Funding Research with J-PAL Europe

Research initiatives at J-PAL offer funding to eligible researchers to conduct rigorous impact evaluations aimed at priority policy topics where rigorous evidence is urgently needed. In addition to funding randomised evaluations and exploratory research designed to help develop randomised evaluations, we support activities that foster the diffusion and application of lessons from this research, as well as the scaling up of effective programmes. 

Eligible researchers include J-PAL affiliated professors and their PhD graduate students, as well as invited researchers. 

Alongside the global research initiatives hosted by other J-PAL offices, initiatives based in Europe focus on addressing key social challenges across Europe and humanitarian and displacement-related challenges globally.  J-PAL Europe hosts the European Social Inclusion Initiative (ESII), the Displaced Livelihoods Initiative (DLI), and the Humanitarian Protection Initiative (HPI). 

The Displaced Livelihoods Initiative (DLI)

The Displaced Livelihoods Initiative (DLI) funds proposals to design, pilot, evaluate, build research infrastructure, and scale interventions that can effectively support sustainable livelihoods for displaced populations and host communities. This fund is managed jointly by J-PAL and Innovations for Poverty Action; J-PAL manages the initiative’s work in Europe and in the Middle East and North Africa. DLI’s call for proposals further outlines the initiative’s research and learning priorities as well as information on upcoming funding rounds. 

The European Social Inclusion Initiative (ESII)

The European Social Inclusion Initiative (ESII) funds randomised evaluations of programmes and policies aimed at improving social inclusion across Europe. The complexity and multidimensionality of social exclusion emphasise the need to find effective strategies to promote the inclusion of vulnerable and underserved individuals and communities from the early stages of life to adulthood. ESII’s forthcoming request for proposals (opening on June 30, 2024 and closing on November 1, 2024) will thus span various sectors, including, but not limited to, education, labour, health, social protection, and housing.

The Humanitarian Protection Initiative (HPI)

The Humanitarian Protection Initiative (HPI) aims to generate rigorous evidence to inform policies and programmes that shield conflict-affected populations from physical, psychological, social, and legal harm and mitigate the effects of conflict where harm has occurred. HPI provides funding to design, pilot, and evaluate solutions that seek to ensure the safety, dignity, and rights of people affected by armed conflict and keeping people safe from violence, coercion, and deliberate deprivation. Through the HPI Scholars Program, the initiative additionally provides funding and support for researchers based in or from low- and middle-income countries who hold a PhD but are not yet part of the J-PAL network. The initiative’s request for proposals further outlines its research scope and learning priorities, as well as information on upcoming funding rounds.