The International Foundation for Research in Experimental Economics (IFREE) Small Grants Program provides funding of up to $10,000 for economics research projects.
IFREE’s mission is to advance the understanding of exchange systems and the testing and application of market-based institutions. The Program funds basic research in economics through experimental methods.
All proposals for the Grant Program undergo a peer-review process. Funding decisions are based on scientific-merit, likelihood of success, expected benefits and broader impacts, and are subject to the availability of funds.
Eligibility: The Small Grants Program is open to anyone affiliated with a research institution, regardless of citizenship or location of the institution. Funding preference will be given to proposals that include one or more investigators who have participated in an IFREE workshop, either as a teacher or a student, and/or received pre or post-doctoral support from IFREE.
Budget guidelines:
Funds may be requested only for expenses directly related to a research project, including, but not limited to, funding for laboratory subject incentives, research costs and software development. Funds may not be used for salary support for investigators or travel to conferences. IFREE does support travel that is necessary to conduct the research. When writing the proposal, it is important to justify all expenses. IFREE does not pay overhead or indirect cost recovery on grants.
Expectations from successful applicants:
- The long term sustainability of the IFREE Small Grants Program depends upon volunteers to review proposals. Therefore, successful applicants may be asked to become part of the pool of reviewers to review proposals on an ad hoc basis.
- Successful applicants will be expected to submit a final report within 6 months of the project’s completion. The report should account for use of the IFREE funds, describe the research conducted, summarize key results, and list all working papers, grant submissions, publications, etc.
- Papers must acknowledge funding support from the International Foundation for Research in Experimental Economics Small Grants Program.
To request funding, proposals must meet the budget and formatting guidelines, and be emailed to the Chair of the Proposal Evaluation Committee (currently Jim Murphy at murphy@uaa.alaska.edu). Proposals may be submitted at any time. Below is the timeline for review:
| PROPOSAL RECEIVED BY | PROPOSAL REVIEWED AT IFREE BOARD MEETING |
| Aug 15 | Oct 15 |
| Feb 15 | Apr 15 |
Replies to investigators will be given within about 30 days of the board meeting in which the proposal was reviewed. Grants will be made only to universities, university foundations or other recognized research institutions, not to individuals.
Proposals must adhere to the following format (each section below must begin on a new page):
- Cover page (download here).
- Proposal (maximum 5 pages, single spaced, 12 point Times New Roman font).
- Statement about how the proposed research contributes to IFREE’s mission (1/2 page maximum).
- References cited.
- Budget and budget justification.
- Project timeline, including report submitted to IFREE, due 6 months after project completion.
- Summary of qualifications of the investigator(s) (maximum ½ page per investigator).
- Facilities available for research and statement that all research will be conducted in compliance with the IRB protocols of the institution receiving the grant.
Proposal submission checklist:
- Each section must begin on a new page.
- Budget must conform to budget guidelines.
- All sections must be combined into a single document with pages numbered sequentially.
- Proposals must be submitted as a PDF document. 1. All sections must be combined into a single document with pages numbered sequentially. ***The cover sheet and the proposal can be combined into a single document using Adobe Acrobat, but not Acrobat Reader. There are also a number of web sites that will do it for free, such as pdf merge.
- Files must use the following naming convention: LastName_FirstName.pdf.
- Proposals must be emailed to the Proposal Evaluation Committee chair, Jim Murphy, at murphy@uaa.alaska.edu.
- The email must be titled “IFREE Small Grants Proposal.”
Proposals that do not comply with the above guidelines will not be reviewed.
Factors proposal reviewers will consider:
- Is this a new area of research with the potential for significant intellectual contributions or an addition to the literature?
- Is the proposed research likely to lead to a publication in a quality journal or provide preliminary data that could lead to significant funding from other sources? IFREE is willing to support a proposal that “thinks big” in the sense of investing in risky, but well-reasoned and innovative ideas.
- Are the research goals and hypotheses clearly identified?
- Is the research plan solid and experimental design appropriate for testing the stated hypotheses?
- Is the timeline reasonable and the budget appropriate.
For more information about IFREE, click here. More Application Information! This articles was originally published on http://www.ifreeweb.org/WhatWeDo/ifreeSmallGrants.php.