Atlantic Equity Challenge

Atlantic Equity Challenge 2026: Call for Proposals Now Open

The Atlantic Fellows for Social and Economic Equity (AFSEE) programme at the International Inequalities Institute is pleased to announce the third round of the Atlantic Equity Challenge (AEQ) research grant. This grant offers researchers and practitioners an opportunity to undertake innovative, solutions-oriented, collaborative research and thinking directed at tackling social and economic inequalities. In this round of the AEQ research grant, the AFSEE programme again seeks to promote research collaborations between LSE academics and AFSEE Fellows for projects addressing fundamental questions related to socio-economic inequalities.

Since 2021, the AEQ has funded nine projects across Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the UK, bringing together researchers and practitioners to generate new insights, models, and approaches for tackling socio-economic inequalities.

About the AEQ 2026

The AEQ provides up to £100,000 for 24-month research projects that:

• offer paradigm-shifting insights into alternatives and solutions to inequality,

• draw on multiple forms of knowledge and experience from across disciplines and sectors,

• incubate new models, policies, and approaches that have the potential to disrupt the systems and structures driving inequality.

Who Can Apply

Applications are invited from research teams only. Each team must include:

• at least one LSE academic or research staff member, and

• at least one AFSEE Senior Fellow, both serving as Co-Principal Investigators.

Teams may also include additional researchers, practitioners, and AFSEE Fellows (including from the 2025–2026 Cohort).

All project teams are expected to produce a written research output that is widely accessible in its language and style. Alongside research publications, teams are invited and encouraged to produce policy briefs, reports and other outputs to disseminate their findings to various audiences (academic and non-academic).

Key Dates

• 29 January - Coffee Morning (In-person, LSE)

The AFSEE team will host a Coffee & Cake Morning on Thursday 29 January (10–11.30am) for LSE academic and research colleagues, where they will have opportunity to learn more about the Atlantic Equity Challenge (AEQ) and AFSEE programme more generally. If you would like to attend the coffee morning please RSVP by emailing Ethan Moss at E.Moss@lse.ac.uk

• 19 February - Matchmaking session (Online)

To facilitate introductions between AFSEE Fellows and LSE researchers, AFSEE will host an online session providing an opportunity to discuss research interests and connect with potential collaborators. The session will take place on Thursday, 19 February from 14:00 to 15:30 (GMT) on Zoom. If you are interested in attending the event, please complete the registration form.

• 15 May 2026 – Application deadline

• 30 June 2026 – Award notification

• 1 October 2026 – Project start date

For further information or support in identifying collaborators, please contact Anastasia Nazaryan, AFSEE Projects Manager: a.nazaryan@lse.ac.uk or Dr George Kunnath, Associate Professor (Education) and AFSEE Academic Lead: g.kunnath@lse.ac.uk.