Frequently Asked Questions

1. Are SANDEE grants mainly for economists or can non-economists apply?

   SANDEE seeks to promote economic analyses of environmental problems. Thus, most of the grants we support have economists as principal investigators. SANDEE has also worked with non-economists to develop their analytical skills in economics, but our preference is to have an economist leading the research.

2. Who is eligible to apply for a SANDEE grant?

   SANDEE grants are generally made to individual researchers. SANDEE encourages junior and mid-career economists from an academic - teaching or research institution, and non-profit institutions to apply for grants. We also encourage post-graduate students working on Ph.D. dissertations to apply. Sometimes, a combination of young researchers with a senior academic is also considered. Teams of researchers can jointly apply; team composition will be evaluated based on the needs of the research being proposed.

3. Are SANDEE grants restricted to academic researchers or can NGOs apply?

   SANDEE's focus is to strengthen rigorous academic research. NGOs can apply for SANDEE grants. However, these grants are made to individuals or a team of individuals, which sometimes makes it difficult for NGOs to seek our support. We, however, encourage researchers to work with NGOs and policy makers.

4. Can teams of researchers apply for SANDEE grants?

   Yes, a team of researchers can apply. However, the team will need to include an economist, who is preferably, the principal investigator. The team composition will be evaluated based on the research being proposed. Multi-disciplinary teams are particularly encouraged to apply if the research proposed requires it.

5. If a team of researchers applies for the grant, does it need to be a multi-disciplinary team?

   Yes, and the proposal needs to be very clear about how each person and discipline contributes to the study.

6. Does SANDEE provide grants for South Asians living outside South Asia?

   Grants are made available to South Asians outside South Asia only if they are graduate students attempting to undertake field research for their dissertation. This is done to encourage students studying abroad to focus their dissertation research on a topic relevant to their country or region.

7. Does SANDEE provide grants to non-South Asians seeking to undertake research in South Asian countries?

   No. However, we will provide support for South Asians working with non-South Asians. The proposal will need to be written by the local research collaborator for his/her work.

8. Can SANDEE grants be used to support trips overseas for conferences, internships etc?

   SANDEE grants may be used, under certain circumstances and with prior approval of the secretariat, for travel within South Asia. For example, a Nepali researcher may need to visit Delhi to do a literature survey - this is acceptable if a strong case is presented in the proposal. However, SANDEE grants generally cannot be used for conference travel or study tours outside their own country of research. SANDEE offers other opportunities for travel to conferences to researchers who already have a SANDEE grant.

9. How important is it for the proposal to follow SANDEE's page limits and guidelines?

   Very important. We sometime receive long proposals - this actually works to the disadvantage of the researchers since reviewers, who review a number of proposals, find this tedious. Please add appendices if you need to - however, the most important information you want to convey should be in the main text of the proposal.

10. Do I need to include a draft questionnaire to the proposal if I am undertaking a field survey?

    Yes, our reviewers would like to see draft questionnaires if you are invited to submit a full proposal.