Large grant-funded research centres: promises, pitfalls and power asymmetries
Large grant-funded research centres (LGRCs) have become a dominant model in development studies, often placing large budgets and junior staff under the direction of one or two senior ‘PIs’. But are they delivering the transformative research they promise? Or are there unintended outcomes of this concentration of research funding?
Drawing on research and a policy brief published by Portia Roelofs, this DSA webinar brings together leading scholars to reflect on how LGRCs shape research cultures, power relations, and career trajectories.
The panel will explore the promise and pitfalls of concentrating research funding in large centres and what funders, PIs and institutions can do differently. Join us for a candid conversation about how the nuts and bolts of research funding intersect with big questions around epistemic justice, decolonising and quality assurance in research.
Attend the DSA’s webinar to
- hear insights on how large grant-funded centres have shaped the flow of ideas in the development sector
- reflect on how practical questions of funding, hiring and grant capture have knock on effects on power relations and knowledge creation
- learn from initiatives seeking to do things differently
- Gain the analytic tools to think critically about your own experiences of working in research centres
Whether you lead a large grant-funded research centre, work within one, or are engaged in debates on equitable and transformative partnerships, this webinar offers space for reflection and constructive discussion and takes forward the DSA’s work on decolonising development studies.
Panel:
- Indrajit Roy, Professor of Global Development Politics in the Department of Politics and International Relations at the University of York, moderator
- Portia Roelofs, Lecturer in Politics at the Department of Political Economy at King’s College London
- Eyob Balcha Gebremariam, Research Affiliate in the Department of International Development, King’s College London
- Peter Taylor, Professorial Research Fellow, Institute of Development Studies.