International Development Research Center Research Awards 2019

This call is open to Canadians, permanent residents of Canada, and citizens of developing countries pursuing a master’s or a doctoral degree at a recognized university OR who have completed a master’s or a doctoral degree at a recognized university.

Please note the additional eligibility requirements outlined immediately below.

Who can apply

Positions are available at IDRC’s head office in Ottawa, Canada; at our Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean in Montevideo, Uruguay; and at IDRC’s Regional Office for Sub-Saharan Africa, in Nairobi, Kenya. Eligibility criteria differ for each location.

For the eleven positions located at IDRC’s head office in Ottawa, this call is open to:

• Canadians and permanent residents of Canada pursuing a master’s or a doctoral degree at a recognized university OR who have completed (within the last three years) a master’s or doctoral degree at a recognized university.
• Citizens of developing countries pursuing a master’s or a doctoral degree at a Canadian university and who, prior to applying, have a student visa with a work permit valid in Canada until December 31, 2018, OR who have completed (within the last three years) a master’s or doctoral degree at a recognized university and who already have a work permit valid in Canada until December 31, 2018.

For the position located at IDRC’s Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean in Montevideo, Uruguay, this call is open to:

• Citizens or residents of Uruguay with a valid work permit for Uruguay pursuing a master’s or a doctoral degree at a recognized university OR who have completed (within the last three years) a master’s or doctoral degree at a recognized university.

For the position located at IDRC’s Regional Office for Sub-Saharan Africa in Nairobi, Kenya, this call is open to:

• Citizens of Kenya pursuing a master’s or a doctoral degree at a recognized university OR who have completed (within the last three years) a master’s or doctoral degree at a recognized university.

Other eligibility requirements 

• Your proposed research must focus on one or more developing countries.
• Candidates cannot receive any other Canadian government scholarship, award, subsidy, bursary, or honorarium, or hold any federal government contract in support of a research/work project for the duration of the award; this includes any other IDRC award.
• In addition, each program has specific eligibility criteria that must be satisfied.
• These awards may be part of an academic requirement.

Research country exceptions

In principle, IDRC supports research in all developing countries. At this time, however, we do not offer awards for research that involves the following countries:

Afghanistan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Eritrea, Gaza, Iran, Iraq, Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of), Libya, Mali, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Syria, Yemen, Southern and Eastern Europe, or Central Asia and South Caucasus and small island states, including Comoros, Mauritius, São Tomé and Principe, Saint Helena, Seychelles, Timor-Leste and Oceania (Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis & Futuna).

Countries subject to approval

You may apply for research in the following countries and territories, but if you are recommended for an award, your application will then be subject to a further stage of approval within IDRC:
Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Republic of Congo (Brazzaville), Congo (Democratic Republic of), Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Maldives, Mauritania, Monserrat, Niger, Nigeria, Papua New Guinea, Pakistan, Suriname, Tunisia, West Bank, and Zimbabwe.

Research award recipients will undertake a one-year paid program of research on the topic they have submitted, and will receive hands-on experience in research management, grant administration, and the creation, dissemination, and use of knowledge from an international perspective.

For payroll purposes, awardees are considered full-time employees of IDRC. Benefits include employer contributions to Employment Insurance, Employer Health Tax, Canada Pension Plan, and paid vacation leave. Some travel and research expenses are also supported, up to a maximum of CA$15,000.

13 awards will be offered during this call. There is one call per program listed below. You may only choose ONE of the following:

• Advisory Committee on Research Ethics
• Agriculture and Food Security
• Climate Change (in Uruguay)
• Collaborative Adaptation Research Initiative in Africa and Asia
• Employment and Growth
• Food, Environment, and Health
• Foundations for Innovation
• Governance and Justice
• Livestock Vaccine Innovation Fund (in Kenya)
• Maternal and Child Health
• Networked Economies
• Policy and Evaluation
• Think Tank Initiative

Evaluation criteria

The following criteria will be used to evaluate applications:

• fit with IDRC mission and thematic priorities;
• relevance to IDRC mandate;
• relevance of the research and training proposal to the chosen IDRC’s program’s specifications, overall appropriateness, completeness, and clarity of the research and training proposal;
• overall feasibility, duration, and timing of the research;
• originality and creativity of the research;
• gender sensitivity of the research;
• ethical considerations of the research; and
• the applicant’s capacity to conduct the proposed research and training, including academic training, local language capacity, and related experience.

Before applying, please read the checklist of documents required for this call.

Have questions? 

We have important tips to share on preparing sections of your proposal (e.g. ethics and gender sensitivity). Please consult our frequently asked questions before contacting us at awards@idrc.ca.