Launch Call for Strategic Research

NWO-WOTRO Science for Global Development has launched the second call for proposals within the Strategic Research Fund of the research program Security & Rule of Law in Fragile and Conflict-Affected Settings. This call focuses on inclusive, comprehensive approaches to human security, in view of transnational security threats. The call has been developed in close collaboration with the Knowledge Platform Security & Rule of Law.

The research projects that will be funded, must contribute to new evidence-based knowledge and insights on policies and intervention theories and strategies. The goal is to enhance the effectiveness of inclusive, comprehensive policies and interventions towards transnational threats in specifically targeted fragile and conflict-affected settings. Therefore all applications will be evaluated on scientific quality ánd relevance for development, both of which will carry equal weight. Preferably, projects pay attention to the political and economic role of women in peace and reconstruction processes.

Applying for a grant

Applications for preliminary proposals can be submitted until 18 August 2015. Only consortia of the preliminary proposals that were assessed of at least ‘good’ quality will be invited to submit a full proposal on 1 December 2015 at the latest. For this call, a maximum budget of 2.7 million euros is available. Each granted project will be funded with a maximum budget of 443,000 euros for a duration of 36 months. All research consortia should consist of at least two research organizations worldwide, and a practitioner organization located in one of the countries mentioned below.

Targeted low or middle income-countries are: Afghanistan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, East Timor, Egypt, Ethiopia, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Lebanon, Liberia, Libya, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Palestinian Territories, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Tunisia, Uganda, Ukraine, and Yemen. A regional research focus is encouraged.

Objectives of the call

The objectives of this call for proposals on comprehensive approaches to human security are:

• Contributing to new evidence-based knowledge and insights on policies and intervention theories and strategies regarding inclusive, comprehensive approaches to human security in view of transnational security threats;
• Strengthening linkages between academia, policymakers and practitioners to facilitate the development of policies and interventions, thereby raising awareness and sharing the generated new insights and knowledge with relevant (inter-)national practitioners in different knowledge domains;
• Increasing the capacity of local actors to design such policies and identifying opportunities for capacity-building throughout the process.

Research under this call for proposals must include three inter-related strategic research axes: transnational security dimensions, local conflict and local inclusion; implications of transnational security dimensions on theories of change; and policy implications.

About the research program

The research agenda of the research program Security & Rule of Law was formulated by the Knowledge Platform Security & Rule of Law, and installed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research, NWO-WOTRO Science for Global Development, is responsible for managing the program. Nine research projects have already been granted since the launch of the programme in 2014.

Besides this call under the Strategic Research Fund, also two calls for proposals within the Applied Research Fund are currently open for application. These deadlines for applying are 17 July 2015 and 6 November 2015.

For more information on the calls, please visit www.nwo.nl/securityandlaw. Questions can be sent to SRoL-SRF3@nwo.nl.