Scope and Opportunity
Effective responses to today’s growing global threats and risks require improved mechanisms for international cooperation, institutions, and action. At the same time, in the United States, experts, political leaders, and voters are increasingly calling for foreign and national security policies that better reflect domestic concerns. To promote innovative thinking and to engage a broad range of domestic and international perspectives on these critical challenges, Carnegie Corporation of New York has launched a Request for Proposals (RFP) for projects addressing one or both of the following themes:
- reimagining multilateral approaches to global challenges
- connecting domestic concerns with U.S. national security and foreign policymaking
Through a competitive process, a small number of proposals will be selected for philanthropic grants between $100,000 and $500,000 as one-time funding. The projects may run up to 24 months. Grants will be recommended for support at either the June or September meeting of the Corporation’s board of trustees.
Approaches
We are seeking research-based projects with the potential to generate knowledge and insights that inform practical solutions relevant to one or both of the aforementioned themes. Approaches might include, but are not limited to:
- illuminating and addressing connections between issues or policies that are usually siloed
- applying an existing body of research and lessons learned to a different but relevant challenge
- identifying and recommending ways to overcome barriers for governments or international institutions to implement new or improved policies, agreements, etc.
- creating new datasets or using existing datasets in new ways
- collecting and applying qualitative insights from various types of stakeholders through surveys, focus groups, task forces, etc.
- designing and implementing pilot projects with the potential to scale
Requirements
Applicants will be asked to provide brief responses to the following questions:
- What problem are you trying to solve?
- What specific milestones might be achieved toward this end with targeted attention and effort?
- Why are your institution(s) and people well positioned to carry out this work?
- What activities will you undertake?
- What do you anticipate will be the biggest challenges, and what mechanisms, institutions, and/or individuals will be critical for success?
- Who will be your key audiences, and what will be the main elements of your dissemination plan?
- How will you define and measure your impact? What data or other inputs will you use?
- How much funding are you requesting from the Corporation, and do you have any other complementary sources of support?
Additional Considerations
Projects are highly encouraged to:
- involve collaborations among American and foreign experts if the project is relevant to reimagining multilateralism
- involve collaborations among experts on U.S. foreign policy and domestic policy if the project is relevant to connecting domestic concerns with U.S. national security and policymaking
- include participation by experts from underrepresented communities
- demonstrate leadership by midcareer experts
Eligibility
- Projects may run for up to 24 months. Applicants should request between $100,000 and $500,000. Grants will be one-time only funding.
- Think tanks, university-based centers, and independent nongovernmental organizations are eligible to apply. Different centers/schools at the same university may each submit one concept note. Think tanks may submit one concept note for the entire institution.
- Applying organizations must be based in the United States but are encouraged, where applicable, to have international partners.
- Concept notes must be submitted by an organization; individual researchers are not eligible for consideration.
- Preference will be given to organizations that are not current Corporation grantees.
- Projects may build on past or ongoing work but must represent an expansion or evolution of that work.
Process and Timeline
- December 2, 2022: Deadline for applicants to submit a concept note (before midnight ET) by filling out this application form. (You may view a full copy of the application here.)
- January 20, 2023: A selection of applications will be reviewed by an external panel of experts.
- February 10–March 10, 2023: A small group of semifinalists will be invited for virtual interviews with Corporation staff.
- March 20, 2023: Finalists will be invited to submit a full funding proposal.
- Grants will be recommended for support at the meeting of the Corporation’s board of trustees on either June 8, 2023, or September 14, 2023.
Questions about the process may be sent to IP_RFP23@carnegie.org. We are unable to provide advice about whether a potential project is competitive or how it may be improved. We encourage applicants who believe their work fits the call to submit a concept note.
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