Frequently asked questions

Prior engagement is not a requirement, but the proposal is more likely to be successful if it responds to policy demands Bangladesh. The IGC recommends researchers discuss their proposals with the IGC Bangladesh Country team. Our country team in Bangladesh can also facilitate dialogue between researchers and policymakers.

Yes. The IGC encourages applicants to indicate budget priorities in their proposals under the section regarding ‘financial information’. In the event that the IGC is unable to fund the entire project, it will then be easier to identify which modules are essential. Applicants who have secured or aim to secure other funding are also welcome to apply for only partial funding for their project from the IGC. In this scenario, applicants should make clear what proportion of overall funding for the project is being requested from the IGC, and which proposed milestones will trigger IGC payments.

Yes. Researchers with a proposal focused on Bangladesh are encouraged to apply separately to both calls if they are eligible – even if it’s the same proposal. Each call has its own application form and different set of evaluators and evaluation timelines.

Yes, IGC gives equal opportunity to researchers from all over the world, and proposals are assessed on quality and the evaluation criteria outlined in the guidelines.

It is typical for researchers to hire their own Research Assistants (RAs) for these projects. For institutionally managed projects, these RAs are contracted by the managing institution. For individually managed projects, these RAs are contracted by the IGC.

No, the IGC follows the UK FCDO’s travel policies, and is unable to pay per diems. It does, however, fund expenses if they have been budgeted for in the proposal, and only if original receipts are presented. Please refer to the IGC Travel Policy in annex 4 for further details.

IGC rarely funds proposals that are purely theoretical. Majority of projects that IGC has funded don’t have mathematical models. Most of funded projects are based on microeconomics and its very rare for IGC to fund projects based on macroeconomic questions. Proposals based on purely empirical questions are welcomed.

The proposal has to contain a description of how the researchers plan to execute the project. It can’t be just a research idea or a research question. It should have other substantial details on how to answer that research question through empirical research. If you only have a research question with some plan to execute the project but don’t have the data, please get in touch with the country team and share your research question/idea with them and they can help guide you on how to get access to the required data and how to proceed with the proposal.

IGC has funded a lot of scoping work or pilot studies by researchers in the past. We don’t fund desk research. You should finish your desk research before you apply for funding at the IGC. A project where the researchers want to pilot a survey to understand the effect of their intervention in a population is acceptable.

IGC wants researchers to conduct field research in an ethical and responsible way and comply with COVID guidelines.

Yes, research design is important if you are using primary or secondary/administrative data. Your research design should explain how you are going to use the data and analyse the data so it is equally important for all data types.

If its pure replication, where you are taking the exact same project and taking it to another country it has a low chance of going through funding as it won’t be very competitive. If it is pure replication but you have had an interaction with the policy maker who specifically asked for that work to be replicated in that country then that has a much better chance of going through funding. If you add a small component of novelty to it and you have a strong policy maker interest, then you have a high chance of acceptance.

Typically, no. IGC has funded projects in the past where an NGO collaborates with an academic institution but we have rarely funded projects purely with NGOs as lead institution. We would strongly encourage you to collaborate with an academic partner.