Larger Research Grants

The Structural Transformation and Economic Growth (STEG) programme invites applications for its sixth call for Larger Research Grants (LRGs), which are designed to support research focused on economic development and structural transformation in low-income countries. The current funding round opened on December 2, 2025, and the deadline for applications is February 2, 2026, at 23:59 BST. Proposals should be submitted through the official LRG Application Form hosted on the Hub platform, and applicants are encouraged to review the LRG documentation and FAQs prior to applying. LRGs provide funding of up to £100,000 for projects involving data collection, research assistance, teaching buyouts, or other eligible expenses for principal and co-investigators affiliated with partner institutions. Travel to field sites is also supported, including in cases where secondary data is used. The budget cap may be exceeded for projects involving extraordinary data collection costs in low-income countries, but such budgets must be well-justified and cost-effective, as cost-efficiency remains a key evaluation criterion. The grants aim to support projects that explore systemic patterns of structural transformation and growth across low-income countries, or more narrowly defined themes. Eligible research may address one or more of STEG's six thematic areas: data and measurement; firms and industrial policy; labor and household-level transformation; agricultural productivity; trade and spatial dynamics; and the role of the public sector. Additionally, proposals engaging with STEG’s three cross-cutting issues—gender, climate change and environment, and inequality and inclusion—are strongly encouraged and prioritized. Projects supported under this call are expected to conclude within 24 months. Contract signing is expected to occur within one month after funding decisions are announced, which typically happens within five months after the application deadline. Grantees are required to make any data collected under the grant publicly accessible upon completion of the project. Prospective applicants are advised to ensure alignment with STEG’s research priorities and low-income country focus. While research in middle-income countries may be considered, it must clearly inform policies or growth processes relevant to low-income contexts. Projects should demonstrate potential for producing multiple outputs or fundamental research contributions, commensurate with the scale of requested funding. Applicants should be aware that competition is intense, with fewer than five percent of proposals funded. Due to the high volume of applications, individual feedback is not provided. Any questions about the application process may be directed to the STEG Team at steg@cepr.org.

Proposals must demonstrate cost effectiveness and include value for money justification; proposals with extraordinary data costs must be clearly explained.