What we do

The meaning of conflicts, typology of conflicts, causes and consequences of conflicts. Random and systematic conflicts. Identification of gainers and losers from conflicts. Who are the unexpected beneficiaries and supporters of conflicts? Why do conflicts recur in particular social and geographical situations, from year to year and from one regime to another, as if political leaders and policy makers are incapable of learning from the mistakes of previous conflicts either in the same location or from other locations? Are perennial social and communal conflicts truly the result of errors of omission such as failures of intelligence, errors that have been well documented in previous post-conflict probes and government white papers but which continue to be repeated from year to year, and from one regime to the next? Who are the overt and covert perennial beneficiaries from conflicts, seen and unseen? What are the costs of conflicts and how are they distributed among income classes, geographical regions and ethnic groups? Construction of Practitioners’ Manual of Conflict Early Warning Signals, IFRES Social Weather Maps for Nigeria and Modalities for Pro-active Policy Intervention.

IFRES will focus on the following forms of support for young researchers and scholars in the next three to five years: research grants; support for conferences, seminars, workshops and symposia, and access to and dissemination of information. Other forms of support include: publication of research findings; establishment of IFRES-based resource centre; training support; networking; and, at the local level, a special package of performance-based awards and prizes in support of academic excellence at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels for outstanding Igala students and pupils.

The Foundation invites proposals for research and scholarship support in any of the listed priority themes and related topics. Applications are also invited for other forms of support apart from research grants as specified above. The funding level for conference support will be determined in each case on its merit. IFRES is a small-scale research and scholarship philanthropy with places emphasis on research and scholarship that is practical, problem-solving and result-oriented. The proposals must have clear statement of objectives, conceptual framework, methodology, empirical analysis, and results, including the construction of a stakeholders’ manual that focuses not just on what-to-do, but, much more importantly, on how-to-do. Authors of successful proposals are likely to be men and women with considerable practical experience backed by sound analytical capacity. Each proposal must result in at least one refereed publication that meets international standards of research and scholarship. It must also contribute significantly to a vastly improved policy space and contribute to economic and social development in Nigeria and Africa South of the Sahara.

The F. S. Idachaba Foundation for Research and Scholarship (IFRES) makes small-scale research and scholarship grants of a catalytic and facilitating nature. The output and impact of the Foundation shall be judged not by the size of its grants but by the enduring quality and sustained relevance of its output and impact. IFRES research grants will be in the range of N50,000 - N300,000 per recipient, with a projected median value of about N225,000. The 2005 research grants ranged from a minimum of N207,000 to a maximum grant of N267,200. In 2006, the value of IFRES research grants ranged from a minimum of N 223,000 to a maximum of N 270,600 with a median value of N 255,500.

There are two stages in the application for support from IFRES. First, applicants for IFRES grants should send a 3 copies of Concept Note of not more than 3 pages (not smaller than font size 12, single space) of text and one page for the budget.

The Concept Note should be structured as follows: (i) Name and address of applicant (on the cover page); (ii) Project Title; (iii) Relation of project to thematic priorities of IFRES; (iv) Project description (Research problem, objectives); (v) Project justification and rationale; (vi) Analytical Framework; (vii) Research methodology and procedure and analytical technique; (viii) Expected project outputs, impact and value added to knowledge; (ix) Policy relevance of project, expected uses, intended beneficiaries and probability of implementation; (x) Number of months required to complete the project; (xi) Stakeholders and stages of their involvement; (xii) Leading scientists; (xiii) Collaborating institutions and staff, and (xiv) One page detail of total budget and budget being requested from IFRES. The Concept Note will be used to short-list proposals. Second, short-listed applicants will be contacted to develop full project proposals.

Application is open to all everyone below the age of 40 years, regardless of place of origin, sex, religion or discipline. Women are especially encouraged to apply. The target audience of applicants consists primarily of PhD holders already engaged in research and scholarship in the Universities, Research Institutes, Public Sector and Private Sector Think Tanks, etc. Applicants with less than a Master’s degree with research thesis in any discipline will not be considered, as they are unlikely to possess the required capacity for the envisaged quality of research and scholarship. All Concept Notes together with the curriculum vitae of applicants must reach the under listed within three weeks from the date of this publication: