Public action by and for disadvantaged people, undertaken by non-governmental organisations such as developmental NGOs, cooperatives, campaign groups, human rights organisations and so on, is increasingly significant at local, national and international levels.

Current projects address a diversity of topics, ranging from the comparative advantages of cooperatives in poverty reduction to the role of non-governmental public action in enhancing the poor’s access to good quality cheap drugs. For full details of the aims of the programme, list and abstracts of current projects and contact details of principal investigators see www.lse.ac.uk/ngpa.

Practitioner fellowships: What are they?
The ESRC Non-governmental Public Action Research Programme is calling for applications for Practitioner Fellowships. The fellowships are aimed at members or representatives of practitioner groups (including developmental NGOs, global coalitions, voluntary sector groups, cooperatives, human rights groups etc) that are not directly funded by specific research projects in the programme. The fellow will be based in one of the NGPA project teams or with the programme director for up to three months.

These take two forms:
a. Analytic and conceptual reflection
These fellowships provide an opportunity to reflect upon and research a theme that is relevant both to the project team and programme, and to the practitioner fellow’s organisation.

b. Policy/ Practical Application
These fellowships provide an opportunity to work together with members of a project on the research programme to develop the practical applications of a research project. This might be the rethinking of organisational strategy on an issue or the development of guidelines, manuals, toolkits, or the development of a new approach to an issue, or to develop practitioner- and/or policy-oriented dissemination materials such as audio-visual materials, or inform practitioner group policy on an issue.

The fellowship provides a subsidy of up to 3,000 pounds per month for a maximum of three months to practitioner group fellows. The subsidy covers any related UK travel costs and subsistence allowance. An additional travel allowance of up to 1,000 pounds is available for practitioner group fellows coming from overseas. Dissemination costs are eligible within the 3000 pounds per month subsidy provided that these are items not already covered by funding allocated for the original project.

Receiving projects are expected to provide necessary computer and internet access, desk space, library facilities and assist with finding accommodation. The money is intended for use by practitioner groups and will be channelled through research projects. It cannot be used to cover university overheads or related administrative, secretarial or research assistant costs.

Who is eligible?
You should be a member or representative of a practitioner group (including developmental NGOs, global coalitions, voluntary sector groups, cooperatives, human rights groups etc) that is not directly funded by any specific research project in the programme. You should be able to demonstrate a track record of engagement in public action over a number of years and have a particular interest in sharing knowledge with others.

How to apply
Applicants should submit a research proposal (maximum 2 A4 pages), agreed by the principal investigator of the project team and the practitioner group, indicating the following:
a) Background information: name of applicant, practitioner organisation, contact details, your track record of engagement in public action, research project you will be working with, type of fellowship, start-date and duration.
b) Your objectives during the fellowship, added value of work to project and programme goals, to your own practitioner group and to other practitioner groups in general.
c) Estimated budget.
d) Planned activities and outputs (e.g. workshop, report, series of briefing papers, strategy paper, new methodologies of practice, training materials, media output etc).

and submit also:
e) CV of applicant.
f) Letter of support from line-manager in practitioner group and from principal investigator of project.

Applications for fellowships should be submitted by Monday 25 September 2006 to the Programme Administrator, Jane Schiemann (i.j.schiemann@lse.ac.uk) or by post to the NGPA programme (see details below).

Decisions will be taken within a month of the advisory panel meeting in mid October. Candidates will be informed soon after this and fellowships may be taken up at any point after agreement is finalised with the ESRC up until March 2007. Key criteria will include: demonstrable, added value to programme and project; policy/practical relevance; quality of proposal; value for money. A project can receive only one practitioner fellowship of each form (i.e. maximum two) in a year. For any further enquiries please contact the Programme Administrator, Jane Schiemann (i.j.schiemann@lse.ac.uk).

Applications will be assessed according to the following criteria:
- demonstrable, added value to programme and project;
- policy/practical relevance;
- quality of proposal;
- value for money;

CONTACTS
NGPA Programme, c/o Centre for Civil Society
London School of Economics and Political Science,
Houghton Street, London WC2A 2AE
Tel: 020 7955 7205
Fax 020 7955 6039
E-mail: ngpa@lse.ac.uk
Website: http://www.lse.ac.uk/ngpa