Frequently asked questions

Prior engagement is not a requirement, but the proposal is more likely to be successful if it responds to policy demands in the country selected. However, for small grant applicants, they must contact the IGC country team as they develop their proposals. The IGC recommends researchers submitting country-focused research to discuss their proposals with the relevant IGC partner country team. Country teams can also facilitate dialogue between researchers and policymakers. Researchers should contact the country teams for more information.

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, 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 for applicants.

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 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.

Proposal should contain a clear description of how the researchers plan to execute the project. It cannot just be 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.

Applicants can come from anywhere in the world, but we strongly encourage research to be conducted in an IGC resident country.

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.

On average IGC projects last between 1 – 3 years. It is very rare for IGC to fund projects that are more than 3 years long or last less than 1 year.