|
Alliance for Health Policy and Systems Research
Young Researcher Grants
Call for Proposals
2003-2004
Deadline: 16
January 2004
In
collaboration with the World Health Organization,
an
initiative fostered by the
Global
Forum for Health Research
1.
Introduction
The Alliance
for Health Policy and Systems Research was established in November 1999 as an
initiative sponsored by the Global Forum for Health Research in collaboration
with the World Health Organization. The Alliance
aims to promote the generation, dissemination and use of knowledge for
enhancing health system performance. One of its strategic objectives is to
facilitate the development of capacity for the generation, dissemination and
use of knowledge among researchers, policy makers and other stakeholders.
To achieve this objective the Alliance has sponsored in the past Young
Researcher Grants to encourage the attainment of a critical mass of
researchers in the field of HPSR. The
Alliance Board has decided to strengthen this approach through supporting
capacity development of postgraduate research programs with a focus on HPSR.
The capacity of postgraduate research programs
will be supported to pursue the following objectives:
 Strengthen the capacity of teaching programs to address HPSR
Increase the interest of students in research into health policy and
systems and supporting dissertations in this area.
Further the policy relevance of postgraduate HPSR teaching and
dissertations.
Grants will be offered to strengthen the capacity of Masters or PhD
teaching programs in HPSR-relevant areas such as public health, health
service administration, health systems organization, health economics and
hospital management. Teaching programs in middle income countries should have
a regional or sub-regional focus as demonstrated by their curriculum,
research and student enrollment. Teaching programs
in low-income countries can have a focus in a single country. A total of up to USD 25,000 will
be provided for a period of one year, renewable on the basis of results.
Teaching programs should already have some capacity to address HPSR
teaching and to support dissertations in this area as evidenced by
appropriately qualified staff and a track record of research on relevant
topics.
Capacity strengthening will involve a combination of the following
actions:
Increasing the
quality of postgraduate learning in HPSR, particularly in syllabus
development, protocol writing, research methods, data processing,
interpretation, writing-up and publication.
Supporting HPSR
Masters or PhD dissertations, to include field work, data processing, writing-up and project supervision.
Improving the
links between HPSR teaching and policy and systems development through
workshops and dissemination.
Interventions to increase the quality of
learning can include a number of actions, for example inviting national or
international experts and policy makers for conferences and seminars,
supporting HPSR dissertation seminars, providing access to on-line journals
through HINARI1and
undertaking curricular planning and development through expert advice. In
particular, the use of the training modules on research for policy and
practice produced by CTP is encouraged.
Support for dissertations should focus on
enabling fieldwork and research to ensure feasible, low cost research through
appropriate methods. Importantly, support should increase efficiency of
teaching programs. Proposals should clearly indicate the proposed allocation
and disbursement mechanisms to ensure: fair and transparent decisions on
allocation of student dissertation grants between students; maintenance of academic
standards; and required balance between low and middle-income country
students. Proposed procedures should include peer review of
dissertation protocols, to be organised by the teaching program and to
include at least one external reviewer.
Improving links with policy and systems may
include exercises based on curricular development to ensure interaction with
policy makers and system managers at various stages of course work and
dissertations, or to strengthen the links between students and their employers
in the case of part-time, sponsored studies. These can include identifying
research priorities and questions, literature synthesis on specific relevant
topics, writing of executive summaries and disseminating research results
among policy makers and the community (for example, results obtained by a
previous generation of students).
Applicants will propose the balance of
activities and expenditures across the three line items to meet their needs
with greatest efficiency given local costs. Applications including any
combination of line items will be accepted. However, an emphasis on
dissertation activities is encouraged to ensure that research is the main
driver for improved learning and policy linkages. Administration costs
(overhead) are not allowed and should be considered as a contribution by
applicant institutions. However, direct costs related to the operation
of teaching programs will be allowed.
Proposals will be accepted only from teaching programs in low (LIC)
and middle income countries (MIC)3. Successful applicants from MIC
should balance benefits for LI and MI students and a significant number of
LIC students should have enrolled in the past five years. Only LIC and MIC
students will be funded for dissertation grants and
these should favor LIC students or at least be
evenly divided. Fees and per diem can be included for technical
support to be received from high-income country nationals.
Costs allowed under a) and c) can include fees,
travel and per diem for external personnel, staff salary supplements in line
with institutional criteria, office costs and publications. Purchase of
equipment will be allowed only by the institution as part of a).
Costs under b) dissertations may include travel,
per diem, interviewer fees, processing costs and the acquisition of
databases. During fieldwork and writing-up students may be allowed a living
stipend if necessary. Project supervision may include travel and per diem for
the thesis supervisor.
The Alliance Board will select applicant
institutions on the basis of peer review of proposals. The criteria to be
applied are:
Existence of strategic plans for the development and sustainability of
the teaching program.
Trained staff and track record in HPSR at regional (for MI countries)
and country level as evidenced from publications and dissertations.
Emphasis on low-income countries as evidenced from student enrolment in
the last five years.
Quality of the proposal, demonstrating potential to cost-effectively
strengthen capacity through improving teaching, dissertations and
dissemination.
Proposals will be accepted only from teaching programs in low and
middle-income countries. Only low and middle-income country students will be
funded. Fees and per diem can be included for technical support from
high-income country nationals.
Proposals should
be submitted by email in English, French or Spanish in the formats annexed.
The formats and guidelines for submission are also available in the Alliance Web site: http://www.alliance-hpsr.org
Teaching
programmes are also requested to provide additional information on research
capacity through a brief, on-line questionnaire. Please visit the Alliance
Web site:
http://www.alliance-hpsr.org/aspfiles/survey/engine_survey.asp?language=en
A
brief curriculum vitae (3 pages maximum) of all relevant teaching staff and
thesis supervisors should be annexed to the proposal highlighting teaching,
supervision of dissertations and research in HPSR.
Additional
letters of support or attachments can be sent scanned or by post, clearly
indicating the name of the teaching program co-ordinator and the title of the
proposal.
Emailed proposal
should reach the Alliance
not later than close of business on 16 January 2004.
Send proposals by email to:
alliancehpsr@who.int
Please state in the subject
heading "YR Grants Round 3".
If mailed by
post, send proposals to
Alliance for Health
Policy and Systems Research
Office No. 4123
World Health Organization
20, Avenue Appia
CH 1211 Geneva
27 – Switzerland
1. HINARI, The Health InterNetwork was created
by WHO and journal editors to bridge the
"digital divide" in health, ensuring that relevant information -
and the technologies to deliver it - are widely available and effectively
used by health personnel: professionals, researchers and scientists, and
policy makers. See www.healthinternetwork.net
2. The goal of CTP "Health Research for Policy, Action and Practice:
a Collaborative Training Program" is to support strategies to increase
the impact of health research on policy, programs and practice through
training and institutional development. The modules focus on practical
experience and best practices regarding health research priority setting,
knowledge management and advocacy and leadership. See www.alliance-hpsr.org
3. The categories used are those from the World Bank: Low Income
Countries (LICs) with $755 or less, Lower Middle
Income Countries (LMICs) between $756 and $2,995,
and Upper Middle Income Countries (UMICs) between
$2,996 and $9,265.
|
