Application Open: April 14, 2026 | Deadline: July 14, 2026
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The Arab Council for the Social Sciences (ACSS) is pleased to launch the tenth cycle of its Small Grants Program and the second on the theme of “Artificial Intelligence: Technology, Society and Learning in the Arab Region.”
This grant, with a duration of 8 months, supports junior and senior scholars as well as activists with a background in the social sciences and humanities, to conduct a research project on the theme of “Technology, Society and Learning in the Arab Region.”
A grant of up to USD4,000 is available for individual researchers. Up to six grantees will be selected to benefit from the grant in this second cycle.
This program supports research proposals based on new or ongoing projects, including:
This program is funded through a grant provided to the Arab Council for the Social Sciences by the Ford Foundation regional office in Cairo
The relationship between technological development and innovation and social change is one of the enduring interests in social research. Presently, technological advances, especially in the area of artificial intelligence, are reshaping our world and their impact is visible in every sector of our lives from education to healthcare to transport, media, leisure and manufacturing not to mention their impact on states, governance, civil society and social movements.
This program aims at promoting research on Artificial Intelligence (AI) as a technology and industry, and its relationship to society, politics and learning in the Arab region. The program seeks to fund researchers who wish to study the impact of AI on different sectors, explore its ethical implications, and contribute to advancing knowledge production on this important theme in the Arab region.
Some areas of work that the program encourages applicants to address include – but are not limited to – the following:
This call is open to:
1) Citizens of an Arab country (defined as a country belonging to the League of Arab States).
2) Refugees and/or stateless individuals from Arab countries residing in the Arab region.
3) Researchers residing outside the Arab region who hold Arab citizenship or are refugees and/or stateless individuals from the Arab region, and
4) Applicants residing outside the Arab region who carry a non-Arab passport but are originally from an Arab country.
Residents of the Arab region will be given priority.
This program targets:
1) Junior and senior scholars holding a PhD degree in the social sciences or humanities (obtained from within or outside the Arab region). Applicants should have obtained their degrees at the time of application.
2) Activists who have more than five years of work experience in their field with at least a Master’s degree in the social sciences or humanities (obtained from within or outside the Arab region). Applicants should have obtained their degrees at the time of application.
Applicants are required to create an account and a Profile Page on the ACSS Applications Platform, then apply to the grant using the online application form for the Small Grants Program– Technology, Society and Learning in the Arab Region, and provide the following supporting documents:
The Grants and Fellowships Unit at the Arab Council for the Social Sciences will review each budget on a case-by-case basis. Please note that the total and detailed approved budget may not necessarily correspond to the one requested.
The Small Grants Program is open to any discipline in the social sciences and 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.
Please fill the attached proposal template. Proposals (five single-spaced pages plus the title page) should include the following components:
For more information on proposal writing guidelines, click here.
Outputs may include, but are not limited to, research papers and/or articles for publication, archival studies, book manuscript, blog or e-zine essay, proposal for funding a new project, chapter in a book or dissertation, pedagogical resources and digital archives or databases. In addition, the ACSS requires grantees to produce a working paper within the ACSS Working Papers Series.
A multidisciplinary 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.
The committee evaluates proposals based on the following evaluation criteria:
Up to six grantees will be selected to benefit from the grant this second cycle.
Shortlisted applicants will be invited to an interview with the selection committee. Date to be fixed in due course.
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. Applicants who are unsuccessful will not be informed of the specific reasons for rejection.
The ACSS values scientific integrity and originality of ideas, thus we strongly discourage the use of AI in writing the proposal and advise applicants to use their own words. You may write the proposal in the language of your choice: Arabic, English or French. Writing in your own language will help you express your original ideas confidently and concisely, and reduce the need to resort to AI.
Results will be communicated to applicants during the second week of September 2026.
Successful applicants are expected to comply with the following project requirements:
Produce the outputs specified in the contract and submit a working paper within the ACSS Working Papers Series, which is a peer-reviewed publication. (Please see the guidelines for the Working Paper Series here.)
The budget should not exceed USD4,000. It may include fieldwork expenses (field accommodation, travel and transportation related to the research, and living expenses), and purchase of research equipment and other supplies. The budget may also include consultation fees for project development, a stipend for the principal investigator and research assistance, all for up to a maximum of 25% of the proposed budget (equivalent to $1,000). The budget cannot include travel expenses for conference participation or registration fees and participation in 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.
April 14, 2026: Application forms are available online.
July 14, 2026: Deadline for submissions.
First week of September 2026: interviews with shortlisted applicants.
Second week of September 2026: Decisions are communicated to applicants.
September 2026: Accepted applicants sign their contracts.
October 2026 to May 2027: Grant duration of 8 months.
February 2027: Attend a progress workshop after the submission of interim reports.
Spring 2027: Attend and present research results at the Eighth ACSS Conference.
June 2027: Submission of final reports and grant outputs.
Applicants are advised to consult the Frequently Asked Questions and the checklist prior to submitting their application.
For inquiries about the grant, please direct your questions to the Grants and Fellowships Unit on the following email address: grants@theacss.org
For questions related to the online application process and technical issues, please contact the IT Officer, Wassim Alam, on the following email address: alam@theacss.org
