Weiss Fund for Research in Development Economics Research Grants

The Weiss Fund for Research in Development Economics supports research by students and ladder faculty working in development economics, broadly defined. The program funds projects that address a wide range of issues affecting less developed countries. While there may be exceptions, funding will typically not exceed $5,000 for undergraduate and master’s degree students, and $50,000 for PhD students.

Deadline

• Fall 2024 Deadline: TBA
• Spring 2025 Deadline: TBA

EligIbility

Master’s Students

• Master’s Students should be enrolled in a program leading to a master’s degree with a specialization in development and a strong quantitative/economics component. Their research must be supervised by a faculty member with expertise in economics.

PhD students

• PhD students should be working under the supervision of a faculty member with expertise in economics and should have sufficient time to devote to completing the project before graduating. The Weiss Fund ordinarily will not provide support to new projects being started by PhD students during their last year of the program unless they can demonstrate continuation in an academic position after graduation that will enable them to successfully complete the project and publish its findings.

Eligible Projects

The Weiss Fund is funded by the CRI Foundation and aims to sponsor research that will positively affect the lives of poor people in poor countries. The potential impact of research on the poor can be long run, research can duplicate an existing study in a different context, or it can investigate a negative result – showing that something that is widely done has no impact or less impact than is normally believed. The research could seek to discover flaws in past research findings. Research that challenges conventional wisdom is encouraged. Cross-disciplinary work is welcome.

The Program only funds research in countries, regions, or populations with per capita GDP below $11,000 in current USD, and has a preference for supporting work in countries, regions, or populations with per capita GDP below $5,500. Countries’ GDP per capita is determined according to the most recent data available from the World Bank Open Data portal. The Program does not fund research in developed countries, even on low-income populations within these countries.