Selection Criteria


Application for Grants and Selection Procedure

SANEI organises regional research competitions annually, and funds selected research projects. A Call for Proposals is announced every year, around October-November. This announcement is carried in the SANEI website, as well as prominent social science journals in South Asia. Research proposals are generally invited on issues of economic relevance to South Asia. Proposals could relate to a single country or more than one, in a comparative framework. In 2002, SANEI also invited proposals in the area of Education Policy Research.

The general guidelines for application and selection criteria are highlighted:

Guidelines for Funding and Application

1. Grants are awarded for one year only. The grant is awarded in US dollars.
2. Applicants must be a national of any of the following countries in South Asia - Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, currently resident in these countries.
3. An applicant cannot submit more than one project or be a member of more than one research team. A SANEI Steering Committee Member cannot be a project holder or a researcher in a SANEI supported project
4. A formal application must be made by the institution (eg. Universities, research institutes or non-profit organisations) with which the applicant is affiliated and if the project proposal is funded, the institution will be responsible for the administration of the grant. No funds will be paid directly to the individuals.

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Proposal Review

Selection will be made on a competitive basis. The Research Advisory Panel (RAP) of SANEI comprising of internationally renowned economists will evaluate the research proposals .

Evaluation Criteria

The evaluation of the research proposals will be based on:

1. Clarity of the proposed research question
2. Originality
3. Use of the most modern and appropriate techniques.
4. Cost effectiveness.

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Guidelines for Proposal Submission

Proposals must include the following components:

1. A cover sheet clearly specifying the project title, names of principal researchers and e-mail contact address.
2. An abstract of no more than 200 words outlining the significance of the research and the methodology to be used.
3. A research proposal of no more than ten (10) doubled-spaced pages
4. A brief survey of literature and some indication of the availability of data.
5. A bibliography of relevant literature
6. Short CVs of participating researcher/s (not more than ten pages).
7. Information on how many other project/s the researchers/s will be involved at the same time as the proposed study.
8. The proposed budget on a separate sheet in the format below. All figures must be in US$. If more than one institute is involved, the budget must clearly state the expenses for each institute in respect of all cost-heads, viz.
   1. Salaries
   2. Field Survey/Data Collection
   3. Books, Stationary and Software
   4. Communications
   5. Travel for workshop/conference
   6. Subtotal
   7. Overheads (up to 5% of the subtotal) Total

Grants cannot be used for buying computers, hardware and other acquisitions of a capital nature.

The disbursement pattern would be 25% upon award of the grant and signing of the contract, 50% upon receipt of the progress report at the mid-point of the grant and 25% upon receipt of final deliverables from the grant.

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