Displaced Livelihoods Initiative Call for Proposals

Overview

The Displaced Livelihoods Initiative (DLI) is pleased to announce a call for proposal (CFP). DLI funds proposals to design, pilot, evaluate, build research infrastructure, and scale innovations that can effectively support sustainable livelihoods for displaced populations and host communities. We ask applicants to review the CFP carefully for detailed instructions on the applicant eligibility restrictions, application instructions, and application process.

Dates for Round I: 

  • April 2023: First competitive round announced 
  • Friday, June 2 at 11:59 pm PT: Expression of interest deadline (required for full proposal application) 
  • Friday, July 21 at 11:59 pm PT: Full proposal deadline

Research Funding Opportunities

Competitive research funding will be available for impact evaluations ("full studies", up to an estimated $500,000), infrastructure and public goods grants (up to $250,000), scaling support (up to $200,000), pilot studies (up to $75,000), and exploratory grants (up to $10,000). 

The research and learning priorities outlined in DLI’s Call for Proposals should guide your application.

Eligibility

Geographical Eligibility

This fund is managed jointly by IPA and J-PAL, with IPA accepting proposals for work in Africa, Asia, and Latin America, and J-PAL accepting proposals for work in Europe and in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Applicants should refer to this country-by-country list to ensure that they are following the right process. 

Researcher Eligibility

Eligible researchers for funding from J-PAL are J-PAL affiliates, DLI invited researchers, J-PAL Europe office invited researchers, and their graduate students. Research teams that do not fit this eligibility criteria are encouraged to reach out to [email protected] in order to discuss possible options, including the possibility of being connected to eligible researchers. Proposals from research teams that do not fit this eligibility criteria will still be asked to fill in J-PAL’s EOI. Their submission will be shared with IPA for consideration by IPA, if recommended after the EOI stage.

Methodological Eligibility

In line with J-PAL’s mission, J-PAL will exclusively fund randomized evaluations under the full study grant window and expect strong links to existing, ongoing, or future experimental research for all other grant types. Promising EOIs for projects in MENA and Europe, but which do not meet J-PAL's methodological eligibility criteria, may be invited to complete the subsequent stages of the application process with IPA if recommended after the review of their EOI.

Deadlines and Application Instructions

Accessing the application portal

J-PAL initiatives use an online portal for all proposal submissions. To apply to DLI’s first CFP for MENA- and Europe-based projects, you will first need an account for the online portal

To request a new account for the J-PAL portal, please complete this form and specify that you want an applicant (“grantee”) account. Account creation normally takes no more than two business days; you will be asked to verify your email address and set a password. Afterwards, you should receive an email confirming that your account has been created. 

If you already have an account but do not remember the password, please contact [email protected] for help retrieving or resetting your password. For further information and troubleshooting please get in touch with [email protected]. Your J-PAL portal account credentials will allow you to apply to or review for any J-PAL initiative. Our portal works best in the latest version of Google Chrome.

Once your account has been created, login to the portal with your username. Once you are logged into the portal, please click this link in order to access DLI’s Expression of Interest form. 

Step 1: Expression of Interest (EOI) form 

The pre-proposal round is to determine project eligibility and to assess whether your proposed project addresses DLI’s research agenda. We aim to respond to EOI submissions within two weeks to let applicants know whether they are invited to submit a full proposal.

Step 2: Invitation to submit proposal materials

If you receive an invitation to apply, please follow the next steps outlined in the relevant proposal guidelines document linked below. We aim to share the outcomes from our review within 10–12 weeks from the submission deadline.

Supporting Materials

1. Call for Proposals (CFP)

DLI CFP Document 

2. Application Instructions

Full study

Application Instructions: Full study

Pilot studies

Application Instructions: Pilot Study

Exploratory Grant

Application Instructions: Exploratory Grant 

Support for Scale

Application Instructions: Scaling Support

Infrastructure and Public Goods Creation

Application Instructions: Infrastructure and Public Goods Creation


3. Submission Material Templates

Budget Template

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