The Partnerships for Enhanced Engagement in Research (PEER) program has recently released its latest call for proposals, which aims to support research projects that focus on the impacts of COVID-19 and potential solutions that can emerge from this pandemic. Projects will be selected based on a competitive peer-reviewed process and will receive one-year awards of up to US $70,000. In addition, they will receive personalized training and guidance from USAID’s Research Technical Assistance Center on developing evidence-to-action plans and communications products.
The COVID-19 pandemic has led to unprecedented global challenges and uncovered weaknesses in the ability of governments, the private sector, and local and international actors to deliver services and resources across many systems. This has been true in food and agriculture, healthcare, and education, among other sectors. However, the pandemic also has inspired innovation in areas such as digital technology and social organization, and there are many examples of countries or communities effectively coordinating to confront this threat. This PEER funding opportunity looks to support locally-led research projects that (1) aid in our understanding of how shocks such as COVID-19 affect key sectors in developing countries and (2) test approaches to help communities and sectors respond to and mitigate the effects of COVID-19 or similar future shocks.
For this year’s cycle, applicants must hold a research or teaching position at a higher educational institution (university) in a PEER-eligible country; be citizens or permanent residents of a PEER-eligible country; and be living and working in the country from which they are applying. As in past cycles of PEER, all applicants must also have a partner funded by or employed one of the program’s nine U.S. Government partner agencies. The deadline for submission of pre-proposals is October 22, 2021. For further details, please review the Request for Applications.
The full PEER pre-proposal solicitation, instructions, eligible country lists, details on the special focus topics above, frequently asked questions, and a link to the online application website are available at http://www.nationalacademies.
