Call for research proposals: Case studies of innovation for scaling renewable energy in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean (USD 20,000-40,000 funding awarded)
Application Deadline: 12 January 2026
Call for research proposals: Case studies of innovation for scaling renewable energy in Sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean (USD 20,000-40,000 funding awarded)
Backgroud
The Impulsouth Initiative, led by Fundación Avina and United Nations University (UNU-VIE), with funding from the International Development Research Center (IDRC), launches a call for research proposals to better understand the potential for governments, businesses, NGOs and other stakeholders to scale renewable energy technologies (RETs) in the Global South. The goal is to identify the technological, sociopolitical, financial and cultural conditions that shape the uptake of renewable energy technologies (RET).
Impulsouth Initiative seeks to understand how innovation efforts by businesses, governments, NGOs and other stakeholders can accelerate the uptake of RETs by vulnerable groups, and how such efforts can lead to tangible improvements in jobs, income, gender equality, and climate change resilience and mitigation. Recently, research has shed light on the potential economic and environmental benefits of RETs for households, farmers and small businesses. However, in some contexts, the expansion of RETs has been slower than expected due to low consumer demand, limited finance options, scarce services for equipment purchase, maintenance and repair, and poor coordination among stakeholders (e.g. power companies, regulators, suppliers, and grid operators).
Areas of interest
This Call for research proposals seeks to generate evidence and insights that enrich strategies to scale RETs with vulnerable groups in the Global South. The findings will serve two purposes: 1) to expand the global discussion on scaling strategies and actions for RETs and 2) enrich the Impulsouth Training of Trainers course, thus helping to strengthen future capacity-building efforts across participating countries.
The Call for research proposals provides funding to explore cases where strategies and actions have sought to expand RETs with vulnerable populations (e.g. low-income rural and urban households, indigenous groups, community associations, women and small-scale businesses). The following are examples of approaches and strategies that would be of interest for case study research funding through this call:
- new financial instruments designed to reduce the upfront costs of RETs
- collaboration efforts between independent businesses/organizations to reduce costs, expand services, or stimulate demand
- regulatory changes aimed at reducing the costs for RETs for consumers or providing incentives for sellers to expand sales
- campaigns designed to change consumer perceptions and behaviors to build demand for RETs
- targeted subsidies to incentivize RET uptake by consumers, farmers and small business owners
- inclusive, multistakeholder engagements to agree on the best pathways for RET adoption.
The initiative will fund six to eight research products. Each research proposal will receive between USD 20,000 – 40,000.
Eligibility Criteria
Please consider the following eligibility criteria when considering a proposal submission:
- Proposals will be led by research centers and universities with strong interest in energy transitions in the global South and demonstrated capacities to lead applied research. Organizations based in Latin America and the Caribbean and Sub-Saharan Africa are eligible to apply.
- Impulsouth Initiative strongly encourage collaborations between research organizations and development practitioners, private businesses, enterprise support organizations, sectoral associations and government agencies.
- Proposals must be grounded in a solid and proven collaboration between a stakeholder actively implementing (or with the capacity to implement) energy-related initiatives, and a research organization with relevant and demonstrated expertise to carry out the proposed study.
- Geographical Scope for research: Latin America, the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa
In addition to the design and implementation of the proposal research, the engagement between the leads of selected proposals and the Impulsouth initiative will include the following activities:
- Participation in the Impulsouth Community of Practice (CoP): Lead research organizations are expected to engage with Impulsouth’s CoP throughout the process. This includes attending scheduled meetings, contributing to discussions, and integrating insights from the CoP into their research reflections. Most meetings are conducted in English. Interpretation may be available.
- Attendance at a Writeshop (August/September 2026): Researchers will take part in a collaborative writing workshop designed to refine their research brief (see below).
- Elaboration of a research brief (approx. 3,000 words): Each team will produce well structured research brief summarizing the development challenge, research opportunity, research findings and recommendations.
- Presentation in a webinar: Researchers will present their findings and recommendations in a webinar, sharing lessons learned and engaging with a broader audience.
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