Indian Council of World Affairs

Indian Council of World Affairs (ICWA) is pleased to announce a scheme to commission original manuscripts on well-researched topics of international relations, and foreign policy in accordance with its objectives and mandate which may be examined on its website www.icwa.in. ICWA may require a lead time of upto six months for consideration of proposals received.

Objective 
The objective of the ICWA Book Research Grant is to both build capability and encourage professional development of academics, specialists, officials and emerging researchers in the field of international relations, area studies and India's foreign policy.

Areas of Research 

The Research Grant applications will be considered for work on subjects that encompass:

• India's foreign and economic policy and what goes into its making.
• The changing politico-strategic dynamics of the Asian, Indo-Pacific and Asia -Pacific regions and how it affects India.
• India's relations with its neighbours and the extended neighbourhood.
• India's relations with P-5 countries. 
• The evolution of multilateral institutions. 
• The evolution of regional arrangements. 
• Area studies: South Asia, Latin America, Central Asia, Africa, Europe, nuclear issues, climate change etc. 

Eligibility
The applicant/s must be 

• Associated with a UGC recognised Indian university with which their department or the individual has a working relationship. Early career researchers and post doctoral scholars who wish to forge an academic career in research in international relations. (Early career researchers are those who have gained their doctoral degree less than 10 years before the application closing date.)
• Associated with a reputed research institution. The host organisation must be able to demonstrate that they can provide the appropriate intellectual support and facilities to enable the applicant to succeed in utilising their grant effectively.
• Employed at UGC recognised Indian universities, think tanks /institutes or other research organisations. It is also open across all disciplines, though research must relate to one of the areas listed as ICWA Research priority areas.
• Applicant must be an Indian citizen.
• Serving or retired government officials/diplomats/executives with domain knowledge.
  

The Proposal: - See attached guidelines (PDF)
ICWA Academic Style sheet

Rules

• Applicants must provide evidence that they have established research credentials, and that they intend to complete the research within the timeline of 18 months. 
• Successful applicants must begin their research upon receipt of the award notification and must submit it within the allocated period, failing which the ICWA has the right to impose penalties including refund of the research grant, along with interest at market rates. 
• Applicants should familiarise themselves with the ICWA's scope and programmes of work (Research, Track II activities, outreach, media, and publications), and the areas of interest of the ICWA before submitting research proposals.
• The decision of the Research Committee of the ICWA would be final and binding. 
• In case of acceptance of the proposal, the final manuscript should be submitted within 18 months. In case of an exceptional situation extension of 6-12 months may be considered.
• ICWA will provide, in three installments, a grant not exceeding Rs. 3 lakhs. 1st installment of Rs. 1 lakh would be released once the proposal is approved by Research Committee and the required undertaking is signed by the prospective author. The 2nd installment of Grant of 1 lakhs would be paid only after internal review of the draft manuscript submitted to the Council. The preliminary draft of first five chapters should be submitted and the Council will undertake an internal scrutiny and upon its satisfaction that adequate progress has been made, the second tranche would be released to the author. 
• The 3rd and last installment would be paid after the final publication of book after due refereeing process. The author would submit the revised MS after incorporating referee comments. ICWA adopts a blind double refereeing process. 
• The progress on the Book project would be monitored on a six monthly basis.
• An additional travel grant of up to Rs. 4 lakh may be provided for undertaking field visits, subject to submission and approval of the travel/field visit proposal by the Council. The amount is reimbursed on the basis of actuals and after production of required receipts/vouchers. Council may consider providing advance amount in part or in full to enable the author to undertake field trips, based on justification received from the author to this end, as an exception. Adjustment of Advance: The advance will be recovered by adjustment from the TA bill submitted with original bill vouchers, boarding passes, tickets, etc. within 15 days after submission of the bills in the Council The claim will have to be preferred as per existing TA rules of Government of India. No other financial, logistic or secretarial assistance will be provided to the intending authors by ICWA.
• The book project will not exceed Rs 7 lakhs

Guidelines
The minimum length of the book excluding acknowledgements, footnotes and annexes should be 60,000 words. The copyright of the accepted manuscript will rest with the ICWA, which may, share any royalty received from the sale of the copies of the book with the author. 

All Book Grant Proposals must strictly comply with the ICWA format. Applicants associated with academic and research institutions and think tanks must include a forwarding letter from the Dean or Head of the Department of the Centre/think tank. Proposals in the prescribed format (attached) in sealed envelope (not through email) clearly indicating "the topic of the Book Project" and "Book Research Grant" written on the left hand corner may be sent to:

Deputy Director General
Indian Council of World Affairs
Sapru House, Barakhamba Road,
New Delhi-110001