Displaced Livelihoods Initiative Call for Proposals

Overview

The Displaced Livelihoods Initiative (DLI) is pleased to announce its second Call for Proposals. DLI funds proposals to design, pilot, evaluate, build research infrastructure, and scale interventions that can effectively support sustainable livelihoods for displaced populations and host communities. More detail on the scope and research and learning priorities is provided in the Call for Proposals (CFP).

Please carefully review the CFP as well as the information below to gain a full understanding of grant types, eligibility criteria, the application process and the application instructions.

    Grant Types

    Competitive research funding will be available for exploratory grants (up to $10,000), pilot studies (up to $75,000), impact evaluations ("full studies"; up to $500,000, with an expected average award range of $150,000-$250,000), infrastructure and public goods grants (up to $250,000), and scaling support (up to $200,000).

    Please carefully consult DLI’s Call for Proposals and the relevant application instructions linked below for more detail on the purpose of each of these grant types and chose the type that best fits the current stage of your research.

    Eligibility

    All applicants (including affiliates and invited researchers) are limited to submitting three proposals, inclusive of all proposal types, per 12-month period per initiative either as main PIs or co-PIs. If an applicant is submitting a fourth proposal in a 12-month period, the proposal is ineligible for funding.

    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. 

    • To learn more about how to apply for projects in Africa, Asia, or Latin America, please see IPA's CFP page to apply.  
    • To learn more about how to apply for projects in Europe and MENA, please continue reading.

    Research Team Eligibility

    At least one researcher per project must be primarily affiliated with a university and either hold a PhD or be currently pursuing a PhD in a relevant discipline. For applications to the J-PAL-managed part of the fund, i.e. for projects in the MENA region and Europe, at least one researcher per project must be a J-PAL affiliate or an invited researcher to DLI, J-PAL Europe, or J-PAL MENA. Also eligible are PhD candidates supervised by a researcher responding to one of those eligibility criteria.

    Research teams with projects in MENA and Europe that do not fit the J-PAL-specific eligibility criteria are encouraged to fill in this researcher interest form and send it to [email protected] in order to discuss possible options, including the possibility of being connected to eligible researchers.

    Promising EOIs for projects in MENA and Europe, but which do not meet J-PAL's research team eligibility criteria may be invited to complete the subsequent stages of the application process with IPA if recommended after the review of their EOI. Please continue the process outlined in this document as long as your project meets the geographical eligibility criteria.

    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. Please continue the process outlined in this document as long as your project meets the geographical eligibility criteria.

    Application Steps and Deadlines

    Accessing the Application Portal

    J-PAL initiatives use an online portal for all proposal submissions. To apply to DLI’s second 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) 

    Expressions of Interest will help us determine project eligibility, whether your proposed project addresses DLI’s research agenda, and whether the proposed project fits the selected grant type. We aim to respond to EOI submissions within three weeks to let applicants know whether they are invited to submit a full proposal.

    Step 2: Proposal

    If you receive an invitation to submit a full proposal following the EOI stage, please follow the next steps outlined in the relevant proposal guidelines document linked below. We aim to share the outcomes from our review within the timelines outlined below.

    Timeline

    DLI's second round of funding opened in October 2023. Expression of Interest are due November 22, 2023, at 23:59 PT. This step is required to be invited to submit a full proposal. Proposals are due by January 19, 2024. Funding decisions will be announced in April 2024.

    Supporting Materials

    1. Call for Proposals (CFP)

    DLI CFP Document 

    2. Application Instructions

    Full Study

    Application Instructions: Full Study

    Pilot Study

    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

    Total Project Budget (overview over all costs required to complete the project)

    Initiative Budget (budget requested from DLI)

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