GDN organized the second webinar in its two-part series on 13 July, 2016 on “Funding for Social Science Research: Curse or Blessing?” Hosted by Research to Action, the webinar featured a panel of speakers from across GDN’s Doing Research Program who discussed the critical role of funding in social science research.
Among all the enabling factors that contribute to the production of research indeveloping countries, funding is critical. But funding alone does not solve all the problems related to the poor state of social science research. Funding sources and how funds are allocated are important to understand, because they have consequences for the types of research produced and for whom, as well as for policymaking. Those incentives can be beneficial, but can also create a number of perverse effects on researchers and their research environment.
This webinar focused on these key questions:
- What types of incentives should be addressed by funding for social science research?
- How can both funders and recipients be held accountable and transparent, while safeguarding researchers’ autonomy?
- Is the current funding system appropriate to foster the development of a strong local research environment?
The webinar featured a dynamic panel including Ramona Angelescu Naqvi, Director of Programmes at GDN; María Balarin Bonazzi, Senior Researcher at the Group for the Analysis of Development (GRADE); Dr. Inaya Rakhmani, Head of the Communication Research Centre, Faculty of Social and Political Sciences, Universitas Indonesia; and Alex Ademokun, a research specialist and advisor in the Evidence into Action team at DFID.
Find out more about the Doing Research program on R2A’s GDN Doing Research Dialogue Space, featuring blogs from researchers across the project.