CaTCH Request for Proposals

Overview

Given the pressing demand from policymakers for evidence that speaks to the challenges of the ongoing pandemic, CaTCH is hosting a special Request for Proposals window for studies directly related to covid-19. Specifically, CaTCH will accept proposals that address questions related to the following priority themes and topics:

• Impact of covid-19 on both covid and non-covid-19 related care, and evaluations that test innovative solutions to address the current disruption in the supply and demand for routine healthcare services, particularly reproductive, maternal and child health services.

• Impact of cash transfer programmes and other social protection programmes that focus on mitigating the impact of covid-19. This may include direct evaluations of such programmes, or studies that aim to address demand and supply-side barriers to the take-up of government relief and social protection programmes.

• Studies that focus on vulnerable groups, particularly returning migrants and their households in the home state, including impacts on intra-household decision-making, particularly related to women’s health and maternal health.

Geographic Focus:

CaTCH will fund proposals for studies to be implemented in India.

Proposal Types

Under the special covid-19 window, CaTCH will fund studies designed to test scalable, cost-effective interventions addressing themes described in the previous section. Two types of proposals will be considered:

• Full Evaluation Proposals
• Proposals to collect data for descriptive analyses related to covid-19

During this covid-19 RFP, we will consider proposals for a maximum of $67,500. Compared to the typical non-COVID J-PAL RFP, this RFP will put more weight on the project's ability to make an important, timely contribution to understanding and alleviating the current public health crisis and less weight on its contribution to the academic literature in economics or other disciplines. All proposals must adhere to J-PAL’s COVID-19 response guidelines in regard to in-person interactions with subjects. 

To submit a proposal for consideration, please complete the application requirements described in the proposal guidelines and email to [email protected] by no later than 11:59pm U.S. Pacific Time on Friday, 14 August 2020.

Eligibility

The network of eligible applicants for CaTCH includes all J-PAL affiliates, J-PAL post-docs, and CaTCH invited researchers. Proposals may include collaborators outside of this network but the principal investigator (PI) must be a J-PAL affiliate or CaTCH invited researcher.  If you have questions regarding your eligibility to participate, please send an email to the CaTCH Initiative at [email protected]. Additionally, PhD students advised by J-PAL affiliates can also apply for grants under this window.