E-Cubed

2017-2021 Call for Proposals - CLOSED

For an introduction to the Research Fund, please view the recording and question transcript from the June 8th 2020 E-Cubed Q&A Webinar, here. For more information please see E-Cubed Assessment Criteria, Frequently Asked Questions, and Dubai Cares' budget template and guidelines.

Grantee Advice

2020 E-Cubed Grantee: Think carefully about dissemination, about all the costs involved in creating a website, translating knowledge products into multiple languages, formatting reports professionally for greatest impact, and transforming the results into findings that can be shared at multiple levels from the global to the local.

2019 E-Cubed Grantee: Keep the outcomes of the research study achievable and realistic. Sometimes it can be tempting to want to analyze very large, complex problems in one study, but that is not advised. Another piece of advice is to form authentic partnerships with local researchers and/or institutions early on in the proposal stage. The applicant should work alongside them to set the research goals, methodology and overall planning.

2017 E-Cubed Grantee: Find good research collaborators who complement your strengths and grow with you in the work, particularly in difficult times. A second piece of advice is that the research will not go as planned. Build this truth into your research design. Finally, Dubai Cares and INEE will be your research champions. You could not ask for more thoughtful partners to accompany you in this work.

Criteria for Funding

Dubai Cares and INEE designated the following criteria for 2017-2021 E-Cubed funding. These criteria exemplified the E-Cubed approach to strengthening the EiE evidence base.

Please see E-Cubed FAQs for specific information on these criteria.

Proposal outlines "usable" research which contributes to the evidence base in EiE by identifying and responding to a gap in data or evidence.
Research design, implementation, and dissemination is led by, and inclusive of voices of people and institutions within crisis-affected contexts.
Research includes a clear dissemination strategy to produce a Global Public Good. *In its simplest form a Global Public Good is a resource that is freely available with no restriction in access.

Eligibility

Who was eligible:

Academic Institutions
Research Institutions
Private and nonprofit organizations
UN agencies
Governmental agencies
Private companies

Who was NOT eligible:

Individuals, including undergraduate or PhD research, and scholarships
Endowments
Capital Campaigns
Unincorporated associations or groups

What E-Cubed would not fund:

E-Cubed will not fund program design or implementation, and will not substitute any funding that should be available as part of existing programmatic funding.

Review Process

In partnership with Dubai Cares, INEE coordinated a rigorous review process of submitted proposals:

Each proposal was reviewed to ensure that it followed E-Cubed criteria and eligibility requirements including whether the proposal was clearly focused on education, linked to an emergency context, and demonstrated that requested funds would not replace programmatic funding that should otherwise be available. Proposals that meet these requirements were then shared with an independent advisory panel of EiE experts representing policy, academia, field, and practitioner perspectives. *Please see E-Cubed Assessment Criteria for more information.
Each proposal was reviewed by at least two panelists in an anonymous process. Panelists scored proposals based on E-Cubed criteria for funding and provided feedback on aspects of each proposal including research relevance & rationale, research design & methodology, research approach, and research outcomes.
Based on the advisory panel's scoring and feedback, proposals were ranked. In cases where there were major score discrepancies of a single proposal, an additional panelist moderated the scores.
From this process, 10-12 proposals were shortlisted for funding.
INEE shared with Dubai Cares a complete proposal ranking along with the shortlisted proposals.
Dubai Cares selected projects for funding and managed all post-award processes. Once projects were funded, it took on average 3-6 months for projects to be launched.