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 launches a new initiative for Strengthening Impact Evaluation Capacities for Development (SIECD) in East and West Africa. This initiative aims to strengthen experimental Impact Evaluation (IE) capacities among experienced researchers and within governments in East and West Africa. It also aims to increase the demand for rigorous evaluations from these governments.
Supporting PEP’s mission to foster evidence-based policymaking, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has renewed its partnership with PEP for this new initiative.
The SIECD initiative will enhance the technical skills of in-country PEP alumni and other senior local researchers in conducting IE research in an autonomous manner. It will target governments to boost their capacities in commissioning and implementing sound IEs that can inform decisions on local priority issues.
The selected project teams will be composed of government officers alongside local researchers with a long-term commitment to policy evaluation, who are willing to undergo training sessions and acquire practical knowledge on Impact Evaluation. The team members will receive advanced practical training in Impact Evaluation coupled with beginning-to-end customized technical assistance and mentoring as they evaluate a policy initiative of their choosing.
Applicant teams must present a new or existing program that has not been evaluated in the past, for which high quality evidence about program effectiveness is absent.
To help teams prepare their Expression of Interest (EOI), we held a Question and Answer session on the 15 October. Watch the recording (opens in YouTube) and download the answers to Frequently Asked Questions.
Find out more about the initiative.
Call for Expressions of Interest
PEP invites project teams in East and West African countries to submit an expression of interest (EOI) to pilot a new or existing policy initiative that can be evaluated using experimental evaluation techniques. The EOI might relate to a program yet to be implemented, or an existing program that can be extended.
The EOI must address an issue that is noticeably relevant to the country in terms of socioeconomic needs, political context and timing. Programs whose impact has not yet been evaluated in similar contexts will be favored (see the 3ie Impact Evaluation Repository for an index of policy Impact Evaluations in low-income countries).
To be considered, applicant teams MUST submit their EOI using the PEP EOI template.
Download the full description of this call.
Eligibility
Nationality of applicants
Applicant teams must be comprised of government officers and local researchers, all of whom 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.
Team composition
Applicant teams must be composed of a government sub-team and a research sub-team.
Government sub-team
3 members, including at least one woman
- One (1) senior government official with a proven capacity to decide on the implementation of the program proposed for evaluation.
- The relevance of this representative in informing key decisions must be ensured.
- There is no gender preference for this role.
- Two (2) government officers who are motivated to learn about impact evaluation and committed to work in the evaluation of the proposed project.
One of the three must be appointed as the leader of the government sub-team. This person will be responsible for leading the team activities concerning policy engagement and communicating with PEP policy mentors.
You are free to pick the best person for the role. As senior government officials generally have very busy agendas, we suggest that you appoint a government officer to this role.
Note: Teams must provide a signed letter from the government office in charge of the proposed policy initiative stating the office’s commitment to carry out an experimental evaluation that involves random assignment of subjects to treatment.
Research sub-team
4 members, including at least two women
- One (1) principal researcher with a doctoral degree in economics, statistics or equivalent and proven participation in at least one randomized controlled trial (RCT) impact evaluation. This person will serve as leader of the research sub-team and will be responsible for research activities in collaboration with the PEP scientific mentors.
- One (1) co-researcher with a doctoral degree in economics, statistics or equivalent and proven participation (in any capacity) in at least one published academic paper. Proved experience in RCTs is a plus.
- Two (2) assistant researchers holding a post-graduate degree or currently being enrolled in a post-graduate program in economics, statistics or equivalent, who wish to gain first-hand experience on research and policy analysis.
All four researchers are required to participate in research production and join research meetings on a regular basis, including the assistant researchers.
Proponents are encouraged to propose candidates for the research team. If 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.
Support and Funding
After the evaluation of the EOIs, shortlisted teams will be invited to complete the following activities:
- Submit full proposals, as part of this:
- Members of the research sub-team must complete an online-mini course on experimental methods used in Impact Evaluation studies.
- Members of the government sub-team must participate in an online training session on experimental methods used in Impact Evaluation studies, specially designed for non-researchers.
- PEP’s experts on experimental research will evaluate the full proposals and provide written feedback for teams to revise their proposals.
- Present revised proposals
- Teams will be invited to present their revised proposals in an individual meeting with PEP’s experts, to discuss their project in detail.
- Teams will be invited to present their revised proposals in an individual meeting with PEP’s experts, to discuss their project in detail.
- Present final proposals
- Final proposals must incorporate the feedback provided during the individual meeting.
Following the evaluation of the final proposals, PEP’s experts will select the projects to receive full funding and support:
- Funding for the evaluation project up to $US 114K, including:
- A $US 24K research (cash) grant
- A $US 50K data collection grant
- Up to $US 40K in various subsidies, such as for participation in PEP meetings and study visits, publications in peer-reviewed journals, presentations in international conferences, and the organization of national policy conferences, etc.
- Note: The organization of in-person events will be subject to health regulations and restrictions.
- Technical assistance from PEP mentors
- Administrative and logistical support from the PEP Global Secretariat, including monitoring the deliverables and communicating the results
Application procedure
Submission deadline: 12 NOVEMBER 2021
To help you prepare your EOI, we held a Question and Answer session on the 15 October. Watch the recording (opens in YouTube) and download the answers to Frequently Asked Questions.
Applications must be submitted via the PEP intranet system, before 12 November 2021 (23:59 EST).
Application checklist
- ALL team members (government and researchers) register on the PEP website
- ALL team members complete their profiles (including CV) on their individual PEP intranet accounts
- ALL team members complete and submit the Applicant Eligibility Form
- Upload one (1) completed EOI template on the PEP intranet
- Upload one (1) letter of commitment from the relevant government office on the PEP intranet. Template: English / Français
Instructions
Part 1 - ALL 7 MEMBERS of the applicant team must:
- Register on the PEP website BEFORE submitting the EOI
- Click Register (see also the top right corner of the PEP website header, next to "Login") and follow the instructions.
- Once registered, you will receive a password by email, normally within minutes, and your account will be activated within 1 business day.
- N.B. Your username is the email address that you provide in the registration form.
- N.B. Your username is the email address that you provide in the registration form.
- Access and complete your PEP intranet profiles once your account is activated
- Click the Login button (also top right corner, as above) using your individual email address plus the password received.
- N.B.: You can change your password yourself, through the “profile section” of your intranet account, at any time.
- Go to the “Profile” section by clicking on your name (blue button) in the top right corner
- COMPLETE YOUR PEP INTRANET PROFILE, including:
- Personal CV (upload), birthday, highest diploma, a photo (upload) and short professional bio.
- Personal CV (upload), birthday, highest diploma, a photo (upload) and short professional bio.
- Click the Login button (also top right corner, as above) using your individual email address plus the password received.
- Complete the Applicant Eligibility Form
IMPORTANT: Make sure you indicate the same email address as the one used for your registration on the PEP website- You will receive a “UID code” via email upon submission of the form. You must copy this code where indicated in section H of the EOI template
Part 2 – PRINCIPAL RESEARCHER must:
- Submit the EOI
- Log into the PEP intranet,
- Click to open the "My workspace" menu, and select (click on) "Submit New Proposal",
- Fill out the required information
- Upload all required documentation, including the completed PEP EOI template and Letter of Commitment (Template: English / Français)
- Verify submission
To make sure that the EOI has been successfully submitted to PEP:- Return to your PEP intranet account
- Click to open the "My workspace" menu, and click on “Projects”
- If submission was successful, the project will appear at the bottom of this page
Important dates
15 October – Question and Answer session. Watch the recording (opens in YouTube)
12 November – EOI submission deadline
See the schedule of Important Dates for more information.
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. For more information, see the definition of plagiarism and related instructions for citing sources. PEP uses a software program to detect cases of plagiarism.
Help
Download the answers to Frequently Asked Questions.
If you encounter any difficulties completing the steps above, please contact us at info@pep-net.org for assistance.