CEDIL-funded projects

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CEDIL FUNDED PROJECTS

Map showing focus countries for CEDIL funded projects

Focus countries for CEDIL funded projects

CEDIL is pleased to announce awards to 25 innovative research projects, which include evaluations, secondary data analysis, evidence synthesis and exploratory studies. These projects focus on evaluating complex interventions, enhancing the transferability of research findings and promoting evidence-informed decision-making. Covering over 20 low- and middle-income countries, they break new ground in terms of research design and fill critical evidence gaps in priority sectors and geographies.

The projects fall into three focus areas, which CEDIL describes as programmes of work.

Evaluating complex interventions

CEDIL is supporting nine studies using innovative designs to assess the impact of complex interventions, including those in challenging contexts, such as fragile and conflict-affected settings.

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Enhancing evidence transferability

Twelve studies in this area will use middle-range theory or data-driven approaches to assess how research findings can be transferred from one setting to another.

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Increasing evidence use

Four CEDIL-supported studies will focus on approaches to improving the usefulness and use of evidence. They will synthesise evidence on effective approaches for promoting evidence-informed decision-making, pilot guidelines with government departments or identify effective methods to use an evidence base to make policy decisions in different contexts.

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How were these projects chosen?

The focus areas for CEDIL’s research were identified through the development of a series of pre-inception and inception papers, and consultation workshops with a broad range of experts. We subsequently ran a call for proposals to undertake research in the three focus areas or programmes of work.

In response to the call for proposals, we received 268 expressions of interest for large projects (budget ceiling ranging from £300,000 to £1 million), of which 33 teams went on to submit full proposals. We received 193 proposals for small projects (budget ceiling ranging from £100,000 to £200,000). These proposals were subject to external review, with the final recommendation on funding made by a review panel of leading international researchers. The proposed list was approved by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID), which supports CEDIL.

 

Directly commissioned projects

CEDIL has directly commissioned seven project teams to support the development of its programmes of work. Based on stakeholder feedback on research topics, we invited members of the CEDIL intellectual leadership team to submit proposals to further the CEDIL research agenda and follow up on the challenges raised by the inception papers. The final list of research projects was jointly selected by the CEDIL directorate and DFID, based on advice received from the CEDIL advisory board.

The projects commissioned through this process include conceptual papers on measurement, evaluation of complex interventions, middle range theory and stakeholder engagement. There are also small projects dedicated to developing country evidence gap maps, reviewing the innovative use of big data, and building a disability evidence portal. The budget ceiling for each project is £50,000. The summaries of these projects are available on the related programme of work pages.

Watch our research director, Howard White explain CEDIL’s three programmes of work in this video.