SUMERNET 4 All Rapid Response Research: Call for "Expressions of Interest"

Background

The main goal of the ongoing SUMERNET 4 All programme phase is to “reduce water insecurity for all, in particular for the poor, marginalized and socially vulnerable groups of women and men in the Mekong Region”.

In response to the fast-evolving situation of water insecurity across the Mekong countries, SUMERNET 4 All has a rapid response mechanism to fund research that will provide evidence that directly contributes to urgent, ongoing and new planning or decision-making processes at sub-national, national and regional levels, addressing challenges being faced and helping reduce water insecurities for the poor, marginalized and socially vulnerable groups of women and men in the Mekong Region. This call encourages proposals that focus on solutions that address sudden and prolonged disruptions in water supply and availability in the post – pandemic, climate uncertain, times.

The research priorities of this call are aligned with three research themes:

1. Water access, rights and allocation in times of water insecurity.
2. Governance and management of water-related disaster risks.
3. Transboundary interactions with water systems.

Expedited timelines apply throughout the process to ensure delivery meets rapid response needs. It is expected the assessment, awarding and contracting of successful projects will be completed in two months.

Details of this call

Applications should emphasize clear and concise research that presents a logical summation of design, methodology and outputs based on the research question and context being proposed. We welcome applications with involvement of policymakers and planners, practitioners and marginalized women and men are particularly encouraged, as are those led or co-led by women and/or members of indigenous communities in the Mekong region.

Successful applications will have to fulfil the following aspects:

1. Address current challenges on water insecurity of significant importance for the Mekong Region, in line with at least one of the above research themes of SUMERNET 4 All.
2. Address the water insecurity challenge exacerbated by Covid-19, which impacts vulnerable and marginalized communities, water policies and budgetary priorities and how current systems of governance address the challenge, including any best practices adopted that would inform better preparedness to tackle future emergencies that impact/disrupt clean water sources and supplies.
3. Provide evidence that directly contributes to ongoing planning or decision-making processes at sub-national, national or regional levels to help reduce water insecurities for the poor, marginalized and socially vulnerable groups of women and men in the Mekong Region.
4. Provide a multidisciplinary research approach that includes gender and social equality, human rights, conflict sensitivity, governance and poverty reduction as key targets.
5. Engage with a diverse group of team members in the project that represent diverse gender, age, race and are at various stages in their research career is an advantage, especially if the project has a female lead.
6. Lead agency and Team Leader have extensive experience and proven capacity to manage the grant that engages with interdisciplinary experts in the water sector for the Mekong Region.

*Provide a letter of support or request from target user(s) of future research findings to certify that there is a real need for this research, while not compulsory, will certainly be an advantage.

Expected outputs

• One English manuscript for submission to an international journal listed in SCOPUS or Web of Science and with an Impact Factor.
• At least one dissemination product (e.g. blog/video/op-ed) to share findings with marginalized and/or vulnerable communities.
• One project report that includes methodology, research findings and recommendations.
• One Policy brief to be developed in consultation with SUMERNET Secretariat for dissemination of findings and recommendations, which will be directly used to inform ongoing planning or decision-making processes as earlier identified.
• One policy engagement event.
• All activities and outputs must be completed within a period of 6-12 months.

Who can apply?

Lead Applicant (LA) needs to demonstrate that they have the skills, knowledge and support necessary to direct the proposed research and to be actively engaged in carrying the research through to completion. The LA will need to show appropriate evidence of expertise and experience matched to the nature and context of the research project. LA must reside in one of five Mekong countries (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand or Vietnam) and be a formal SUMERNET network member. (You can apply to be a SUMERNET network member if you have not registered as network member yet using this link: http://bit.ly/sumernetmembers). Prior experience in receiving grant(s) from SUMERNET or other SEI programmes would be an advantage, however, new applicants are welcome to apply.

Multi-country consortiums providing knowledge exchange and capacity building opportunity among each other with concrete regional learning outputs are also encouraged to apply.

Applicants from Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar are especially encouraged to apply. To increase the possibility for funding access to wider network members, we encourage new applicants to apply. We will not consider applications from organizations that are currently leading the implementation of more than two granted projects (that are in-progress) under SUMERNET 4 All. However current Lead Applicants can be members of other teams.

Lead Applicants applying for this grant must be eligible to receive grants only through their institutional bank accounts. Project team members could be individual experts or organizations from SUMERNET or other networks within or outside Mekong Region.

Chinese researchers and institutions are very welcome to be part of the application team or cooperate as project partners. However, due to the funder’s regulations, engagement of Chinese researchers/institutions needs to be supported through other funding sources.

Following current regulation of the funder, until further notice SUMERNET can only support the engagement with the individuals and organizations that are not associated with the government for research and activities that are related to Myanmar. 

How to apply?

The Expression of Interest (EoI) and annex templates (available at this link) must be completed to ensure eligibility. Reference is made in the form to the SUMERNET website where information on the programme’s goal, objectives and priority themes, as well as operating approach, boundary partners, and capacity development are included. Applicants must refer to the guidance information on the SUMERNET website to complete and submit the EoI.

All applications must submit an Expression of Interest and supporting documents using the SUMERNET online submission platform at https://sei.submittable.com/submit/226930/sumernet-4-all-call-of-eois-on-rapid-response-research-2022.  

Email submissions will not be accepted.

Documents to be prepared for online submission:

• Completed Expression of Interest form
• CV of Project Leader
• CV of Project team members (all key members)
• Annexes of activities, outputs and budget (templates available) [1]
• Letter of support from target users of this research findings or boundary partners, while not compulsory, will certainly be an advantage. (optional)

Important Dates

• EoI submission deadline: 28 August 2022
• EoI Review: 29 August – 12 September 2022
• SUMERNET SC endorsement: 13 – 15 September 2022
• Announcement of results:  16 – 19 September 2022
• Contracting and onboarding: 19 September – 18 October 2022
• Project starting date: at earliest 18 October 2022

Contact

For further inquiries please contact:

Ms. Natalia Biskupska

Programme Manager

Stockholm Environment Institute (SEI) Asia Centre

Phone: +66 (0)2 0730040-44

Email: natalia.biskupska@sei.org