Doctoral Research Awards 2020, International Development Research Centre, Canada

This call is open to Canadians, permanent residents of Canada, and citizens of developing countries pursuing doctoral studies at a Canadian university. Awards under this call will cover the costs of field research conducted for a doctoral dissertation in one or more countries in the Global South.

Candidates must meet the following requirements to be eligible:

You must be a citizen or permanent resident of Canada, or a citizen of a developing country, excluding countries in southern and eastern Europe, South Caucasus, and Central Asia (but including Afghanistan). 

You must be enrolled at a Canadian university at the doctoral level (you must have completed several courses of the doctoral program, but not necessarily all courses, when you submit your application).

Your research proposal must be approved by your thesis supervisor. Please provide proof.

Your proposed field research must be conducted for a doctoral dissertation and must take place in one or more developing countries (see list of exceptions below).

Your field research must be relevant to one of six development outcome areas to which IDRC aims to contribute through its work. These are:

• Health equity
• Inclusive governance
• Sustainable and inclusive growth
• Climate resilience and sustainable food systems
• Inclusive education
• Strong science and innovation systems

We also encourage proposals that explore the impacts of and resilience to shocks such as the current COVID-19 pandemic, from the perspective of any of the areas above. Applications proposing field research outside of these areas will not be considered.

You must provide evidence of affiliation with an institution or organization in the developing region(s) in which the research will take place.

You must have completed coursework and passed comprehensive exams before taking up the award.

You may not be in receipt of two or more active IDRC awards at the same time; these include the IDRC Research Awards. No time overlaps will be permitted. If you are in receipt of IDRC funds from another source (e.g. a Queen Elizabeth Advanced Scholars award or through a professor’s IDRC research grant) for activities that will be active when and if you take up an IDRC Doctoral Research Award, you will be asked to demonstrate how funds from each are not being used towards the same objective.

Additional eligibility requirements 

If you are selected for an award, you have up to 12 months to start your field research from the date of the final selection.

You must plan to spend a minimum of 10 consecutive weeks in the field when your research involves one or more countries in one region. The regions are: Middle East, North Africa, West Africa, East Africa, southern Africa, Southeast Asia, South Asia, Far East Asia, Caribbean, Central America, South America, Oceania.

When your research involves more than one region, you must plan to spend a minimum of five consecutive weeks in the field in each region.

This award will cover research costs for a maximum of 12 months in the field. If your field research exceeds 12 months, you must cover additional costs from another source of funding.

It will be your responsibility to ensure that you follow all Government of Canada travel advisories while applying, when planning your field research trip, and while in the field. IDRC will reject any application that proposes travel to a country or region for which there is an advisory to “Avoid all travel” at the time of application. If you are selected and an advisory to “Avoid all travel” is introduced for the country or region of research, you will be required to follow the advisory even after a contract is signed. 

Note that there is currently an “Avoid all travel” outside of Canada advisory because of COVID-19, and this advisory must be followed for the duration it is in place. However, thinking forward to when it is lifted, we are asking applicants that at the moment of submitting an application, they should refer to and follow “Avoid all travel” advisories set by country for non-COVID-19 related reasons, e.g. security risks.

Research country exceptions

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

Afghanistan, Burundi, Central African Republic, Chad, Iran, Iraq, Libya, Mali, North Korea (Democratic People’s Republic of), Somalia, South Sudan, Syria, Venezuela, Yemen, southern and eastern Europe, Central Asia, and South Caucasus. 

Countries subject to approval

You may apply for research in the following countries and territories or for any other country for which the Government of Canada travel advisory is to “Avoid non-essential travel”. However, if you are recommended for an award, your application will be subject to a further stage of approval within IDRC and there is no guarantee your award will be approved:

Congo (Democratic Republic of), Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Gabon, Guinea-Bissau, Lebanon, Maldives, Micronesia, Monserrat, Myanmar, Nicaragua, Sudan, Suriname, Tunisia, the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, Zimbabwe, some small island states, including Comoros, São Tomé and Principe, Saint Helena, Timor-Leste, and the Pacific Islands (Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis & Futuna). 

For more information click "LINK TO ORIGINAL" below.