Global Development Awards Competition 2022 – Call for ORD Reviewers

  • Contract
  • Remote
  • TBD USD / Year
  • Salary: TBD

Global Development Network

  1. Background

The Japanese Award for Outstanding Research on Development (ORD) is a competitive research grant program under the umbrella of the Global Development Awards Competition administered by the Global Development Network (GDN), funded under the Policy and Human Resources Development Fund (PHRD) trust fund managed by the World Bank, and generously supported by the Ministry of Finance, Government of Japan. This award program identifies and funds outstanding research proposals in low-income or middle-income countries[1] with high potential for excellence in research and clear policy implications for addressing development issues.

  1. Scope of the call

GDN is recruiting reviewers to conduct the assessment of research proposals under the ORD category of the Global Development Awards Competition. The review is scheduled to take place in two phases:

  • Lot 1 – Reviewers will be selected to conduct a first assessment of proposals on the basis of the ORD selection criteria and shortlist the best proposals.
  • Lot 2 – Experienced researchers to review the shortlisted proposals, and select the three finalists of the ORD category. The final decision will be validated by the Panel Organizer.

Panel Organizer

Out of the Lot 2 reviewers, a Panel Organizer is selected based on her/his professional experience upon demonstrated availability for this additional task. This individual will have the additional task of approving the final ranking after taking into consideration all comments and (normalized) scores.

Interested candidates can apply to one lot only, depending on their profiles.

  1. Profile of applicants
  • Lot 1: Be a researcher with 2-10 years of research experience, with a track record of work and publication in the award theme for the current edition
  • Lot 2: Be a researcher with 10+ years of research experience, with a track record of work and publication in the award theme for the current edition

[1] Press here to visit the list of countries which are recognized as low- and middle-income countries by the World Bank

  1. Objective of the assignment

GDN is recruiting reviewers to conduct the assessment of research proposals under the ORD category of the Global Development Awards Competition.

The review is scheduled to take place in two phases:

  • Lot 1 – a first level review by early-career scholars (less than 10 years of experience)
  • Lot 2 – a second level review of experienced researchers (above 10 years of experience)

Interested candidates can apply to one lot only, depending on their profiles.

Panel Organizer

Out of the Lot 2 reviewers, a Panel Organizer is selected based on her/his professional experience upon demonstrated availability for this additional task. This individual will have the additional task of approving the final ranking after taking into consideration all comments and (normalized) scores.

Lot 1: First level review

Reviewers will be selected to conduct a first assessment of proposals on the basis of the ORD selection criteria and shortlist the best proposals.

Lot 2: Expert level review

Experienced researchers to review the shortlisted proposals, and select the three finalists of the ORD category. The final decision will be validated by the Panel Organizer.

  1. Review criteria of ORD applications

The criteria for the ORD category are as follows:

  • Academic quality

    • Quality of the research question formulated
    • Quality of methodology and methods chosen to answer the research question
    • Quality of literature review
    • Originality and Innovativeness
    • Ethics
  • Clarity of the links to policy

    • Link to specific development outcomes
    • Specific relevance to policy process
  • Feasibility

    • Timeline
    • Budget
    • Research team
    • Impact of social distancing policies
  1. Structure of the review and timeframe

Each review consists of:

  1. Scoring each proposal against the criteria
  2. Comments to complement the quantitative evaluation per criteria
  3. Indication of recommendation to advance to the following stage
    1. Lot 1 Reviewers – Yes/No to “Should this proposal advance to the next stage”
    2. Lot 2 Reviewers – Yes/No to “Is this proposal among the top 3 you have reviewed”

Applicants receive the anonymized comments and have the opportunity to revise their proposals between phases. It is expected that all comments submitted are respectful and contribute to the professional development of the applicants regardless of the quality of their proposal.

Lot 2 reviewers (second level review) will not have access to the comments from the 1st level reviewers but the applicants will provide a reaction to their comments.

How to apply

  1. Application structure

Interested individuals must submit the following information:

  1. Indicate to which Lot (1 or 2) they are applying for
  2. Overview of how their expertise matches the theme and scope of the competition
  3. Description of past experience on similar assignments
  4. Full CV
  5. Selection Criteria

The criteria for the selection of Reviewers are as follows:

  1. Research Background on the theme of the call
  2. Policy background
  3. Leadership experience
  4. Evaluation and Experience on Project implementation experience
  5. Application Procedure
  • Follow to GDN’s dedicated online submission platform using the following link: www.gdn.int/gdac/2022/apply
  • Register or Log-in into the platform to have access to your profile. You will receive an email confirming the successful registration of your profile and define your password. Only after verifying your profile, will you be able to submit an application.
  • On your profile page, follow the displayed instructions and go to [Applications] “Funding Opportunities” to select the Call you wish to apply to or resume one from the [Applications] “In Progress” section.
    1. Take note that you will be able to resume your entry at any time up to the deadline. If there are duplicate entries, the most recent one will be considered as only one proposal per applicant is allowed.
  • Upload all necessary documents and fill all sections otherwise your application will not be submitted.
    • Indication to which Lot (1 or 2) the application refers to
    • Overview of how your expertise matches the theme and scope of the competition
    • Description of past experience on similar assignments
    • Full CV
  • Once you have completed your application, click on “Submit”. You will receive an email notifying you on the successful submission of your application with a copy of the entire submission.

Check our website for additional information on how to interact with the platform or reach out to us if you need any assistance.

Enquiries must be addressed to [email protected].

Closing date: 10/14/2022