2013 Call for Applications

East Africa Social Science Translation Collaborative

2013 Call for Applications

The East Africa Social Science Translation (EASST) Collaborative invites East African researchers—in economics, public health, and other social science disciplines—to apply for two new opportunities in Impact Evaluation research:

2013 Evaluation Design Competition

and

EASST Visiting Scholar Fellowship

EASST is a multi-institution partnership with a mission to promote rigorous evaluation of social and economic development programs in East Africa. To learn more about EASST, visit:

2013 Evaluation Design Competition

Deadline: 22 March 2013

Note: This is a rolling deadline. Applicants are encouraged to submit proposals as early as possible.

In 2013, EASST will be awarding grants of up to US $25,000 to fund evaluations of promising social or economic development projects in East Africa. Awards will be made to research teams including an East African researcher plus a U.S. faculty member affiliated with the Center for Effective Global Action. For a list of U.S. researchers affiliated with CEGA (which is headquartered at UC Berkeley), visit cega.berkeley.edu/faculty/.

A total of $100,000 is available for the 2013 Evaluation Design Competition. The application process includes two stages. First, interested East African researchers must submit a one-page abstract describing an existing or planned social or economic development project in East Africa, accompanied by a clear strategy for rigorously evaluating the impacts of the project. Evaluation designs should have a well-articulated methodology (either randomized or quasi-experimental design) with clear identification of "treatment" and "comparison" groups. All designs submitted to EASST will be reviewed confidentially, and successful applicants will be partnered with a faculty member with similar research interests for joint preparation of a full grant proposal. In the second stage of the competition, a review panel will select up to 4 winning evaluation proposals for $25,000 grants.

Applicants to this first round of competition should demonstrate experience in rigorous research design as well as involvement in (or familiarity with) a relevant social/economic development project in the East Africa region.

EASST Visiting Scholar Fellowship

Deadline: 22 March 2013

The EASST Visiting Scholar Fellowship seeks to equip East African social scientists with the skills needed to carry out impact evaluations. During a four-month fellowship, typically starting in August 2013, scholars will be based at a CEGA-network campus (University of California or Stanford University), where they will audit courses, present recent work, attend seminars, develop curricula, and design collaborative research projects. Upon completing the fellowship, scholars are expected to return to a university or research institute in East Africa and assume a leading role in the global effort to use rigorous evaluation and evidence for economic development.

Each Visiting Scholar will be paired with a CEGA faculty mentor as well as a CEGA PhD student, to provide professional and personal support while in the program. Room and board, health insurance, monthly stipend, visa fees, and roundtrip air travel will be covered by the program. Scholars will also be eligible to receive grants of up to $10,000 for activities related to impact evaluation upon returning to their home institution in East Africa.

Eligibility and Selection Criteria

Eligible candidates for all EASST programs must:

• Be a resident of an East African country participating in EASST (i.e. Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, or Rwanda);
• Have participated in field-based data collection and rigorous empirical techniques/analysis;
• Have participated in or have familiarity with impact evaluation research (either randomized or quasi-experimental);
• Hold a staff position at a research institution, university or other organization in East Africa, preferably one that supports policy-relevant, quantitative social science research;
• Be computer literate and fluent in English;
• Have a PhD or Masters degree (completed within the last 8 years, for fellowship applicants) or be enrolled in a graduate program in economics, statistics, epidemiology/public health, or another social science discipline.

Selection criteria:

• Candidates must have strong analytic skills, and have preferably taken courses in economics and/or completed research using empirical, quantitative techniques;
• Candidates should demonstrate an interest in rigorous program evaluation, policy analysis, and micro-level field data collection;
• Candidates must submit a clear and innovative research proposal that evaluates a specific public policy or program, using randomized controlled trial or quasi-experimental methodologies;
• Female applicants are strongly encouraged to apply.

Visiting Scholar applicants must additionally:

• Plan to return to a university or research institute in East Africa for at least 1 year after the fellowship;
• Demonstrate a commitment to building the capacity of African research institutions/universities.

Application Instructions

All application materials must be received by 22 March 2013, and applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis. Incomplete applications or applications that do not fit the below requirements will not be reviewed. All application materials—with the exception of the letter of recommendation for Visiting Scholar Fellowship applicants—should be submitted using the online system at: If you are unable to use this system, email a WORD or PDF copy of the form included here (plus legible scanned copies of other required documents) to .

A full application to the Evaluation Design Competition includes:

1. The completed application form, which can be accessed at If you are unable to access the Online Form, a Microsoft Word version of this form can be found at The MS Word form should be single space, Times New Roman font, size 12. Please save the file as: familyname_firstname_easst2013.doc
2. Curriculum Vitae.

Visiting Scholar Fellowship applicants must additionally submit:

1. Transcript of completed coursework within at least the last 5 years (i.e. your scores or grades from your university courses). Scanned copy is acceptable.
2. One letter from the applicant’s supervisor or department chair demonstrating support and certifying that, if the applicant is selected, he/she will be able to take a leave of absence.
3. One letter of recommendation, describing the applicant’s research capacity, using the form at the end of this application. Please ask your reference to email the letter directly to by the stated deadline (22 March 2013).

For further information, please contact Maryam Janani, EASST Program Manager, by emailing or by phone at +1-510-643-3250.

APPLICATION FORM

I. Personal information

Please type in the space that follows each item.

II. Current employment

If you are formally employed, please fill out this section. If not, please skip to the next section.

III. Academic background

Please list any doctorate, master's or bachelor's degrees obtained below, starting with the highest level of education. If you have attended more than two institutions, list the two institutions for which you have obtained the highest degrees.

IV. Short responses

Please type in the space that follows each question.

1. If you are currently employed, please describe your current institution of work, with an emphasis on your role in the organization. (100 words maximum)

1. Please describe any quantitative or impact evaluation coursework you have taught or taken. If you are currently a student, please describe your current coursework and/or research. (100 words)

1. If you have written any relevant papers (either published, working papers, or papers for degree completion), list the two most recent. Include a title, author(s), your role or contribution to the paper, and two-lines describing the research. Optional: Submit a PDF document of either of the two papers. (100 words)

1. Additional comments (optional): (100 words)

Visiting Scholar applicants must also answer the following questions.

1. Describe your research interests and why you are interested in impact evaluation. (100 words)

1. How will this fellowship benefit you and your organization? (100 words)

For reference, note that activities for Visiting Scholars while in the U.S. will include:

• Participating in seminars and presentations on research topics in socio-economic development, including presenting your own work;
• Auditing courses, including a rigorous, post-graduate course in impact evaluation, taught by CEGA faculty;
• Carrying out an independent research project under the mentorship of CEGA and EASST faculty members. Projects can use existing data for retrospective analysis or set-up a study design with original data collection;
• Meeting and collaborating with CEGA faculty or students in a variety of academic departments;
• Designing impact evaluation curricula that will be taught at an East African institution;
• Participating in policy dissemination by contributing to policy briefs, attending meetings with policymakers and stakeholders, and presenting at EASST institution events;
• Attending research conferences, hosted by CEGA or by partner organizations.

V. Research proposal (750 words maximum)

Please provide below a research proposal for evaluation of a social program or policy in East Africa. The evaluation design must use randomized controlled trial or quasi-experimental methods. No more than one paragraph of your proposal should address the background, including the social program/policy you would like to evaluate and the development challenge it addresses. The remainder of the proposal should outline your research question (hypothesis) and its significance, your evaluation design, and the plan for data collection and analysis. If your proposal is based on a current project, specify the status of the work completed to date.

East Africa Social Science Translation Collaborative

2013 Visiting Scholar Fellowship

Recommendation Form

To be completed only for fellowship applicants

To be completed by the applicant:

Instructions:

The applicant above is applying for the 2013 Visiting Scholar Fellowship offered by the East Africa Social Science Translation (EASST) Collaborative, a multi-institution partnership led by Makerere University in Uganda and the Center for Effective Global Action at UC Berkeley. The EASST mission is to improve the delivery of basic services in East African countries through greater investment in impact evaluation and evidence driven policy-making. Selected applicants will be placed at a CEGA-network campus (University of California or Stanford University) for four months, where they will audit courses, present recent work, attend seminars, develop impact evaluation curricula, and design collaborative research projects. For more information about EASST, please go to

In your recommendation, we ask that you comment on the applicant’s research capacity and personal qualities. Include specific examples, and address the applicant’s analytic skills as well as their ability to cooperate, communicate, and network effectively with peers/co-workers. We also ask that you provide us with your contact details, so that we can reach you for further information if necessary.

You must email the recommendation to by 22 March 2013. If you have any questions, please contact Maryam Janani, EASST Program Manager, at .

Core competencies:

Please comment on the applicant level for each area below:

Recommendation letter: