New PEP call for Expressions of Interest (EOI)
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Call for Expressions of Interest | Support & Funding | Eligibility | Application procedure | Important dates | Further requirements | Help
PEP is partnering with the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation to launch a new program, designed to develop and strengthen high quality Impact Evaluation research capacities among governments in East and West African countries.
The Impact Evaluation Mentoring for Governments in East and West Africa program is designed to foster a culture of experimental evaluation, strengthen the capacity of governments to commission Impact Evaluations, and facilitate the use of evidence in policy-making.
Selected teams will receive practical training on Impact Evaluation coupled with beginning-to-end technical assistance and mentoring, with a view to evaluating a policy initiative of their own choosing.
Call for Expressions of Interest
In this first call, PEP invites research teams in developing countries to submit an expression of interest (EOI) to evaluate a new or existing policy initiative using experimental evaluation techniques between March 2019 and June 2021.
Applicant teams must present a new or existing policy initiative that has not been evaluated in the past, for which high quality evidence about program effectiveness is absent.
The EOI must address an issue that is noticeably relevant to the country in terms of socioeconomic needs, political context and timing. Policy initiatives whose impact has not yet been evaluated in similar contexts will be favored (consult the 3ie Impact Evaluation Repository for an index of policy Impact Evaluations in low-income countries).
Teams must be comprised of government officers and researchers with a long-term commitment to policy evaluation, who are willing to undergo training sessions and acquire practical knowledge on Impact Evaluation.
Download the full description of this call.
Support and Funding
After the evaluation of the EOIs, 3-4 shortlisted teams will be invited to complete the following activities:
- At least four members of the team must successfully complete a two-week online training mini-course in experimental methods used in Impact Evaluation studies.
- All members of the team must participate in a series of online meetings with PEP mentors to develop a full draft final proposal.
- Two members will be invited to present a draft final proposal at the 2019 PEP Annual General Meeting to be held in Cape Town, South Africa.
Following the 2019 PEP Annual General Meeting, two proposals will be selected for support. After the final round of evaluation of proposals, grantees will be invited to:
- Participate in an intensive, instructor-led, five-day, on-site training course on practical aspects of the implementation of Impact Evaluations. The design of the Impact Evaluation project proposed by the team will be specifically discussed in a practical session during the course.
- Take an active role at all stages of the Impact Evaluation process, in close collaboration with PEP mentors.
Each selected team will be provided with:
- Funding for the evaluation project up to $US 87,000, including a $US 22,000 research (cash) grant, a $US 25,000 data collection grant and up to $40,000 in various subsidies, such as for participation in PEP meetings and study visits, for publications in peer-reviewed journals, for presentations in international conferences, and for the organization of national policy conferences, etc.
- Ongoing technical support.
Eligibility criteria
Nationality of applicants
Applicant teams must be comprised of government officers, in collaboration with local researchers, who are nationals of and will reside during the full course of the project in one of the following countries:
- West Africa: Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Mauritania, Niger, Nigeria, Saint Helena, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Togo.
- East Africa: British Indian Ocean Territory, Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, French Southern Territories, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mozambique, Réunion, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
Applicant teams must be composed of:
- One (1) senior government official with proven capacity to decide on the implementation of the program proposed for evaluation.
- Between four (4) and six (6) government officers motivated to learn about Impact Evaluation and committed to work in the evaluation of the proposed project.
- Two (2) to four (4) locally-based researchers.
Requirements:
- At least one team member must have a doctoral degree in economics (or equivalent) with proven expertise in Impact Evaluation research
- At least three other members should present sufficient academic and/or professional background in economics research/policy analysis. A Master’s degree/diploma or currently being enrolled in a Master’s program is considered a minimum requirement.
- Participating government officers must be able to allocate the equivalent of at least one day per week to the project throughout its duration.
- Female members must make up at least 50% of the whole team.
For the purpose of this expression of interest, proponents are encouraged to propose candidates for the research team. If no or an insufficient number of researchers are proposed and the expression of interest is selected, PEP will assist the team in trying to identify suitable local researchers
Application procedure
Deadline for submission is March 11, 2019
To be considered, the EOI should be completed and submitted using the following template:
- Mandatory PEP EOI Template
Applications must be submitted via the PEP intranet system, before March 11, 2019 (23:59 EST).
Submitting an Expression of Interest using the PEP intranet system:
- ALL MEMBERS of the applicant team (including the Senior Government Official and Researcher(s), if applicable) must register on the PEP website BEFORE submitting the EOI.
- To register, click Register (see also the top right corner of the PEP website header, next to "Login") and follow the instructions.
- Once registered, each member will receive a username and password by email, normally within minutes, and your profile will be activated within 24 hours.
- Access your PEP intranet file by clicking on the Login button (also top right corner, as above) and entering the username and password received.
- Note that you can change your password yourself, through your personal intranet profile, at any time.
- ALL MEMBERS of the applicant team (including the Senior Government Official and the Researcher(s), if applicable) must complete their PEP intranet profile, including their personal CV, birthday, highest diploma, a photo and short professional bio.
- To do this, each member should Login to the PEP website and then select "Profile" (and then "Upload CV", "Upload photo", etc.).
- To then submit the EOI, the TEAM LEADER must login, click to open the "My workspace" menu, click on "Submit New Proposal", then fill out the required information and upload all required documentation using the mandatory PEP EOI template.
- Once finished, to make sure that the EOI has been successfully submitted to PEP, simply return to your PEP intranet file and click on "My Projects".
Important dates
Further requirements
PEP encourages applicant teams to submit EOIs in English, but also welcomes EOIs (including all supporting documents) that are submitted in French.
PLAGIARISM is strictly forbidden- more information about the definition of plagiarism and related instructions for citing sources. PEP uses a software program to detect cases of plagiarism.
Help
If you encounter any difficulties completing the steps above, please contact us at info@pep-net.org for assistance.