London School of Economics Hellenic Observatory - Call for Research Project Proposals 2014

THEMES:
1. The Crisis and Gender
2. The Crisis and Political Extremism
3. Outward Migration from Greece during the Crisis

The LSE’s Hellenic Observatory invites researchers with a recognised interest in contemporary Greece to submit an application for funding in order to carry out a project on one of the themes highlighted above and further clarified on page-3. This call has been made possible by funding generously provided by the National Bank of Greece, to which we wish to record our gratitude. This initiative is consistent with the Observatory’s mission to promote public policy research and to foster academic collaboration and networks and follows on from previous successful calls made in 2009; 2011 and 2013.

The Call is open to all researchers with a university affiliation, who hold a doctorate (PhD degree) and have at least two years of post-doctoral research experience. Applications from groups of researchers are also eligible, but in this case all member of the research team should meet the eligibility criteria. Applications from researchers who have had an affiliation with the Hellenic Observatory at any time over the past two years as well as from researchers with a current LSE affiliation are not eligible.

Research grants of up to Euros €12,000 will be awarded to the successful applicant(s) for research on one of the themes, to be undertaken normally within a period of 12 months. It is expected that a total of three projects will be selected from this Call based on the quality of the proposal and the research record of the applicant(s). Payments will be made in two equal instalments, the first on commencement of the project and the second on completion of the defined outputs to the satisfaction of the LSE project leader. The successful applicant(s) must provide a relevant research account in their host institution for the transfer of the grant. It is hoped that the agreements will be drawn up and signed by all parties by 5 January 2015.

Applications should be submitted electronically by Sunday 28th September 2014 (5pm GMT) to Hellenicobservatory@lse.ac.uk.

The subject line of the email should read “HO Call 2014” only and all application material should be in MS Word format. In the email applicants should indicate the research theme addressed by their proposal. Applicants who are unable to submit their application in this form must contact the Hellenic Observatory office on +44 (0)20 7955 6066 or +44 (0) 20 7107 5326 at least 10 days before the advertised deadline.

Terms & Conditions

The award will be made by a Selection Committee appointed by the LSE solely on the basis of the application materials submitted. All applicants must provide (a) a project proposal (of up to 8 pages), detailing the research question, the conceptual framework and methodology, the empirical data, and the expected outputs; (b) an indicative budget (see below); (c) a copy of the CVs of all applicants; and (d) a cover letter, summarising the competencies of the applicant and/or research team in relation to the proposed research. For group applications, an additional document highlighting the structure of the team and the allocation of tasks across its members is required.

The indicative budget should justify the costs identified for the project. All types of costs are allowed - including costs for fieldwork, data, travel, consumables and research staff – insofar as they can be accepted as essential parts of the proposed research. Overhead costs of up to 15% are allowed, but these should be included in the budget (the total budget cannot exceed €12,000). The Selection Committee has the right to request additional information regarding budget costs and to award a smaller amount than the one requested or advertised. Awards must be used solely for the purposes set out in the application. An amount of up to 20% of the total budget can be transferred between budget headings without reference to the Hellenic Observatory. Requests for budget transfers in excess of this amount should be addressed to the Hellenic Observatory.

The Selection Committee is solely responsible for approving the eligibility of applications and reserves the right to request additional information from the applicants. Shortlisted applicants may be asked to participate in a telephone interview. In all cases, the decisions of the Selection Committee will be final. The Committee reserves the right not to make any awards or to adjust the number of awards it makes.

The successful researcher / research team will be required to provide an ‘Interim Progress Report’ (at the end of the 6th month of the project), a ‘Final Report’ (at the end of the project) and a full research/policy paper presenting the results of the project, in a manner suitable for publication in an international academic/scientific journal, for publication in the GreeSE Papers series of the Hellenic Observatory. The prospect of additional publications, in other outlets, stemming from the research project will be a significant criterion for the evaluation of the applications submitted.

The Hellenic Observatory will also cover the basic costs for the researcher (or one team member) to present the research findings at the LSE. The researcher (or research team) will be obliged to give full acknowledgement to the Hellenic Observatory and to the National Bank of Greece in all publicity and outputs related to the project, copies of which should be sent to the Hellenic Observatory. The Hellenic Observatory also retains the right to publicise a summary of the results, with full acknowledgement to the authors of the research, on its website and in its other publicity outlets.

Call for Research Tender 1-NBG1-2014
Project Theme: The Crisis and Gender

Projects may cover one or more of the following: Gender relations in a time of crisis; women’s position in the labour market; gender inequality in dependent care; gender-based violence; gender, aging, and crisis; and gender-based choices in profession and education, especially amongst youth. Projects may use either qualitative or quantitative methodology but will preferably result in both academic publications and policy recommendations.

Call for Research Tender 2-NBG2-2014

Project Theme: The Crisis and Political Extremism

Projects may cover one or more of: the social basis of electoral support for extreme right political action in Greece; the extreme right and local politics or community action; participation in new, non-parliamentary forms of political action; the ideological and programmatic development of the extreme right; the evolution of Chrysi Avgi as a political organisation; the extreme right in Greece in historical or comparative perspective.

Call for Research Tender 3-NBG3-2014

Project Theme: Outward Migration from Greece during the Crisis

Projects may cover one or more of: migration flows and unemployment / labour market adjustment; brain-drain, depopulation and emerging skill/supply shortages; migrant geographical/occupational destinations and labour market status; migrant profiles and characteristics/circumstances of the sending families; social consequences of emigration. Of special interest are projects that will develop methods and data to measure the extent and characteristics (including the skill-content) of outward migration flows and subsequently address questions of relevance to the migrant cohort (remittances, family links, employment outcomes, etc.) or to the Greek economy at large (brain-drain, labour supply shifts, etc.).

The proposed projects are expected to be small-scale quantitative research projects; however, proposals seeking to answer these questions with more qualitative methods of research, including fieldwork and survey questionnaires are also covered by this Call.

For more information please refer to the General Guidelines of this Call or contact the Hellenic Observatory at Hellenicobservatory@lse.ac.uk