Monday, November 9, 2009

Call for Nominations - IDRC India Social Science Research Award 2009


Call for Nominations - IDRC India Social Science Research Award 2009

About the Award

The International Development Research Centre India Social Science Research Award (IDRC-SSRA) 2009 is about celebrating best research practices in social sciences in India on the occasion of 25 years of IDRC’s regional office presence in India. The Award seeks to recognize young talent and celebrate research that has demonstrated impact on policy and practice, or has enhanced public understanding of behavioral & social science principles. Nominations are invited for the Award process and open until November 20, 2009.

The Award will be given to the submission that best demonstrates the impact of research on decision-making within – and understanding of the issues relating to – the public policy and practice. The jury will be looking for case studies which show a strong connection between the research and policy or practice outcomes. A maximum of INR 40,000 per award is available.

Purpose

The Research Award recognizes young professionals who have made significant contributions to knowledge concerning significant areas of social science research to policy or enhanced public understanding and practice through meritorious research.

Award Categories

The IDRC SSRA will be given out for best research practices in the following five thematic areas:

  • Enhancing Food Security: Research and studies that aim at enhancing the food and livelihood security of marginalized and vulnerable communities, through increasing practical opportunities for enhancing and diversifying food production, improving access to markets (value chains) and securing rights.
  • Climate Change and Adaptation: Research and studies that develop integrated approaches to support building local resilience and adaptive capacity, particularly amongst vulnerable communities. This may involve research on enabling mechanisms underlying both planned and autonomous adaptation strategies (e.g. adaptive infrastructure or risk pooling/ transferring mechanisms or larger questions of governance and disaster risk reduction).
  • Rural Innovation Systems: Research and studies on innovation processes and innovation systems of relevance to the rural economy; this may include both formal ( science and technology based) and non-formal innovations (such as tacit- knowledge based); the ways of generating knowledge, linking to and learning from other knowledge actors and using knowledge for tangible outcomes to benefit rural people; research on policy and regulatory processes that influence these innovations; rural innovation capacity in the context of national development.
  • Equity in Health Systems: Research and studies that aim to ensure that all people may attain a level of health that enables them to participate actively in the social and economic life of the community in which they live. This would include applied research which is necessary to identify priority problems and to design and evaluate policies and programmes that will deliver the greatest health benefits, making optimal use of available resources.
  • Social Inclusion: Research and studies that focuses on existing social cleavages; the exclusion of some groups from social and economic rights (especially in the case of women); citizenship rights & political rights (participation and capacity to mobilize/organise by all groups in society especially those marginalized); and, conflict and insecurity induced by nation building.

Up to Ten Research Awards will be given in five key thematic areas. The jury also may award 2 non-cash projects recognizing special initiatives.

Last Date for Nominations: 20th November 2009

Further Details

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