CALL FOR PROPOSALS
CSRF – INDONESIA
The Centre for International Development Issues Nijmegen (CIDIN, the Netherlands), the Faculty of
Geography, and the Centre for Asia - Pacific Studies (UGM, Indonesia) are pleased to announce the Civil
Society Research Facility (CSRF – Indonesia) call for proposals on local civil society dynamics in Indonesia.
The CSRF-Indonesia is part of the partnership between CIDIN and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs
and is targeted at supporting short-term studies by junior researchers in Indonesia. These diagnostic
studies aim to expand knowledge on local civil society dynamics, offer junior researchers a platform to
jump start their academic career, and provide information that is relevant for policy and practice of
development cooperation and civil society in Indonesia.
PART 1. FOCUS AREAS
Research proposals have to fit one of the following themes within CSRF – Indonesia:
1) Indigenous CSO Networks
Southern civil society organizations (CSOs) are currently seeking successive collaboration opportunities
to expand the scope of their activities. As a consequence, local civil society is progressively engaged in
bridge building activities, resulting in partnership agreements, joint lobby attempts, and umbrella
organisations. The rationale for establishing these network structures revolves around issues of
increased scope of advocacy attempts and coordinated programmes; intensified cooperation is
expected to reduce the number of duplicated initiatives and yield better coordination and effectiveness
in terms of advocacy. However, some difficulties arise in establishing these cooperation efforts. Often
they are caused by competition among CSOs for the same pool of resources, lack of leadership,
insufficient coordination and lack of transparency. Some argue that these newly formed networks are
counter-productive as small CSOs are more closely involved in communities and remain sensitive to the
needs of their constituencies, whereas others emphasise that a relatively fragile and diffuse sector has
less impact than large-scale hybrid organisations. The implications commencing from these
developments are foremost dependent on the sector organisations are engaged in; service delivery
demands a flexible tailor-made approach whereas advocacy is believed to be benefitting from
professional bureaucracies. All these developments are not yet fully grasped in the existing body of
literature and the following questions are of relevance: Why does local civil society engage in joint
partnerships? How do local CSOs engage in hybrid networks? How comprehensive are these networks
and who are the stakeholders included? Which factors or characteristics determine the structure of a
network and how can they be typified (homogeneous or heterogeneous)? What are the benefits and
drawbacks of participation in local CSO networks?
2) Institutional Settings
With the increasing presence and proliferation of civil society organizations in advocacy and service
delivery activities, serious debates are held on their relationship with governments and the for-profit
sector. Their explosive growth in numbers is often explained by highlighting how bilateral donors and
Northern NGOs have provided growing (financial) support to Southern CSOs, enlarging the scope and
capacity of the latter. Consequently, Southern government responses are evoked as these local CSOs act
as service delivery substitutes or pressure government institutes through advocacy activities; their
legislative response ranges from partnership and incorporation via indifference to antipathy and
mistrust, based upon their perceived role of CSOs in national development. The imposed legislative
framework is presumed to influence the way Southern CSOs are organized, exert their activities,
advocate and gain legitimacy. Next to government-CSO relationships the link between local CSOs and
the for-profit sector offers some additional insights in their external relations with stakeholders. By
means of partnerships both entities are expected to improve their skills, knowledge, and organisational
infrastructure, with the common aim to produce public goods. What is not yet widely known is how
both organisational structures connect, generate a collective goal, and deepen their collaboration. The
following research topics are relevant here: What are the characteristics of national civil society
legislation and accompanying context? Which institutional factors determine CSO participation in
national planning processes? What is the relationship between particular types of NGOs and Southern
governments? How does the government value the role of CSOs in the development process? How do
donors influence the legislative framework and how does this affect local CSOs? What are the incentives
for establishing partnerships between local CSOs and the for-profit sector? What kind of partnerships
exists between local CSOs and the for-profit sector? What are the steps in the collaboration process
between local CSOs and the for-profit sector?
3) International Networks
The relationship between CSOs and international organisations is often considered a result of the
international aid chain, but can be stretched out to a wider definition. Because civil society operates
between state and market, it can link up to diverse entities to seek increased influence, extend its
knowledge, and develop new skills. The organisational environment and latitude have expanded over
the years and provided opportunities for civil society to organise beyond borders, yield better access to
resources, and increase its influence. Another main reason why CSOs have linked up with international
organisations refers to specific cross border needs and global public goods like human rights,
environmental issues, and international financial arrangements. There is also a growing tendency to
emphasise individual responsibilities over state involvement, stimulating transnational cooperation
between CSOs and other organisations like NGOs, multilateral institutes, states, and multinational
corporations. This establishment of partnerships and international networks has automatically led to an
international discourse between actors on their roles and responsibilities. All these different
stakeholders hold diverse perspectives on the international network, but also on the role CSOs (are
ought to) perform within various levels of development or international debates. It is therefore
interesting to highlight the discourse between international actors and to map how local CSOs assess
their own role within development. Other questions could relate to different perspectives between
Northern – and Southern NGOs and bilateral donor – local CSO relations.
4) Impact and Accountability
Impact and accountability are core concepts within the contemporary discourse on NGO effectiveness.
Evaluation is generally considered a good element in nongovernmental activities, but all together they
have illustrated little about real impact. Evidence is still lacking on the actual impact of civil society
programs; evaluations lack sound methodological structures and often result in descriptive assessments.
In addition, measuring the impact is almost impossible without considering contextual influences and
spill over effects. Nevertheless, citizens and donors are nowadays increasingly demanding transparency
in development activities and impact assessments; a broader societal awareness has espoused a refocus
on monitoring and evaluation for accountability (and learning) purposes, setting a new accountability
paradigm. As the accountability agenda trickles down through the aid chain, the question rises if local
civil society organisations have monitoring systems in place to account for actions that should reflect the
interest of their own constituency. CSOs often advocate for good governance, dialogue, and
transparency in all (government) levels, but are they able to implement these pillars into their own
organisational procedures? If so, what kind of difficulties do they encounter? Little is also known about
local communities and their demand (or the lack of it) for more stringent CSO accountability- and project
evaluation activities. How is this interaction structured and valued by both stakeholders? The discourse
in this field could also bare the questions: How do local CSOs account their activities to their
constituencies? What is the influence of stringent reporting demands for the actual project
implementation of CSOs?
5) Open category
To prevent the call from becoming a tender, an open category is added to offer the possibility to submit
research proposals highlighting other areas of focus within the domain of civil society. However,
preference is given to applications in the themes mention above.
PART 2. REQUIREMENTS and ELIGIBILITY
1.
2.
3.
4.
Researchers who have Indonesian nationality or residents of Indonesia are eligible to apply
for the CSRF - Indonesia. Individual research proposals drawn by junior researchers or
recent graduates are strongly encouraged. It should be noted that joint proposals are not
accepted. All possible candidates should have met this eligibility as listed below
- Master students with on-going research that is approved by the Thesis Supervisor
- Master graduates with degree in social or cultural sciences
- PhD candidates and maximum 5 years PhD graduates
The proposal should not be more than 5 pages, covering a short problem statement,
research question, extensive indication of methodology, preliminary outline of the paper,
budget and timeline. The format of the proposal could be found in Part 3. Proposals are to
be submitted without additional appendices, except those that are requested in the
application form.
The proposals should relate to a four (4) month process on one of the themes relevant for
the CSRF – Indonesia and applicants need to indicate under which focus field their
diagnostic study falls and briefly explain this. The research cost should not be more than €
5,000 (workshop and travel expenses are included).
The applicant should fill the application form which can be found in Part 3 and provide
curriculum vitae of maximum two (2) pages indicating professional affiliations and relevant
expertise
5.
The applicants with on going research (master or Ph.D candidate) should attach a
recommendation letter from the lecturers of faculty management. The applicants (master
graduates) should attach a recommendation letter from affiliated institution.
6.
Proposals, curriculum vitae, and application form should be submitted to either Faculty of
Geography (csrfindonesia@geo.ugm.ac.id) or Centre of Asia-Pacific Studies
(caps@ugm.ac.id) by May 1st 2011. Double-submission is not required. Additional
appendices are excluded except those that are requested in the application form.
Administrative selection of the submitted proposals will be conducted by the review
committee (Faculty of Geography, Centre of Asia-Pacific Studies, and the Dutch Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, and CIDIN). The administrative acceptance or rejection will be announced
on May 3rd, 2011.
Eligible submitted proposals will be assessed by the review committee and the best eight
research proposals will be selected. The accepted proposals will be then managed equally
by Faculty of Geography and Centre of Asia-Pacific Studies UGM. The proposal acceptance
or rejection will be announced on May 16th, 2011 by official letter distributed by the
Faculty of Geography and Centre of Asia-Pacific Studies UGM.
7.
8.
PART 3. ACTIVITY
CSRF – Indonesia Activity
Due date *
Call for proposals
April 1st, 2011
Submission of research proposals
May 1st, 2011
Distribution of research proposals among review committee
May 1st, 2011
Informing candidates on administrative acceptance or
rejection
May 3rd 2011
Assessment of the research proposals
May 16th, 2011
Informing candidates on acceptance or rejection
May 16th, 2011
Kick-off workshop (one-day)
June 6 - 10, 2011
Submission of the final research proposal
June 20 - 24, 2011
Report review and monitoring 1
End of July, 2011
Report review and monitoring 2
Beginning of September, 2011
Submission of the draft papers
October 3 – 7, 2011
Submission of the final papers
November 7 – 11, 2011
Final workshop (one-day)
December 5 – 9, 2011
Submission of articles to international peer-reviewed journals
March, 2012
Conference (the Netherlands)
Beginning of 2012
*) any changes will be announced in the website of Faculty of Geography and Center of Asia-Pacific
Study
PART 4. RESEARCH PROPOSAL FORM CSRF - INDONESIA
Title of the Proposal
[INSERT TITLE]
Passport
photo
(3x4)
[INSERT RESEARCH THEME SELECTED]
Details of Applicant 1
Sur name:
First name (s):
Sex:
Nationality:
Date of Birth:
Telephone:
Institution:
Fax:
Designation:
Address:
E-mail :
Curriculum Vitae
Please attach your CV indicating professional affiliations and relevant expertise (max. 2 pages).
1
Please attach copy of identification
Submission of the Research Proposal
Make sure you follow the proposed research proposal framework
Completed research proposals should be submitted as e-mail attachments to the Faculty of Geography (UGM) and
the Center for Asia – Pacific Studies (UGM).
Problem Statement (max. 700 words):
-
[INSERT PROBLEM STATEMENT]
-
Provide context and background of the proposed research.
-
Include a short theoretical discourse and position your research within the debate.
-
What is the importance of your research project?
-
Explain the relation between the problem statement and one of the four proposed research themes.
-
Draw up relevant research questions which are consistent with the problem described.
-
What is/are the key objective(s) of the research?
Methodology (1000 words max.):
[INSERT METHODOLOGY]
-
What kind of research design do you plan to use (qualitative, quantitative, mixed method, explorative,
descriptive, deductive etc)? Explain why and how and defend your design.
-
What kind of sampling procedure do you opt for (probability – non probability, purposive, snowball, simple
random, stratified, multistage, weighting for disproportionate, etc.)? Explain why and how and defend your
procedure.
-
How do you plan to collect the data (survey, interviews, focus groups, literature study)? Explain why and how
and defend your data collection instruments.
-
Operationalise the important variables and indicators of your research. Defend your operationalization.
-
What data analysis techniques do you plan to use (interview coding, statistical analyses, content analysis,
secondary analysis, analysis of existing statistics, etc.)? Explain why and how and defend your techniques.
-
Explicitly explain the consistency between your methodology and research question and objectives.
-
Describe possible limitations of the research strategy (issues of internal-, construct-, and external validity).
Societal Relevance (250 words max.):
-
[INSERT SOCIETAL RELEVANCE]
-
Describe possible policy implications for CSOs in development and/or policy development for government and
donors.
Initial Outline Paper (0,5 page max.):
-
[INSERT INITIAL OUTLINE OF PAPER]
-
Provide a table of contents of the paper (detailed outline). Please note that papers cannot exceed 30 pages
(reference list and appendices excluded).
Timeline (0,5 page max.):
-
[INSERT TIMELINE OF RESEARCH PROJECT]
-
Indicated your research activities and timing per activity.
Budget (0,5 page max.):
-
[INSERT BUDGET CALCULATION]
-
Provide a budget which indicates research expenses and an honorarium and does not exceed € 5,000.
Further information please contact:
Frieta Damayanti
081804363170
csrfindonesia@geo.ugm.ac.id