Air and Water Lab Request for Proposals

The Air and Water Labs (AWLs), launched by J-PAL with support from Community Jameel, are three labs in South Africa (Cape Town), Egypt, and India. The Air and Water Labs intend to foster deep collaboration between government stakeholders, J-PAL regional offices, and researchers in the J-PAL network. 

Eligibility

J-PAL affiliated professors, J-PAL postdocs, J-PAL invited researchers, and J-PAL staff with PhDs are eligible to apply to AWLs. To be considered for AWL funding, all proposals are required to first reach out to the relevant lab team to learn more about matchmaking opportunities and requirements.

• India – Solutions and Advancements through Research for Water and Air (SARWA): Sanjana Gorti at [email protected]. 
• Cape Town, South Africa – Water, Air, and Energy (WAE) Lab: Margaret Andersen at [email protected].
• Egypt – Hub of Advanced Policy Innovation for the Environment (HAPIE): HAPIE serves as J-PAL’s regional Air and Water Lab in Egypt and as such it serves as the Egypt Impact Lab (EIL)’s extension in a new thematic area related to environment, energy, and climate change. Please navigate to the EIL RFP page for instructions. For questions, contact Heba El-Sahn at [email protected]. 

AWL Funding Priorities

J-PAL’s Air and Water Labs aim to promote research collaborations with governments in order to identify and advance scalable policy solutions at the heart of the air and water crisis. Through research and scaling funds in each of the embedded labs, we look for projects across multi-sectoral aspects of clean air and water access, including but not limited to: 

• Regulation, including market-based regulation, to reduce air and water pollution
• Incentives and information for behavior change around water use, water treatment, and air pollution
• Water pricing, payment recovery, and billing systems, to cover the cost of infrastructure for improved water quality and quantity, and Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) infrastructure availability and accessibility
• Tools and information to hold policymakers accountable for pollution policies
• Water conservation in households, farms, and industry
• Exploiting improvements in remote sensing to improve regulatory efficiency
• Technology adoption for self-protection from poor air and water quality
• Education and awareness-building among rural and urban households on WASH 
• Water conservation, and water resource maintenance, with an emphasis on community-based initiatives 

Each AWL will prioritize funding research and scaling projects in partnership with the government partner(s), as well as projects with high potential to influence policy and/or to improve access to clean air and water at scale. With a focus on approaches that respond to partners’ top priorities regarding air and water or other environmental issues (demand driven) and have the potential to benefit people in poverty at scale, each lab will consider projected effect size and cost-effectiveness of Research and Path-to-Scale proposals of promising innovations measuring one or more of the following outcomes:

• Outcome 1: Improving air quality and/or reducing air pollution 
• Outcome 2: Improving water quality and/or reducing water pollution
• Outcome 3: Increasing access to clean, usable water for people facing water stress
• Outcome 4: Measure the impact of research on policy changes at local, state or national levels (this could be by introducing new guidelines, standards or regulations)
• Outcome 5: Level of community engagement and participation in air and water quality improvement efforts
• Outcome 6: (WAE Lab) Increasing access to affordable, reliable energy for people experiencing poverty

Research teams considering expanded topics are invited to reach out to the relevant Air and Water Lab team if they would like to discuss whether other topics may be in scope. Outcomes of interest may also be determined through these conversations. 

Proposal Timeline

Full randomized evaluations, path-to-scale, proposal development, and pilot proposals for AWL funding: 

• India (SARWA): All applications are required to submit a letter of interest (LOI) by January 30, 2025, at 11:59 AM (noon) ET. Full proposals will be due by March 20, 2025, at 11:59 AM (noon) ET. Application materials for SARWA RFP 2025 will be updated shortly.
• Cape Town, South Africa (WAE Lab): Pilot and proposal development grant applications accepted on a rolling basis.

Application Instructions

If you are interested in applying, please first reach out to the relevant lab team member below to learn more about matchmaking opportunities and requirements:

• India (SARWA): Sanjana Gorti at [email protected]. 
• Cape Town, South Africa (WAE Lab): Margaret Andersen at [email protected]. 
• For information on applying to the Egypt Air and Water Lab (HAPIE), please visit the Egypt Impact Lab’s  RFP page. HAPIE serves as the EIL’s extension in a new thematic area related to environment, energy, and climate change. For questions, contact Heba El-Sahn at [email protected]. 

Interested applicants should complete this LOI form. If the project is eligible to receive an award, you will be invited to submit an application. Please submit complete applications as one PDF to the relevant contact below and CC [email protected] and [email protected].

* These instructions and the templates below do not apply to the Air and Water Lab in Egypt with J-PAL MENA. HAPIE serves as J-PAL’s regional Air and Water Lab in Egypt and as such it serves as the Egypt Impact Lab (EIL)’s extension in a new thematic area related to environment, energy, and climate change. Please navigate to the EIL RFP page for instructions.