ISLP call for proposals for projects promoting statistical literacy

PLEASE NOTE THAT WE ARE CURRENTLY NOT GIVING OUT ANY GRANTS. WE WILL INFORM WHEN WE OPEN ANOTHER GRANTS CALL. THANK YOU!

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

I. Introduction

The ISLP (International Statistical Literacy Project) is opening a call for proposals from developing countries (as defined by ISI, a list can be found here➶) for seed funding.

The ISLP will offer grants of up to $US500 for projects seeking to improve national levels of statistics engagement and / or statistical literacy. This may be within educational institutions or statistical offices, but that is not a requirement.

These grants have been made possible by a donation from the ISI Tokyo Memorial Funds to the ISLP.

Statistical literacy is essential for understanding society and for creating active citizenship. We envisage funding a diversity of projects that engage participants from a variety of backgrounds to create a step change in statistical literacy in their community. Seed grants seek to enable project coordinators to innovate and create improved levels of statistics engagement and/or statistical literacy. Such activity may include, but is not limited to:

• Increasing societal engagement with statistics,
• Increasing appreciation of advocacy using evidence from data,
• Developing a new project on statistical literacy,
• Hosting an outreach or training event,
• Creating open pedagogical material, for example relating to modelling disease spread, or understanding risk factors such as co-morbidities, age, occupation, etc., in a pandemic,
• Improving the national ISLP poster competition.

Proposals that aim to co-operate among different institutions and schools may enhance the effectiveness of dissemination.

It is recommended, but not required, that applicants discuss projects with their country’s ISLP Country Coordinator, where appropriate, to improve collaboration and concept design. A list of the Country Coordinators can be found here. If you need a contact email for the person please contact Elisa at islp.coordination@gmail.com.

Project coordinators who submit a proposal accept participation is subject to the following terms and conditions.

II. Application period

Applications for this call are accepted from August 9th 2021 until mid-January 2022.

Applications received by September 30th 2021 will be considered for awarding in October 2021.

Note that applications should be made online. A link will be provided at the end of this page during the application period.

III. The grants

Grants of up to US$500 can be applied for.

The grants will be awarded to projects that meet the criteria and promote statistical literacy in an innovative and relevant way.

The first batch of accepted proposals will be announced during the month of October 2021. To be considered in this first batch, applications should be submitted by September 30th 2021. A second round of awards will be made early in 2022, for applications received by January 15th 2022. We hope to attract further sponsorship which would enable a rolling programme of grant funding to be put in place.

The grant can be used only to cover the costs that directly relate to the project and/or for the involved group. The applicants commit to using the grant in the way described in the proposal. The grant cannot be used for salaries or fixed costs (e.g. electricity/water bills).

The grant money will be deposited to the responsible project coordinator who will administer the funds and write 1) an interim report and 2) a final project report, which should also detail the usage of funds. The awarded grants are to be used within 15 months of the award of the grant.

The grant can only be used for expenses with receipts which directly contribute to the successful implementation of the project.

IV. Instructions for submitting a proposal

To present a proposal, the applicants are asked to fill in the online application form available at the end of this page (during the application period). The proposal must include a project plan and the CV of the applicant(s). The deadline for submitting the proposals for consideration in the first tranche of grants is September 30th, 2021.

Proposals are preferred in English, but we will accept proposals submitted in French, Portuguese and Spanish. Evaluation of these may be by using an automated translation system like Google Translate.

Once the proposal has been sent, the applicant will receive a confirmation email of a successfully submitted proposal.

Proposals that are incomplete or do not fulfil the conditions and requirements listed here will not be considered, though the ISLP will try to give applicants a chance to fix problems.

V. Awarding criteria

• The project focuses on improving statistical literacy in key audiences.
• A project plan that clearly identifies a) the issue to be addressed, b) the objectives and relevant strategies for conducting the project, and c) the expected results.
• The grant can be awarded to a single person or a group of teachers / lecturers / others who work actively on the project. This may include project proposals which include more than one country.

To improve chances of success, indicate where possible:

• Perceived / recognised need of the project (by those beyond your immediate team)
• Clear goals of the initiative
• Measures of expected impact (expected magnitude (measures) of outcomes / Relative measure of such to need / number of people positively impacted...)
• Schedule / timeline of activities
• Potential to be adapted beyond immediate environment
• Innovative aspects
• Deliverables (web sites, materials, classroom activities…)

VI. Conditions

• The applicants consent to the following procedures:
• An expert group can verify the information provided in the proposal.
• Information regarding the awarded projects and their outcomes will be published in the ISLP website, ISLP social media accounts and the ISLP newsletter.

Successful applicants are required to:

• Use the granted support for costs directly related to the project and/or teachers/lecturers.
• Complete a project plan detailing the grant use before receiving the grant.
• Follow an administrative process for receipt of the funds, which can be flexible to institutional needs while ensuring high levels of accountability.
• Write an interim and a final report of the project, using templates which will be provided, by dates to be negotiated with successful applicants once their timelines are known.
• Write a short article about their project for the ISLP newsletter. This will be based largely on the final report, and support will be available if required.

VIII. Selection and jury

The applicants may be contacted by the ISLP to clarify or provide some additional information. A jury that will be selected later will choose the successful projects. The jury will define the accepted projects according to its own exclusive criteria.

IX. Final considerations

• Situations not foreseen in this Call for Proposals will be resolved by the jury and the ISLP, according to their exclusive criteria and decision, which will be unappealable and definitive. The ISLP reserves the right to modify the terms and dates established in the Call for Proposals, as well as the right to cancel, suspend or modify the process in the case of an unforeseen incident or in circumstances which are justified by the exclusive criteria of the ISLP. In the event that such rights are applied, they are subject to challenge by affected applicants.
• ISLP discharges all responsibility in case the project resources are in any way damaged or destroyed, no matter the reason. The applicants are responsible for the project resources and materials.
• The ISLP reserves the right to use and distribute publicly the presented projects, including translation into other languages, as well as the names and images of the participants without any limitation or obligation to remunerate.

More information: Elisa Falck islp.coordination@gmail.com (in English), Pedro Campos: pedro.campos@ine.pt (also in Portuguese) and Adriana D'Amelio: estat06@hotmail.com (in Spanish).

Note: The ISLP has an extensive network of country coordinators. A list of them can be found here. The coordinator(s) in your country may be able to help you construct your proposal if you need help. If you do not know them, you can contact the project administrator at islp.coordination@gmail.com to get their contact details. If your country does not have a coordinator and you need help please contact the project administrator.

Submission form