ALF Knowledge for Action - Questions and Answers

Call for Papers and Policy Briefs

Information Session 25 January 2023

Q1 Could we ask for partnerships to get co-financing to be able to develop the research?

A1 No. The ALF maintains co-ownership with the awarded organisation of the final knowledge product's publishing rights and intellectual property.

Q2 Is it acceptable that the co-authors be individuals from CSOs?

A2 Authors are individuals affiliated to a CSO or to a research/academic institution.

Q3 Is it acceptable that the applicant is a physical person? In other words, can I participate as an individual not as an organisation?

A3 No, the applicant must be a research/academic institution.

Q4 Can a student be an author?

A4 A student with appropriate background and a clear affiliation to an entity may be proposed as author, bearing in mind that one of the selection criteria used for the evaluation is the background of the research co-author in the specific field of the proposed evidence-based research.  A student proposed as author may have less possibilities to be selected.

Q5 Should the research have a specific format?

A5 The structure to be followed for policy briefs and policy papers is details in the call (please refer to the section entitled “Basic Structure of the Content”).

Q6 What is the meaning of “both shores of the Mediterranean”?

A6 Countries of the two shores of the Mediterranean are indicated below:

Category 1:   Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Mauritania, Morocco, Palestine, Tunisia and Türkiye

Category 2:   Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Monaco, Montenegro, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden

Q7 Can the proposal include more than one policy brief, and would it be acceptable to have several subtopics for a specific theme?

A7 The same organisation can submit only one proposal in the framework of this call. The applicant organisation should select one of the four main topics/themes indicated in the call and the subtopics of the main theme depend on the methodology and the rationale presented in your proposal. You should ensure that your proposal is consistent across all of the elements and subtopics.

Q8 Would the proposal be eligible if the paper or brief is already partially funded by another institution?

A8 The research submitted for this call must be original and must not have been previously published, either in whole or in part. 

Q9 If my NGO has a research department, should I still cooperate with a university or research centre?

A9 If the NGO is applying as a think tank/research entity then it should partner with another NGO for the field work.

Q10 Should the brief or paper be in English, or can I write in Arabic or French?

A10 It must be in English. The ALF Secretariat -upon availability of resources- may translate some of the unique research papers into other languages for wider dissemination across the Euro-Mediterranean region.

Q11 Can we work in teams of experts on a common topic from two countries (one research organisation and one civil society organisation) from both sides of the Mediterranean? And is it possible for more than one institution to work together from the same country or from another country from the same shore of the Mediterranean?

A11 It should be a common work between the two entities (from academia/research and civil society). The complementarity between two organisations from the two shores of the Mediterranean is not mandatory.  Hence, a partnership could therefore be formed between two entities from the same country. The most important aspect is the innovative approach and the fact that the evidence-based research reflects a Euro-Mediterranean dimension/perspective.

Q12 Should the proposal be submitted by an academic centre in cooperation with an NGO, or submitted by an NGO in cooperation with an academic centre?

A12 It should be submitted by a research/academic institution (think tanks, specialised centres or universities) in collaboration with a civil society organisation.

Q13 Is it possible to organise a joint meeting among the participants to discuss possible partnerships around the topics of the call?

A13 The ALF Secretariat may consider sending an email with contact details provided by participants during the information session.

To explore potential partnerships, you are invited to check the list of the ALF members by clicking on any of ALF Networks and then use the search tool:

https://www.annalindhfoundation.org/networks

Q14 Can the proposal include several authors?

A14 The minimum number of authors is two: one affiliated to a research/academic institution of applied research and one affiliated to a civil society entity, bearing in mind that the lump sum allocation for each contract is the same as indicated in the call regardless the number of authors.