RIDE is launching a call for research proposals on Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) in transport. The call is managed by RIDE’s Partnership Pillar (GIZ) and Research Pillar (WRI), in partnership with WomenMobilizeWomen (WMW) and the Global Alliance for Feminist Transport.
Transport systems in low- and middle-income countries are often designed without women’s economic lives and safety in view. Women make up only 12% of the global transport and storage workforce, and fewer than 18% of the most cited transport researchers. This call funds research that treats women’s economic empowerment as the central subject, not a secondary lens. It focuses on evidence that leads to concrete change in transport policy, services, infrastructure or operations.
Research themes
- Violence against women and girls in transit: how harassment, violence and social norms shape women’s travel choices, and what this costs them in income, jobs and economic opportunity.
- Climate resilience: how climate-related disruption to transport translates into economic loss for women, and when that loss becomes permanent.
Who can apply
- Research teams or consortia based at universities and research institutes, anywhere in the world.
- Research must focus on one of RIDE’s partner countries. Group 1: Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania; Group 2: Ghana, Indonesia, the Philippines, South Africa, Vietnam.
- Partnerships with LMIC-based institutions are strongly encouraged. So are applications led by women researchers and researchers based in Africa, South Asia and Southeast Asia.
Funding and duration
At least two projects will be funded, each with £150,000–£200,000.
Projects can last up to 15 months and must be completed by 31 March 2028.
What makes a strong proposal
A clear uptake plan carries the most weight in the evaluation (30%). It names the specific decision-makers and policy windows you aim to influence, and involves those actors from the start of the research, not only at the end.
How to apply
Send your cover letter (PDF), research proposal (Word, max. 4,000 words), detailed budget (Excel, GIZ template) and evidence of non-profit status as one zipped file to:
Cristal Stefania Cedeno Tobanda – cristal.cedenotobanda@giz.de
Viviane Weinmann – viviane.weinmann@giz.de
Deadline: Friday, 20 November 2026, 6:00 pm CET
Questions? Contact cristal.cedenotobanda@giz.de
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Last updated: 26 October 2026
1. About the call
No. This is an open call: any eligible institution can apply without an invitation.
2. Who can apply
Universities and research institutes, based anywhere in the world. The lead institution must be non-profit, must be able to manage a GIZ grant administratively and financially, and is responsible to GIZ for the whole grant.
An organisation whose main purpose under its statutes is research, such as a public or non-profit research institute or a research-based non-profit organisation. Consultancies and for-profit companies are not research institutes for this call.
Yes, if their establishing act or statutes include research among their purposes, they meet the non-profit requirements and they can manage a GIZ grant.
Yes, if it qualifies as a research institute and meets the non-profit requirements.
International organisations, such as UN agencies or multilateral development banks, cannot be lead applicants or receive grant funds. They can join a consortium as non-funded partners, for example by contributing data, expertise or access to decision-makers.
Yes. Independent researchers can be employed by the lead or a partner institution for the project, or contracted as consultants under budget line 2 (External services). The Principal Investigator should be employed by, or formally affiliated with, the lead institution (for example through an affiliate researcher appointment), as the institution is responsible for the grant.
One document from the list in Section 5 of the call that matches your legal and tax status, for example statutes, an establishing act or a memorandum of incorporation showing non-profit, public-benefit purposes, or a confirmation of tax-exempt or non-profit status from your tax authority. GIZ checks whether these purposes correspond to public-benefit purposes under the German Fiscal Code and may request further documents.
3. Research focus
Yes. A proposal can focus on one or more RIDE partner countries, for example with a primary focus on one country and a comparative or regional component. All countries studied must be in the list of partner countries (Group 1 or Group 2), and the proposal should explain how they relate to the research question and the uptake plan.
Yes, as long as the analysis focuses on one or more RIDE partner countries and the uptake plan targets decision-makers in those countries.
4. Consortia and partners
No. A single institution can apply. Partnerships with institutions based in low- and middle-income countries are strongly encouraged.
GIZ signs one grant agreement per project, with the lead institution. Partner institutions (“co-applicants”) receive their share from the lead as sub-grants. Each co-applicant that receives funds completes its own sheet in Annex A and is subject to GIZ’s eligibility checks. The lead institution is responsible to GIZ for the whole grant.
No. Every institution that is expected to receive grant funds, as lead or co-applicant, must be a non-profit entity and submit its own evidence of non-profit status (Section 5 of the call).
Yes, as non-funded partners, for example as policy or uptake partners, data providers or co-designers. The call encourages involving decision-makers such as operators from the start (Section 3.1). Only eligible institutions can receive grant funds.
Yes. Services can be contracted out under budget line 2 (External services), also to for-profit providers, following GIZ’s procurement requirements for grant recipients. A subcontractor delivers a defined service and is not a consortium partner or grant recipient.
Only as a subcontracted service provider, following the procurement rules above, not as a partner receiving grant funds.
Yes. The call does not limit the number of applications per institution. Each proposal is assessed on its own merits, and the time committed by the same people across proposals should be realistic.
5. Budget and funding
Annex A is available for download on this page. Please use it for Part 3 of your proposal. The first tab, “How to complete”, explains how to fill it in. Note: This is the standard budget template for the proposal stage. Upon award, the budget will be transferred to a different template for contracting, and GIZ will share further guidance with the selected applicants.
In EUR, as grant agreements are concluded in euros. Please convert costs in other currencies with the European Commission’s InforEuro exchange rate for October 2026 (1 EUR = 0.85718 GBP). GIZ funding per project must be between EUR 174,992 and EUR 233,323, equivalent to GBP 150,000–200,000.
Up to 12% of the direct costs funded by GIZ. This is the only budget line that is not settled against evidence.
No. If you include own contributions or third-party funding, they must be provided in full: if they turn out lower at the end of the project, GIZ reduces its grant in the same proportion.
Audits are carried out by external auditors under GIZ procedures and paid by GIZ. They cover the use of the whole grant by the lead institution, including the costs of partners: partners report to the lead, which checks their reports and receipts before reporting to GIZ.
6. Submission
No. Please follow the structure in Section 2.3 of the call. The only template is Annex A (budget).
Friday, 20 November 2026, 18:00 CET. Questions can be sent until Thursday, 12 November 2026 to cristal.cedenotobanda@giz.de.