The SEVEN Fund today published its annual open “Enterprise-based Solutions to Poverty” request for proposals (RFP).

The competition will award up to two (2) research grants of no more than $100,000 each.

RFP funding favors research that has two characteristics. First it aims at supporting research that is foundational, with potentially significant and broad implications for our understanding of how entrepreneurs lift people out of poverty. Second, this unconventional view will enable research that, because of its speculative, non-mainstream, or high-risk nature, would otherwise go unrealized due to lack of funding. SEVEN especially welcomes proposals that are integrative, and recommends that interested researchers see “That’s My Duck: The Case for Integration” by Michael Fairbanks, in "In the River They Swim: Essays on Enterprise Solutions to Poverty from Around the Globe" for more perspective on the importance of integration across domains to inform innovative approaches to poverty.

How and when do we apply?
You enter into the RFP competition by completing an Initial Proposal of no more than three pages, with the PI’s (Principal Investigator’s) CV attached. Submission deadline for this RFP (Initial Proposals) is October 15, 2010.

Only applications submitted online via website will be accepted. That form can be accessed at www.sevenfund.org/submit-loi

If you encounter problems, please contact SEVEN at info@sevenfund.org

Submission deadline for the Initial Letters of Interest (LOIs) is October 15, 2010.