Frequently asked questions: Anticipatory call for proposals for research teams — Adolescents Thrive: African Adolescents Bolstered through Local Evidence (AABLE)

1. Who is eligible for submitting a proposal?

  • This anticipatory call is open only to organizations in the following thirteen countries: Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mozambique, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

  • The Lead Applicant Organization must have independent legal status (or “legal personality”) and be capable of contracting in their own right and name, receive and administer funds, and have authority to direct proposed project activities. Applicants must be able to demonstrate legal status through written documentation.

  • If proposing a consortium, the Lead Applicant Organization must also demonstrate its ability to transfer funds to other countries where other consortium members are located. 

  • Applicant organizations must be eligible to conduct or coordinate independent research in study countries.
  • Applicant organizations have a corporate policy to allow researchers to publish in international academic literature without institutional restrictions.

  • IDRC is only able to grant project funds to institutions and is unable to grant directly to individuals.

2. What are the eligibility criteria for the team composition? 

Each funded project must have:

  • A principal applicant/Principal Investigator (PI) who is a sub-Saharan Africa-based researcher (citizen or permanent resident of an African country) with a position in an institution based in an eligible country mentioned in Q1, which is also where the research will take place. The principal applicant/Principal Investigator will be the implementation research team lead and will work in close collaboration with the following mandatory co-applicant for decision-making (DM) and other members of the team:

    • Co-principal applicant(s) for decision-making (co-PI for DM) who is/are a relevant national/local, district-level decision-maker. If the research is planned in only one country, this co-principal-applicant must be based in the same country as the principal applicant’s institution. If the research is planned in multiple countries, there must be one eligible co-principal applicant decision-maker from each country. Decision-makers must have within their responsibility and authority the provision of support for the identification of research questions, implementation of research (where appropriate) and uptake of results at the appropriate level. If a co-principal applicant decision-maker is not from a government entity, the proposal must justify how the chosen decision-maker has the ability to support the research, act to implement the research findings, and influence relevant levels of government. Women and other under-represented people in decision-maker positions are strongly encouraged to apply. If the research is planned in multiple countries, there must be one eligible co principal-applicant decision-maker from each country.

3. What is the duration for the implementation of this project?

The duration of implementing this project should not exceed 30 months.

4. Is it possible to submit more than one proposal?

  • An organization can submit only one proposal as a Lead Applicant Organization.

  • An organization can be a consortium member in only one application by a Lead Applicant Organization.

  • An organization cannot be a lead applicant on one application and a consortium member under another application.

5. Can the organization submit a proposal including other Co-Applicant Organizations and Third-Party Organizations? 

  • If well justified, Lead Applicant Organizations can add up to two Co-Applicant Organizations and two Third-Party Organizations (see below Q8, Q9 and Q10).

  • Co-Applicant Organizations and Third-Party Organizations are sub-recipients to be sub-contracted by the Lead Applicant Organization directly. 

  • Co-applicant organizations are not required to be from countries in the list, or from invited organizations.

6. Can an international organization with headquarters in a high-income country and regional/country offices in the countries of focus act as Co-Applicants?

Yes. International organizations (except United Nations organizations and members of the Consortium of International Agricultural Research [CGIAR]) are eligible to act as co-applicants provided that they have a regional/country office in Africa

7. Must consortium applicants be from different eligible countries? 

No.

8. What is a Lead Applicant Organization?

  • The Lead Applicant Organization (the organization that submits an application) will assume responsibility for the administration of grant funds and will take the overall lead in coordinating the knowledge translation and evidence informing policymaking technical assistance activities.

  • The Lead Applicant Organization is responsible for developing and administering sub-grant agreements with their project partners (such as Co-Applicant Organizations, Third Party Organizations, or project consultants).

9. What is a Co-Applicant Organization?

  • Co-Applicant Organizations are direct partners in the project implementation plan and jointly share with the Lead Applicant Organization the intellectual responsibility and ownership for the knowledge and outputs produced.

  • Co-Applicant Organizations can be private (e.g. non-governmental organizations, cooperatives, unions, civil society organizations, non-profit foundations, or divisions of for-profit organizations) or public research organizations (e.g. governmental departments, agencies, or ministries).

  • Eligible Co-Applicant Organizations must be registered as a legal entity in an eligible low- and middle-income country (as defined by the Development Assistance Committee (DAC).  DAC List of ODA Recipients | Effective for reporting on 2025 flows link is here.

10. What is a Third-Party Organization?

  • Third-Party Organizations are sub-contracted by the Lead Applicant Organizations for specific services. These organizations may include United Nations organizations.

  • Eligible third-party organizations:

  • Are not required to be located in an eligible country;

  • May include experts in the role of advisors or consultants to the project, but not as principal or co-principal investigators; and

    • May not receive more than 20% of the total budget of the project.

11. Can Co-Applicant Organizations or Third-Party Organizations receive funding directly from IDRC?

  • No. IDRC will only negotiate funding agreements with the Lead Applicant Organizations.

  • Lead Applicant Organizations should then develop and administer sub-grant agreements with Co-Applicant Organizations or Third-Party Organizations or consultants.

12. Is co-funding required?

  • No. Co-funding (additional funding from other agency or donor) is not required for this call.

  • Nevertheless, for those applicants that are selected to receive a grant, IDRC’s policy on local contributions will apply as follows: any applicant selected to receive IDRC funding will be required to make local contributions to the project. Local contributions represent cash amounts expended by the applicant from its own resources, from private grants, or from grants received from local, provincial, or national authorities for the purpose of the project. In-kind contributions may include salaries of regular staff, equipment, infrastructure and overhead costs. Cash and/or in-kind contributions should be reflected in the proposal budget in the application.

13 How should the project budget be distributed between the Lead Applicant Organization, the Co-Applicant Organizations and Third-Party Organizations?

  • There are no restrictions on the portion of the total budget allocated to Co-Applicant Organizations.

  • Third-Party Organizations are restricted to a maximum of 20% of the total budget.

  • The proposed budget must fit with the stated project activities of each consortium member.

14. Can indirect or overhead costs be included in the total project budget?

  • IDRC expects grantees to absorb the indirect (overhead) or administrative costs of a project as part of its local contribution.

  • Where an organization has a supportable indirect cost-recovery policy, IDRC may allow indirect costs of up to 13% of all IDRC grantee-administered costs. The indirect cost rate proposed in the budget should not exceed the grantee’s organizational rate and should be verifiable. 

  • Where an IDRC funded project includes sub-grantees administering a portion of the project, the allowed indirect cost may be shared between the lead applicant organization and the collaborating institutions, but it should never exceed 13% of all IDRC grantee-administered costs in aggregate.

15. What specific country procedures, clearances or permissions would be required?

  • In some cases, IDRC has agreements for scientific and technical cooperation with the governments of the countries where we support projects. Where such agreements exist, IDRC may require additional or alternative approval processes to be followed in order to comply with such agreements. Otherwise, grantees must follow the prevailing approval procedure as required by the relevant government authority.

  • If relevant, country procedures only apply to applications that are selected for funding and are not required prior to submitting the full application.

  • IDRC reserves the right to not pursue the funding of a selected project if the country approval is not secured within six months after IDRC officially announces approval of the project, as this would jeopardize the timely completion of the initiative.

16. Are these country procedures, clearances or permissions only applicable to the Lead Applicant Organization?

  • Country approval will apply to the entire project and will not need to be done for each co-applicant in a consortium.

  • In some countries, local sub-grantees of a grantee located abroad must obtain local clearance for research conducted in the sub-grantee country. In this case, the Lead Applicant Organization should pass on the clearance requirement to the sub-grantee.

17. Is there a specific format for applying to the call?

  • Yes. Please read the instructions included in the Call by Invitation.

  • Applications must be submitted through the SurveyMonkey Apply platform via the link provided.

  • See the deadlines in the anticipatory call document.

18. Should the budget currency be in Canadian dollars?

  • No. The budget must be presented in the working currency of the Lead Applicant Organization.

  • IDRC will only accept proposals with a total budget equivalent to up to CAD692,000.

19. Is there a template to enter the budget?

20. When including Co-Applicant Organizations or Third-Party Organization, how should they be included in the budget?

  • The total amounts per sub-recipient (either a Co-Applicant Organization or a Third-Party Organization) and per year should be included as a single line of the Research Expenses in the budget of the Lead Applicant Organization (in the currency of the Lead Applicant).

  • For each sub-recipient, the proposal needs to include a budget in IDRC’s Excel sheet template.

21. What are the characteristics of the Co-principal applicant(s) for decision-making (co-PI for DM) that would be accepted? 

A Co-principal applicant for decision making (co-PI for DM) is a local, district- or national-level decision-maker from the same country/territory as the principal applicant’s organization or in a country/territory where the research will take place. The decision-maker should have responsibilities within the government (local, district or national level) relevant to the proposed research. They should have the responsibility and authority to support the identification of research questions, contribute to the implementation of the research project and advance mobilization of research findings. If the decision-maker co-applicant is not from a government entity, the team needs to justify how the chosen decision-maker has the ability to support the research, act to implement the research findings and influence relevant levels of government. The research teams should demonstrate true decision-maker buy-in, not only by producing letters of support but also by obtaining concrete support through mechanisms such as co-funding and/or in-kind contributions and meaningful, ongoing participation in the design and execution of the research and in the mobilization of results. The research teams should build in ways to ensure continuous policy and program engagement to take advantage of opportunities as they arise through strong and meaningful partnerships with program and policy decision-makers.