Objective

Doha International Family Institute (DIFI) has launched OSRA Research Grant, which is a research grant on Arab families and family policy-related issues. The goal of this call is to encourage research on Family Cohesion, Family well-being and Protection, Marriage and Divorce, Parenthood and Parenting, Behavioral Issues-Family Issues, and Family and Population Dynamics research related to families that contributes to the development of evidence-based policies and programs to promote the well-being of families.

Description

In this cycle, the application submission is open to all applicants worldwide. However, the proposal must include at least one Key Investigator (KI) from an Arab country (e.g., Lead Principal Investigator “LPI” or Principal Investigator “PI”). The proposals are accepted in both Arabic and English.

The goal of OSRA is to encourage basic and applied research aimed at developing a knowledge base on Arab families, including comparative and policy-orientated research. It aims to

• Support high-quality empirical work that advances research on Arab families.
• Support high-quality social policy research related to families.
• Provide policymakers with evidence-based research and analysis that encourages the formation and/or modification of family-related policies.
• Develop research capacity on issues related to Arab families.
• Develop research areas within Qatar and Arab Countries.

The grant awards each proposal team up to US $50,000 for a maximum period of 18 months. Grants will be made to the most innovative ideas received and selected through a competitive peer review process and will be divided among the investigators/institutions comprising collaborative teams.

Specific Research Priority Areas

The OSRA research grant will focus on the following six specific research priority areas;

1. Family Programs and Behavioral Issues:

The focus of this theme will be on social behavior problems related to topics such as addiction (substance abuse); digital addiction, prevention programs; adolescent and/or childhood behaviors; behavior of children at schools; family behavior with children with disabilities, or any other relevant topics to the theme.

2. Family cohesion:

This theme will focus on topics related to intergenerational solidarity, intergenerational gaps, families, and economic sustainability, such as (climate change, environment), family resilience (in a crisis such as war or disasters), world cup and cultural diversity, women empowerment, and leadership concerning family well-being, or any other relevant topics to the theme.

3. Marriage and Divorce:

This theme will highlight essential topics related to internal and external factors that affect marriage and divorce. Topics of interest are youth and marriage, marital satisfaction and long-lasting marriage, delayed marriage, spinsterhood, premarital programs, programs related to ending marriage such as mandatory license prior to divorce, engagement, the impact of divorce on the family and society; post-divorce arrangement (financial and education, housing, child custody rights, single parents), or any other relevant topics to the theme.

4. Family Wellbeing and Protection:

This theme will target research on different topics related to family well-being and protection, especially in the area of childcare policies, work-family balance, family-friendly policies, cost-benefit analysis, economic abuse, financial literacy awareness program to prevent families dissolution, and the other regions of interest such as family formation policies (social welfare policies; social protection policies), or any other relevant topics to the theme.

5. Parenting and Child Well-being:

This theme will investigate the importance of parenting and childcare and development, specifically targeting programs and relevant policies related to the following topics: involvement of fathers in parenting, parenting styles, and practices; parenting and child well-being; delayed parenthood; transition to parenthood; the role of parents in education, parents and special needs; or any other relevant topics to the theme.

6. Family and Population Dynamics:

This theme will explore topics related to the aging population, in particular, elderly people in Arab countries, which includes the impact of pension on elderly , empowerment of the elderly, caregivers and the elderly, social protection services for elderly, and rights of the elderly. Moreover, specific topics related to social aspects of fertility, the decline in fertility, policies and programs that promote fertility rate, or any other relevant issues to the theme.