Call for ORD Proposals* | Application Template | Guidelines for use of the Application Submission Portal | FAQs | Sign up for a Q&A Session | Call for ORD Reviewers
*Contains competition guidelines, eligibility and review criteria, application procedure, selection process and a detailed description of the theme
THEME - 2025 EDITION
Digital Transformation for Universal Health Coverage
This award programme identifies and funds outstanding research proposals in low- or middle-income countries with high potential for excellence in research and clear policy implications for addressing development issues.
The three winning projects will receive grants worth US$ 60,000. Finalists will be invited to join a communications training in preparation for a pitch of their project in front of a high-level jury, which will decide which research proposal to award. The awards will be given to the researcher(s) whose proposals hold the greatest promise for improving our understanding of development issues and put forth clear, articulate and well-researched policy implications to address relevant developmental problems.
The first prize winner will receive a grant of US$ 30,000. The second prize and third prize winners will receive a grant of US$ 20,000 and US$ 10,000, respectively. The funds will be used to support the research work proposed by the winners towards the completion of their research. Additionally, awardees will be paired with a world-class academic in their area of work who will play the role of a Scientific and Technical Advisor.
The deadline for submission of applications is June 18, 2025 (Indian Standard Time 6 PM).
GENDER BIAS
GDN recognises the imbalance in the opportunities provided to women in professional research, as well as the consequences of unconscious gender bias in review processes in environments across the world. GDN also recognises the impact these factors can have on the prospects of women researchers in securing awards and funding.
Since the 2022 edition, GDN has embedded more equitable grant-making processes to guarantee that more women can compete and win while still maintaining a high-quality standard on the evaluation. Therefore, GDN instituted a selection process for GDAC, where we will make all efforts to guarantee gender representation amongst the 3 finalists of the ORD category.
GDN strongly encourages female researchers to engage and apply.
CONNECTOR GRANT
The Connector Grant aims to stimulate international cooperation through the development of collaborative projects to support scale-up efforts with research-based evidence. The Connector grant will be awarded to ORD grantees based on a project developed in collaboration with the MIDP grantees who received the JSDF grant. This grant will support the award recipients’ collaborative efforts towards measuring and analysing scale-up impact, as well as enhancing the robustness of their M&E activities. The application for this grant will only take place after the full implementation of the funded ORD project and will not be part of the selection of the ORD winners.
Are you part of a non-profit Non-Governmental Organisation (NGOs) or Civil Society Organisation (CSOs) from a low or lower-middle-income country?
If yes, then check the call for the 2025 edition of the Japanese Award for Most Innovative Development Project (MIDP)!
If you have a grievance regarding the implementation of this project or towards its future impacts, send an email to awards@gdn.int, with a copy to fobino@gdn.int or check www.gdn.int/awards/grievance for further instructions.
