Japanese Award for Outstanding Research on Development (ORD) 2022 (US$ 30,000 grant)

Applications open for the Japanese Award for Outstanding Research on Development (ORD) 2022

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 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.

Benefits

• 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 paired with world-class academic in their area of work who will play the role of a Scientific and Technical Advisor.

Finalists will be invited to join 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, at a physical event in March/April 2023 (details to be defined) and projects are expected to start in May 2023. In case social distancing policies do not make travelling possible, the event will be held in a virtual setting.

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 they 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 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.

Eligibility

• The upper age limit for all applicants is 45 years by the end of 2022. Individuals above 45 years of age as of 1 January 2023 are not eligible to apply
• Past ORD winners and finalists are not eligible to apply with the same or similar research proposal.
• Additionally, winners are not eligible to apply for a period of three years subsequent to the end of their agreement with GDN.
• Previous and current employees of GDN (Including interns and members of evaluation teams) or its Regional Network Partners1 are not eligible to apply up till 5 years from the completion of their tenure.
• More so,each applicant involved only with one proposal.

Eligible countries

Afghanistan; Albania; Algeria; American Samoa; Angola; Argentina; Armenia; Azerbaijan; Bangladesh; Belarus; Belize; Benin; Bhutan; Bolivia; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Botswana; Brazil; Bulgaria; Burkina Faso; Burundi; Cabo Verde; Cambodia; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Chad; China; Comoros; Colombia; Costa Rica; Congo, Dem. Rep; Congo, Rep.; Côte d’Ivoire; Cuba; Djibouti; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Egypt; El Salvador; Eritrea; Eswatini; Equatorial Guinea; Ethiopia; Fiji; Gabon; Gambia; Georgia; Ghana; Grenada; Guatemala; Guinea; GuineaBissau; Guyana; Haiti; Honduras; India; Indonesia; Iran; Iraq; Kenya; Kiribati; Korea, Dem. People’s Rep; Jamaica; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Kosovo; Kyrgyz Republic; Lao; Lebanon; Lesotho; Liberia; Libya.

Similarly:

Madagascar; Malaysia; Malawi; Maldives; Mali; Marshall Islands; Mauritania; Mauritius; Mexico; Micronesia; Moldova; Mongolia; Montenegro; Morocco; Mozambique; Myanmar; Nepal; Namibia; Nicaragua; Niger; Nigeria; North Macedonia; Pakistan; Papua New Guinea; Panama; Paraguay; Peru; Philippines; Romania; Russian Federation; Rwanda; Samoa; São Tomé and Principe; Senegal; Serbia; Sierra Leone; Solomon Islands; Somalia; South Africa; South Sudan; Sri Lanka; St. Lucia; St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Sudan; Suriname; Syrian Arab Republic; Tajikistan; Tanzani; Timor-Leste; Thailand; Togo; Tonga; Tunisia; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Tuvalu; Uganda; Ukraine; Uzbekistan; Vanuatu; Vietnam; West Bank and Gaza; Yemen; Zambia; Zimbabwe

Important dates (tentative)

• Deadline for submissions: 14 November 2022
• Announcement of Eligibility screening results: 21 November 2022
• Announcement of First Level review results (shortlisted applications) and comments from reviewers: 23 December 2022
• Resubmission of the updated application by the shortlisted applicants: 6 January 2023
• Announcement of Second Level review results (finalists) and comments from reviewers: 10 February 2023
• Resubmission of updated applications by the finalists: 17 February 2022
• Announcement of finalists: 17 February 2023              
• Announcement of winners: March/April 2023

Vist GDN for further information on Japanese Award for Outstanding Research on Development (ORD) 2022

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