The Atlantic Equity Challenge (AEQ) is a research grant developed and funded by the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity (AFSEE) programme based at the International Inequalities Institute at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
The AEQ research grant offers researchers and practitioners an opportunity to undertake innovative, solutions-oriented, collaborative research and thinking directed at tackling social and economic inequalities. Since its launch in 2021, the Atlantic Equity Challenge (AEQ) has funded nine projects focused on locations in Bangladesh, Colombia, India, Lebanon, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Uganda, Ghana, Kenya, UK, Chile, Mexico and the Caribbean.
In the third round, AFSEE again seeks to promote research collaborations between LSE academics and AFSEE Fellows, alongside other partners where relevant, through projects that address fundamental questions related to socio-economic inequalities.
The AEQ is envisioned as more than a funding opportunity: it is the beginning of a long-term partnership between the project teams, the AFSEE programme, and the International Inequalities Institute (III). It is a unique opportunity for research teams; each team must include at least one LSE academic or research staff member and one AFSEE Senior Fellow, both serving as Co-Principal Investigators. The research teams can also include other researchers, other AFSEE Fellows (including Cohort 9), and practitioners.
Professor Armine Ishkanian, Executive Director of the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity programme, said: “As a programme that envisions a future with robust alternatives to our current global economy, we are excited to be providing this unique funding opportunity again. The Atlantic Equity Challenge (AEQ), which is now being offered for the third time, supports AFSEE’s aims of bringing together research, education, and practice, and creating dialogue among a range of different stakeholders, including academics, activists, practitioners, and policymakers.”
“The AEQ also aligns with LSE’s 2030 Shape the World strategy for producing research for the betterment of society. We hope that the AEQ funding will foster research collaborations between LSE researchers, AFSEE Senior Fellows, and other practitioners who are working to identify solutions to the challenges of inequality in its many different forms around the world. We anticipate that successful projects funded by the AEQ will propose new thinking, models, policies and approaches that have the potential to disrupt the systems and structures driving inequality,” said Professor Ishkanian.
AFSEE will award funding of up to £100,000 per project for up to six collaborative research projects lasting up to 24 months. The application deadline is 15 May 2026, and funded projects are expected to begin in October 2026.
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