The International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Ottawa, Canada jointly with The Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI), Waterloo, Ontario, Canada, is sponsoring a 3 year initiative to establish a young scholar research Network on poverty in China. It runs from summer 2005 through summer 2008 initially, and depending on results may be extended further.
The aim is to both identify and support a new generation of younger researchers working on poverty and distributional issues in China. Young researchers may come from universities, research institutes, or government departments. Around 6 each year will be supported. Advanced graduate work is included, but preference is given to completed Ph.Ds. Work may be data oriented or involve analytical methods including numerical simulation analysis.
The coordinators of the Network are Prof. Li Shi (Beijing Normal University, BNU) and Prof. John Whalley (University of Western Ontario, CIGI) and there is an organizing committee with 9 Chinese representatives and 5 international representatives. Annual Network meetings are organized in Beijing where proposals are presented and monthly seminars are held at BNU.
The Network invites young Chinese Scholars to submit proposal for support for research projects.
Proposals should be in English and are due by April 15. They should contain a short abstract as well as a longer summary (5-10 pages) of the proposed research. Existing papers can be submitted, but what will be done beyond them should be made clear. Support will be for 1 year and will lead to a research paper in English for an international audience. Work can be data oriented and/or analytical in nature; numerical simulation work is included.
The term “Young Scholar” will be interpreted broadly to include advanced graduate students and post Ph.D. researchers, and support is expected to centre on those scholars already working on poverty and distributional issues and within 2-7 years of completion of Ph.D. Proposals should include a brief CV/Resume. Scholars should have an institutional affiliation in Mainland China, but applicants need not be resident in China when applying.
This year the Network will emphasize three themes in its work: migration and poverty/inequality; FDI inflows and poverty/inequality; and regional variations in growth as a source of inequality. Proposals addressed to these themes will be given preference in selection; but proposals in other areas of poverty research will nonetheless be considered.
A 2-day Network meeting will be held in Beijing May 10-11, 2008 to which successful applicants will be invited to present their initial proposal. Those chosen and funded will then work further on their project under mentoring from senior scholars. Support up to C$8,000 is available. There may be opportunities for international travel to present the supported projects.
The proposal should be sent in electronic form (Word document, Times New Roman, 12p, 1.5 spaced) to: Professor Li Shi, Beijing Normal University (lishi@bnu.edu.cn) and Deng Quheng, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences by (dengqh@cass.org.cn) by April 15. All submitted proposals will be reviewed by a selection committee. Those invited to present their proposals at the meeting in May will be contacted directly.
