OECD DAC Countries
ETH4D International Research Challenges and Seed-Grants 2025
- Award/Grant Research
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- Zurich posted 5 months ago
- Posted: September 26, 2024 -Accepting applications
Opportunity Detail
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Gender Male Female
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Level Research
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Eligible Region/Countries
Opportunity Description
Are you interested in impactful research aimed at reducing poverty? Do you want to collaborate with top academic researchers and non-academic partners to tackle real-world problems in low- and lower-middle-income countries? The ETH4D Research Challenges and Pilot Grants offer exciting opportunities for researchers and organizations seeking to develop effective solutions to combat global poverty. Applicants from the OECD DAC-List 2024-2025Â can apply for the 2025 intake.
The ETH4D Research Challenges provide a platform for ETH Zurich researchers to work with partners from both academic and non-academic sectors. These projects focus on addressing pressing issues affecting people in economically disadvantaged regions, aiming to create tangible, positive outcomes through high-quality scientific research. The collaboration must involve partners from low- and lower-middle-income countries, and the project must align with both ETH Zurich’s research interests and the needs of the partner organizations.
Additionally, ETH4D Pilot Grants offer smaller-scale funding to explore new collaborations or initiate feasibility studies that may lead to larger research projects. These grants are ideal for testing innovative ideas and building partnerships to contribute to future research endeavors, paving the way for long-term solutions.
ETH4D Research Challenges
The primary goal of the ETH4D Research Challenges is to enable collaborations on project-based research between ETH researchers and non-academic partners (i.e., private sector, NGOs, governmental organizations), and partners from low and lower-income countries to develop practical solutions for poverty reduction by combining technologies, policies, and a profound understanding of human behaviour.
The ETH4D research questions should be straightforward and clear to positively impact people living in low—and lower-income countries. The questions should also be related to the interest area of an ETH Zurich research group and the future or current efforts of a private or public organization. Only high-quality proposals with high scientific quality will be acceptable.
ETH4D Seed GrantsÂ
ETH4D Pilot Grants offer smaller funding to initiate new collaborations or pilot research projects in low- and lower-middle-income countries. They support feasibility studies that may lead to larger research proposals.
Important Details
- Application Opens: Early 2025
- Application Deadline: 21 April 2025
- Funding Type: Grant funding
- Organizer: ETH Zurich (ETH4D Program)
- Eligible Countries: Countries on the OECD DAC list of 2024-2025 (except upper-middle-income countries unless justified)
- Eligible Gender: Male/Female
- Target Group: ETH professors and research groups, non-academic partners
- Focus Area/Field: Poverty reduction and sustainable development in low- and lower-middle-income countries
- Study Level: Postgraduate/Research level
- Duration: Up to 18 months
- Program Language: English
- Host Country: Switzerland (ETH Zurich)
Eligibility Requirements
For both grants, at least one partner, an academic or non-academic partner, should be from low—and lower-middle-income countries defined in the OECD DAC—LIST 2024-2025. Projects in upper-middle-income countries can be funded in exceptional cases and with good justification.
ETH4D Research Challenge Grant
Applicants for this research grant should meet the following eligibility criteria:
- The participant team should be formed of at least one principal applicant from ETH4D members like a professor, senior scientist, postdoc, or doctoral candidate and at least one non-academic partner like an industry, an NGO, or a policy-making organization.
- ETH Zurich research groups can also apply for this grant if they are not a member of ETH4D. If they receive the funding, they can become a member of ETH4D.
ETH4D Seed Grant
This grant is not open to professors. The team of applicants, including ETH senior scientists, postdoc or doctoral candidates, and at least one non-academic partner such as an industry, an NGO, or a policy organization, can apply as primary applicants. Their research proposal must be together with a letter of support from the applicant’s professor.
Note: Please read through the detailed application criteria before applying.
Required Documents (in English)
Application documents consist of the following documents:
- Project Narrative (using the narrative template).
- Bibliography.
- Work Packages and Milestones are shown in a Gantt Chart.
- Budget (using the budget template for Research Grant, For Grant Pilot).
- Letter(s) of Support from non-academic partners detailing the project’s relevance to their organization, time, and financial contributions.
- CVs of all involved partners (2 pages max per partner).
Grants’ Fund and BudgetÂ
Both grants cover travel and material costs and salaries for research staff, consultants in partner countries, postdocs, doctoral candidates, or research assistants at ETH Zurich.
- ETH4D Research Challenges: Grants between 20 kCHF and 200 kCHF to develop innovative solutions to improve people’s lives for less than $10 daily. Matching funds (cash or in-kind) from partners are required, covering 50% of the requested funding.
- ETH4D Pilot Grants: Grants up to 20 kCHF to pilot new research ideas to improve people’s lives in LMICs. No matching funds are required.
Grants Evaluation and Selection Procedure
All submitted applications are reviewed and evaluated by an ETH Selection Committee. The selection committee consists of three academic members of ETH4D’s executive director of ETH4D and a representative of the industry, policy, or NGO. The selection committee will consider the below criteria when taking the final decision:
- Quality and Feasibility:Â Each research proposal should include specific information on the scientific methodology and field of study
- Relevance:Â The project must have the potential to address the highlighted challenge faced by people of low- and lower-middle-income countries. It should tackle the challenge and develop scalable solutions.
- Applicability:Â The result of the project should be applicable and used by the partnering non-academic institution. The project must have a realistic long-term implementation plan and measurable goals.
- Diversity and Team Qualification:Â The project should consider the variety and the qualification of the team, such as gender, race, ethnicity, and disabilities.
- Own financial and in-kind contributionsÂ
After application submission and review, applicants will receive a notification of the decision, usually within two months of the submission deadline. The project will start at the latest within three months after the notification letter is received.
How to Apply?
The application and all required documents for these grants must be written in English and submitted through the online portal before 21 April 2025.
For more information regarding the ETH4D Research Challenges Grant and Seed Grant, please visit the website or read the PDF version of the Guideline.
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