About the Grant

The Arab Council for the Social Sciences (ACSS) is pleased to announce the tenth cycle of its Research Grants Program (RGP) on the theme of “Rethinking Development in the Arab Region”.

The RGP is a funding opportunity that aims to support research across disciplinary boundaries and methodological approaches on key themes of concern to the Arab region. It is funded by a grant provided to the ACSS by the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).

Grants will be available to individual researchers (up to USD 20,000), teams of researchers (up to USD 35,000), and collectives and institutions based in the region (up to USD 50,000) whose research focuses primarily on Arab societies. Grants are intended to support a maximum of 18 months for individuals and teams, starting July 20, 2025 and ending January 20, 2027 and a maximum of 24 months for collectives and institutions starting July 20, 2025 and ending July 20, 2027.

The Theme

The concept of ‘development’ has a complex and contested history. In its broadest definition, development is concerned with efforts at improvement of societal living standards through social and structural transformation. Over the past century or more, under the banner of ‘development,’ both rich and poor countries as well as a variety of state and non-state actors have undertaken massive projects that have shaped and transformed the lives of billions.

Development studies thus emerged as an interdisciplinary arena with competing theories and paradigms from modernization theory, to world-systems analysis to dependency theory. It has also been a site of fierce ideological and political struggle over state-led versus market-led policies. In this context, many countries, including in the Arab region, have experienced several development paradigms spanning from state-led capitalism, socialism and more recently structural adjustment policies and neo-liberalism. All along, in all its embodiments, development has been criticized for its economic reductionism- making economic growth a crude proxy for progress to the neglect of social and political concerns and questions of equity and social justice.

More recently, there has been a meta critique of development as such, as a process hopelessly tied up with top-down, undemocratic and destructive processes for both human societies and nature itself. In response, the emphasis by international organizations, particularly the United Nations, has shifted to participatory, human, sustainable and environmental development to underscore the multi-dimensional aspects of inequalities that had been ignored over the years. The Millennium and Sustainable Development Goals have become a key paradigm and framework shaping the development agenda for both state actors and civil society. Current critiques also challenge the traditional focus on GDP as the primary measure of economic success. The concept of “Degrowth” argues that prioritizing GDP growth often leads to environmental harm and social inequality and that progress indicators should emphasize ecological sustainability and human well-being over economic expansion.

Today, the ‘developmental imperative’ remains as relevant as ever and the challenges facing human societies are getting even more complex. Hundreds of millions of people around the globe especially in the Global South are living in extreme poverty and many countries face severe challenges from crippling debt to climate change to failing public sectors and infrastructural deficits, to the Covid-19 pandemic-related challenges. Rising economic informality, internal and external migration, and reoccurring financial crises have become key issues that must be grappled with, particularly in the Arab region. These are further complicated by political instability, civil conflicts and wars that lead to death and devastation in addition to further crippling services and state functions.

RGP aims at promoting a broad range of research proposals from across the different countries and localities of the region. As a long-term goal, the ACSS aims to create evidence-based knowledge by encouraging interdisciplinary proposals that draw from approaches in the social sciences and humanities.  RGP is open to proposals that adopt quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods approaches as well as research that reflects on current methodologies for the study of development in the Arab region. Proposals that advance novel methodological approaches to the study of development are welcome.

The following are indicative but not exhaustive examples of possible areas or topics of research:

• History of development thought and intellectual contributions about development from within the region by practitioners, scholars, universities or other public and private institutions.
• Critical reappraisal, case studies, or comparative analysis of the Arab developmental experience: from Arab socialism and developmentalism to neoliberal capitalism.
• Confronting the Polycrisis and ecological constraints on development
• The political economy of the “Green Transition” and questions of “Green Colonialism.”
• Warfare and political instability and their implications between and within states: economic sanctions, sieges, blockades or economic warfare in the context of civil wars.
• Critical appraisal of the Millenium Development Goals and Sustainable Development Goals in theory and practice
• The NGOization of development
• The challenges of development: finance, debt and infrastructure
• Development governance at the local, regional, national and international levels
• The changing role of the state in development and the question of industrial policy
• Securitization and development: the rising linkages between the logic of state or human security and development policies
• Development alternatives and new thinking in theory and practice: solidarity economics; communal and bottom-up developmental projects, cooperatives, success stories.
• Increasing developmental linkages and changing North-South and South-South relations

Eligibility Guidelines

This program is open to individual researchers, research teams, collectives of researchers and institutions. For the purposes of this call:

• Research teams include researchers from the same or different institutions, geographies and disciplines who have an interest in conducting multidisciplinary research on the topic.
• Collectives are independent, informal group of researchers who may not be registered as an institution but have been working collaboratively on a specific theme or area of interest for a number of years. They should have a mission statement, and a set of practices or a set of outputs that reflect their identity and purposes. Unlike research teams who may include researchers from the same or different institutions, in principle, only members of the same collective should undertake the research project.
• Institutions are formal legal entities. They could be a university or a university department, a think-tank, a research NGO, etc.

Research teams, collectives, and institutions must present their applications in teams of up to four members, including a principal investigator and co-investigators.

Citizenship/Residence

• For Individuals: Applicants must be: 1) citizens/nationals of an Arab country (defined as a member of the League of Arab States), currently residing in an Arab country or 2) holders of non-Arab citizenship but are long-term residents of an Arab country (have been employed for at least five years in an institution based in the Arab region, have produced academic work on the region, and will continue to reside and engage with the region in the foreseeable future); 3) refugees and stateless individuals from Arab countries who are currently residing in the Arab region.
• For Teams: At least two members of the team, including the team leader/principal investigator, must be: 1) citizens/nationals of an Arab country currently residing in an Arab country, or 2) non-Arab citizens but long-term residents of an Arab country. They may also be 3) refugees or stateless individuals from Arab countries, who are currently residing in the Arab region. The remaining two members (if applicable) may include Arabs in the diaspora or non-Arabs.
• For Collectives: The collective must be based in the Arab region. It must also demonstrate clear future plans to operate in the region. At least two members of the collective, including the principal investigator, must be 1) citizens/nationals of an Arab country currently residing in an Arab country or 2) long-term residents of an Arab country who are based in the Arab region. They may also be 3) refugees or stateless individuals from Arab countries, who are currently residing in the Arab region. The remaining two collective members (if applicable) may include Arabs in the diaspora or non-Arabs.
• For Institutions: The institution must be based in the Arab region regardless of its original registration status. Institutions that are branches of international foreign organizations are not eligible to apply. The institution’s principal investigator and  co-investigator(s) in the project must be 1) citizens/nationals of an Arab country currently residing in an Arab country or 2) long-term residents of an Arab country and must be based in the Arab region. They may also be 3) refugees or stateless individuals from Arab countries, who are currently residing in the Arab region.

Educational Degree

•  For Individuals: Applicants must hold a PhD degree in the field of social sciences, humanities and/or allied and interdisciplinary fields (See “Discipline” below). Individual researchers in the early stages of their professional post-PhD careers are especially encouraged to apply. Individuals who expect to obtain their doctoral degree by February 2025 are eligible to apply. For individual applicants who would aim to hire consultants or research assistants and assign them significant research duties for the entire duration of the grant, please note that this arrangement is more appropriate for team applications.
• For Teams and Collectives: At least two members, including the principal investigator, must be holders of a PhD in the social sciences, humanities, and/or allied and interdisciplinary fields (See “Discipline” below). The other two members must be holders of a master’s degree in the social sciences or humanities at the minimum. RGP especially encourages proposals from multidisciplinary research teams.
• For Institutions: The institution’s principal investigator must hold a PhD degree in the social sciences, humanities, or allied and interdisciplinary fields (see “Discipline” below) and demonstrate successful research experience. Co-investigators must be holders of a master’s degree in the social sciences or humanities at a minimum. RGP especially encourages proposals from multidisciplinary research teams.

All proposals should be grounded in social science theory and methodology. Research proposals that are not rooted in social sciences will not be eligible for this program.

Discipline

This program is open to any discipline in the social sciences, humanities, and allied and interdisciplinary fields. Core disciplines include anthropology, demography, economics, history, political science, psychology, sociology, philosophy, literary studies and art history. Allied and interdisciplinary fields include architecture, geography, education, law, public health, gender studies, cultural studies, media studies, development studies and urban studies. Interdisciplinary proposals are encouraged but the framing needs to be a social science framing and be grounded in social science theory and methodology.

ACSS grantees (principal and co-investigators) who have benefited previously from a grant from the ACSS are only eligible to apply after one year from the date of the closure of their grant.

Program Aims and Outputs

This program supports research projects at any stage of their development. Research proposals can either be submitted for new or ongoing projects and may include:

• Preliminary or “pilot” phases of a project.
• Longer-term projects combining fieldwork and analysis.
• Extensions of previous projects that seek to bring in new cases and examples.
• Comparative projects extended to include further locations.

The proposed outputs of the project must be commensurate with the research plan and objectives. For example, the output of pilot research may be a fully developed larger scale research proposal, while projects including data collection, analysis and write-ups may have a full-length book manuscript and/or other types of outputs such as publications (web and print), scholarly resources (e.g. websites, curricula, bibliographies), and visual representations including exhibitions, film and other media. Workshops with the researched subjects are also encouraged as long as they have no potential psychological, political and/or social risks, for the participants.

Application Process

Online applications will be open on September 20, 2024. Please review the application checklist to prepare for your application. To submit an application, please create an account and a Profile Page on the ACSS Applications Platform. Then apply to the Research Grants Program. Completed proposals can be uploaded to the application portal at any time between September 20 and December 31, 2024.

The principal investigator of each project is required to start the application process at least two weeks before the application deadline because all co-investigators are required to fill in a profile page on the ACSS Applications Platform.

Proposal material can be submitted in Arabic, French or English. Proposals and attachments should be written in one of these languages; mixing different languages in the same proposal may disqualify the application.

Only fully developed proposals will be examined by the Selection Committee. Final proposals should include all information and details necessary for the Selection Committee to understand the research ideas and plans.

The final proposal should not exceed 15 typed, 1.5-spaced pages in length (12-point font). This 15-page limit does not include the proposal appendices, including the project time-line and outputs, budget request, and curriculum vitae (see below).

Guidelines for Writing the Proposal

I. The body of the proposal should include the following components:

Background and Rationale

Literature Review and Theoretical Framework

Methodology

Ethical Challenges and Considerations – click here to access ACSS guidelines on research ethics

Click here for details

II. In addition to the above, the proposal must address the following issues: (This section should be 5 pages)

– Relevance of the expected results to the Arab region.

– Plans for the write-up and dissemination of research results. For teams, institutional and collective projects, this section should clarify authorship of project outputs.

– Utilization of existing research facilities at the researcher’s institution or other institutions.

– For institutional projects, the proposal should have a section on the role and contribution of the institution. It should clearly state what kind of support the institution will offer to the research team (in-kind, infrastructural, course release, capacity building), show the link between the research and the institution’s research agenda, identifying how the proposal feeds into an existing program or larger research.

All submitted applications must contain the following appendices and should be filled according to the provided forms:

• Appendix 1: A completed Project Timeline and Outputs Form

A timeline for the research project should be presented in a maximum of two pages (single-spaced), outlining the unfolding of the proposed research in reasonable detail and the outputs expected to be produced in each phase of the project. Projects of Individuals and Teams must be completed over the 18-month period of the grant or over a shorter time period. Projects by collectives and institutions must be completed over a maximum of 24 months. Outputs include interim products such as working papers, drafts of dissemination material or film story boards, and final products such as papers submitted for publication, final audio or visual material or other products, depending on the nature of the project. The final version of Appendix 1 will become part of the Grant Contract.

• Appendix 2: A completed Project Budget Request Form

Budgets may include: researcher(s) fees, fieldwork expenses (including accommodation away from the home location, travel and transportation related to the research, living expenses), honoraria for short-term consultants providing specific technical advice, and meetings/workshops costs related to the research, as well as purchase of research equipment, software, books, stationery and other supplies.

Under exceptional circumstances, the Selection Committee may consider the dedication of a portion of the grant, which is not more than the 30 percent of the total amount requested, to stipends or salary replacements for: a) principal investigator on an individual project; b) principal investigator and co-investigators on a team or collective project (30 percent for all salaries or stipends combined).

Institutional projects can dedicate a portion of the grant, which is not more than 10 percent of the total amount requested, to specific running costs and overheads. The principal investigator and co-investigators applying for an institutional grant, may request to allocate salaries or stipends (up to 30 percent for all salaries or stipends combined) in the project budget. The request to allocate a portion of the grant to salaries must be justified in the budget, highlighting how the institution will handle this money, and will be examined by the committee and the ACSS on a case-by-case basis.  Moreover, the ACSS and the Selection Committee reserve the right to determine whether the proposed salaries and running costs items are acceptable or not.

Budgets may not include:  international travel expenses/registration fees for conferences and workshops.

The budget should clearly indicate whether other sources of funding are already available or have been applied for and which items would be fully or partially covered by other sources. The Selection Committee and the ACSS staff will review each budget on a case-by-case basis. Please note that the total and detailed budget may not necessarily correspond to the one requested. Please review the Budget Request Form carefully for the full details of allowable expenses and instructions for filling out the form.

• CV (s), including a list of relevant publications, for each researcher working on the project

Selection Process

A multi-disciplinary Selection Committee composed of distinguished Arab scholars with established research and publication records and experience in regional research and teaching will review and select proposals for funding. The selection procedures abide by the highest standards of academic and ethical judgment.

Final decisions are based on the following evaluation criteria:

1. Contribution to knowledge
2. Relevance to the Arab region and to this call
3. Theoretical and conceptual coherence
4. Comprehensive literature review
5. Sound methodological approach in relation to research objectives
6. Ethical Considerations
7. Outputs
8. The Candidate (s)’ Competence

 
By submitting the electronic application, applicants affirm that they agree, without any objections, to the evaluation and selection results as decided and announced by the Selection Committee and the Arab Council for the Social Sciences.

Results will be communicated to applicants by the end of March 2025. Successful applicants will receive provisional Award Letters confirming their selection and, if applicable, requests for clarification and elaboration from the Selection Committee. Applicants who are unsuccessful will not be informed of the specific reasons for rejection.

Overview of Grant Conditions

Awarded individuals, research teams, collectives and institutions are expected to abide by the following project requirements:

1. Submit a revised proposal, timeline, and budget request by April 2025, subject to requests for clarification or elaboration put forward by the Selection Committee in its preliminary acceptance decision.
2. Fill out the research ethics questionnaire.
3. Sign a contract which specifies the budget, timeline, outputs, and obligations of the researcher(s).
4. Attend a workshop in Spring 2025 to meet the Selection Committee members, present projects for feedback and receive orientation about ACSS reporting, and financial and ethics procedures. The workshop will be part of the Seventh ACSS Conference.
5. Participate in a progress workshop with members of the selection committee, after the submission of the interim reports.
6. Attend and present at the Sixth ACSS Research Forum that will be held in Spring 2026.

 
*The cost of attending these events should not be budgeted for in the proposals. They will be covered directly by the ACSS.

1. Produce project-related content for the ACSS website (such as project descriptions and profiles of researchers).
2. Submit interim narrative and financial reports (number of reports will depend on project duration). Financial reports should include the original receipts for all project expenses.
3. Submit final narrative and financial reports within 15 days of the end of the grant term.
4. Produce the outputs identified in the submitted proposal in accordance with the project timeline (Appendix 1).

Timeline

September 20, 2024: Call and application form are available online. Please read and review the application checklist carefully to prepare your online application beforehand.

December 31, 2024: Final and complete research proposals are due before 11:00 pm (Beirut Time). Only candidates whose proposals are ready for examination by the Selection Committee will be contacted by the ACSS Secretariat. Incomplete proposals will not be considered for funding.

March 2025: Decisions will be communicated to applicants.

Spring 2025: RGP workshop will be held in conjunction with the Seventh ACSS Conference.

July 2025: Projects may begin.

Spring 2026: Sixth ACSS Research Forum will be held in an Arab country.

For questions regarding the program, please contact the ACSS Grants and Fellowship Unit on the following email address: grants@theacss.org.

For questions regarding the online application process and technical issues, please contact the ACSS IT Officer, Wassim Alam, on the following email address: alam@theacss.org

Please review the program’s Frequently Asked Questions prior to submitting your application.