Applications call for David Hopper Prizes for Leadership in Research for Development

The David Hopper Prizes for Leadership in Research for Development award for outstanding achievement in the field of international development, bestowed in memory of IDRC’s first president. Moreover, the prizes are intended to recognize two individuals for whom IDRC support has been foundational to their careers and whose sustained original thought and leadership have led to significant positive social impact within a development context. These prizes are available to outstanding researchers from low or middle-income countries who have previously received or currently receive IDRC support.

Nominations 

The application process is by nomination only; an institution must nominate a candidate. However, an institution eligible to nominate a researcher must be an institution legally recognized as such in a low or middle-income country. Moreover, institutions may nominate individuals with whom they have had or still have a significant association, meaning one where the nominee works or has worked, or has been on the Board or a key Board committee for a minimum of two years.

Eligibilities 

• The nominee must be a citizen of a low or middle-income country (as listed on the current or a previous OECD DAC list of low and middle-income countries).
• The nominee must also have received funding from IDRC. It is the nominating institution’s responsibility to describe how the funding was “foundational” to the nominee’s career path and/or accomplishments.
• The nominee must still be actively working for the public good in one or more low or middle-income countries or regions.
• The nominee must demonstrate one or more of the following leadership traits: the ability to lead/manage high-quality research projects/teams; ability to translate research outputs and outcomes into impactful policy and/or practice; ability to mentor, nurture, and promote others.
• Furthermore, the nominee must have produced research of exceptional quality that has an active legacy of significant positive impacts related to the Sustainable Development Goals. The nominee’s IDRC-supported research must have played a considerable role in the construction of this body of work in one or more fields in which IDRC has supported research for development.

Selection Criteria 

• Overall appropriateness, completeness, quality, and clarity of the nomination (25%)
• Fit with SDGs and IDRC fields of research (25%)
• Demonstration of leadership traits listed above (25%)
• Impact of the nominee’s research and related activities (on a field or sector, on beneficiaries, on policy and/or practice, etc.) (25%)

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