Research Frequently Asked Questions

Does the AERC conduct Research?
Does AERC finance all types of economic research?
How is AERC Research financed?
How are research grants awarded?
How many grants are available?
How much is each grant worth?
How do I apply for a research grant?
What else should I know?

Does AERC finance all types of economic research?

No.
Most of AERC's support is directed toward research on topics or themes selected by AERC's Advisory Committee.

The Advisory Committee is composed of leading African scholars, policymakers and international resource persons. The Committee has currently designated four broad themes. The current thematic areas are:

• Poverty, Income Distribution and Labour Market Issues;
• Trade, Regional Integration and Sectoral Policies;
• Macroeconomic Policies, Stabilization and Growth; and
• Finance, Resource Mobilization and Investment.

This current set of themes evolved from a consolidation of macroeconomic and trade issues to make room for the introduction of the theme on poverty. The Committee considers new themes subject to priorities as perceived by policymakers and researchers. New themes and changes in existing ones will be publicized.

A small portion of AERC's research funds is reserved for "non-thematic" research to study areas of emerging interest or topics of overriding importance to a particular economy. Comparative research provides for a cross-country synthesis of completed research on specific issues and for research on issues of regional/sub-regional relevance.

Collaborative research teams up a group of African researchers and their counterparts elsewhere on a mutually agreed theme. This has helped sustain interest in African research outside the region, build competence through interaction and create self-sustaining arrangements for financing research outside of the AERC.

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Background: the policy context of the proposed research.
Research Issue: a detailed statement of the issue to be researched, including reference to other work and perceived gaps in knowledge.

Objective(s): a brief statement of the specific objectives of the research.

Methodology: a statement detailing how the research objectives are to be achieved, i.e., hypotheses, method, data collection, data analysis, etc

Results: anticipated results and how they might contribute to knowledge, future research, and especially to public policy.

Dissemination: expected output from the project, e.g., paper(s), article(s) and other forms of dissemination to interested researchers and policymakers.

Budget: estimated expenditure by major line item, e.g., research assistants, travel, computer time, etc.

Timetable and duration: the length of time needed for each portion of the project and an estimated completion date.

The proposal should also identify a 'team leader' who acts as the "reporting centre" for the team, and the individual or institutional recipient of the grant.

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What else should I know?

Proposals are assessed in terms of their substance rather than 'polish'. Considerable weight is given to intellectual honesty in identifying possible risks and shortcomings, and how the grant might assist the researchers in their own professional development.

Once a grant has been approved, researchers are expected to report regularly on their work to workshops of the relevant network held at the end of May and beginning of December each year. AERC encourages researchers to disseminate their final results in suitable formats for professional economists and policymakers. Final reports are externally reviewed and, following revision and approval, may be published in the AERC Research Paper series.

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