Proposals called for Saman Kelegama Memorial Research Grant 2022

Beneficiary will be awarded a one-time research grant of Rs. 200,000 to carry out the proposed research and a three-month internship at the IPS

Economic policy think-tank, the Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS) yesterday announced it has started calling for research proposals for the SamanKelegama Memorial Research Grant 2022. 

The grant is an annual, merit-based grant awarded to an outstanding undergraduate studying in a Sri Lankan university. It aims to promote policy entrepreneurs among undergraduates by encouraging policy-relevant, rigorous and innovative socio-economic research.  

The grant was established in 2018 to honour Dr. SamanKelegama’s legacy of independent research and public policy engagement in socio-economic development in Sri Lanka and the wider South Asian region. Dr. Kelegama was the Executive Director of the IPS from 1995 to 2017.

Fourth-year undergraduates studying economics or a related subject in a University Grants Commission approved university or higher education institution in Sri Lanka are eligible to apply. Proposals must be written according to the guidelines provided and emailed to [email protected] or before the submission deadline of 30April 2022.
The quality of the proposals will be judged for its policy relevance, feasibility, originality and creativity. Three finalists will be chosen and invited to present their proposals at the IPS, where the award recipient will be selected.  

The recipient will be expected to produce a policy discussion brief in six months of receiving the grant. The research report can be written individually or jointly with an IPS senior researcher.  

The beneficiary will be awarded a one-time research grant of Rs. 200,000 to carry out the proposed research and a three-month internship at the IPS. The recipient will be able to seek guidance from senior researchers and benefit from IPS resources to complete the proposed study during the internship. To allow students from all over Sri Lanka to benefit from this opportunity, the terms of the internship will be flexible. 

The internship can either be a fully in-house internship at IPS, or it can be an in-house plus online internship. In the case of the second option, the in-house component of the internship should be at least six weeks. To encourage research dissemination, an additional subsidy will be provided for presenting the research findings at local conferences and workshops.