Introduction

Foundation Internationale de la Recherche Apliquée sur le Handicap (FIRAH – International Foundattion of Applied Disability Research) was founded in 2009 to advance applied research and the dissemination of knowledge relating to people with disabilities. The Foundation aims for full and effective participation of people with disabilities in an inclusive society.

Call objectives

FIRAH runs an Annual Call for Projects to fund applied research on disability, in order to provide solutions to the difficulties encountered by persons with disabilities and their families in their daily lives. It will fund research projects for a maximum of three years each.

Research supported by FIRAH must represent genuine collaboration between researchers and disabled people, their families, carers and professionals. Knowledge generated by the projects must be disseminated to non-scientific stakeholders in the disability sector as well as to the research community.

Call options

The 2021 Call for Projects focuses on the following areas:

• Education for children and young people with disabilities from pre-school to university.
  • Identify and evaluate inclusive methods and services which have proven their efficacy.
• The exercise of citizenship and representation.
  • Forms of support offered to people with disabilities for their participation in government and politics.
• Disability considerations during the COVID-19 outbreak.
  • Including access to facilities, services and emergency care, and the impact of social distancing and lockdown.

The Foundation may also select high-quality projects which do not cover these issues, if they respond to the criteria described in the Call for Projects. Comparative research involving several countries as well as a French perspective is encouraged.

Budget

Research projects can be financed by FIRAH to a maximum of €70,000 per project, over a maximum duration of three years.

FIRAH does not provide funding for:

• Creating or managing social/medico-social services or institutions.
• Direct aid to a specific person with disabilities.
• Research projects on disease mechanisms (aimed at establishing a prevention, diagnosis or treatment of deficiencies).
• Action-research - in the case of this type of project, FIRAH can finance only the research, and not activities to implement the action.

Eligibility

Proposals are invited from leaders of research teams with relevant experience and knowledge. Each team should include at least one research scientist working in an institutional or academic setting.

The Foundation supports projects worldwide. For projects conducted outside France, at least one partnership with a French organisation must be established to develop international collaboration.

Project leaders who have already received FIRAH funding may again be eligible only if the previous research project has been finished and all funding has been provided.

The research project may involve civil society organisations that help promote the rights of people with disabilities. People with disabilities, their families, and organisations that represent them should fully participate in the research; proof of this participatory approach must be demonstrated in the proposal.

Application

Applicants must first complete a letter of intent using the form available for download below in this webpage. Letters of intent for the 2021 Call for Projects must be submitted to FIRAH as an email attachment by 22 March 2021 (24:00).

In case of interest, please contact lnorton(ELIMINAR)@fsjd.org