Atlantic Equity Challenge

In June 2021, four innovative and timely projects examining inequalities in the Global South were awarded up to £100,000 each by the Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity via the Atlantic Equity Challenge (AEQ). Focusing on sites in Bangladesh, Colombia, India, Lebanon, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Uganda, the projects all met the AEQ brief of bringing researchers and practitioners together to undertake innovative, solutions-oriented research and thinking directed at fundamental questions relating to global inequalities.

Through AEQ, AFSEE seeks to promote research collaborations between LSE academics and AFSEE Senior Fellows, as well as other partners where relevant. The research grant 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 LSE International Inequalities Institute.

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. The Atlantic Equity Challenge (AEQ) feeds into AFSEE’s aim 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 Strategy Priority 2: Research for the World and we hope that it 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. Successful projects funded by the AEQ will propose new models, policies and approaches that have the potential to disrupt the systems and structures driving inequality,” said Professor Ishkanian.

Applications are now invited for the second round of the AEQ grant. In the second round, to be awarded in 2024, the AFSEE programme can support up to six collaborative projects lasting up to 24 months with up to £100,000 funding per project. The deadline for registrations of interest is 9 February 2024 with applications due by 15 May 2024.