IGC focus
countries listed on the IGC website
(<http://www.theigc.org/>www.theigc.org). Please
see attached document titled "Research opportunities in IGC countries."

(iii) Value for money.

(iv) Whether the proposed research team includes
academics based in developing countries. The IGC
wishes to build the capacity of
researchers based at institutions in developing
countries. It would count positively if a
proposal originates from a team which includes
researchers based in a developing country on a co-PI (co-author) basis.

Budgeting

Applicants are encouraged to provide some
guidance on the order of priority of the items
requested in the proposal budget. In the event
that the IGC is unable to provide full funding
for your proposal, this would make it easier for
us to identify which modules are scalable or
optional, and which are essential. For projects
with more than one applicant (Principal
Investigator) the preference is for one applicant
or institution to act as the lead party, and if
the proposal is successful disbursements will be made to the lead party. Where
separate contracts are required, separate budgets
should be provided for each required contract.
Please provide the name(s) and full
contact details of the lead party/parties in the
budget section of the proposal form.

PI Remuneration

Proposals can include Principal Investigator
remuneration where this is not covered from other
sources. These should be costed at fixed daily
rate of no more than GBP 500 per day. The IGC
does not prescribe norms for the recovery of
Principal Investigator remuneration or indirect
and estates costs where these apply. But
applicants should bear in mind when preparing the
budget that ‘value for money’ is one of the
evaluation criteria, and projects where these
costs are a modest proportion of total budget
costs would be at an advantage in this respect.