In the summer of 2025, I spent three months working with J-PAL Europe, an organisation well-known for using rigorous research to improve lives in low-income and crisis-affected settings. I joined their Humanitarian Protection Initiative (HPI), which funds and supports studies aimed at reducing violence, coercion, and deliberate deprivation of civilians in conflict settings. As someone researching forced migration and humanitarian practice, I found the placement to be an exciting opportunity to integrate into a network of experts in my field.
The placement was a genuine two-way exchange. I brought my academic experience and my background working with the UN humanitarian agencies; in return, I gained a close-up look at how a major evidence organization prioritizes research, makes decisions about what gets funded, and converses in the wider policymaking space.
My work fell into three main areas. First, I helped review grant proposals for HPI’s final funding round. This was one of the most eye-opening parts of the placement. I read proposals for studies in conflict settings and assessed them for research quality, ethics, and feasibility. Then I sat in on the selection meeting, where senior academics debated which projects deserved funding. Being a ‘fly on the wall’ in this meeting gave me insights into what types of funding applications are considered particularly worth of consideration.
The second part of my work involved supporting the development of a Research Quality Support (RQS) system for newly funded projects. I helped design onboarding materials, tailored an online survey for research teams, and joined calls with researchers who are experts in working in humanitarian settings. Particularly in light of the recent funding cuts across the development and humanitarian sector, the team at HPI was already stretched thin. Being able to contribute time to focus on the RQS meant I could move things forward that had been stuck due to lack of capacity.
The final part of my placement involved contributing to an evidence review of protection interventions in active conflict zones. This was unexpectedly challenging work, with a steep learning curve as I familiarized myself with the frameworks of humanitarian protection and definitions of what constitutes active conflict – not always straightforward! I helped my colleagues search and screen studies, extract key findings, and document our methods. I also reached out to contacts in NGOs and ALNAP to bring in high-quality grey literature that often gets left out of academic reviews. This made the overall review more complete and more grounded in real operational experience.
By the end of the placement, I not only understood J-PAL’s work much better, but also understood the wider humanitarian evidence ecosystem in a new way, from its initial funding to its final dissemination. I enjoyed thought-provoking conversations with colleagues on how evidence moves (or occasionally fails to move) into policy discussions. It also helped me reflect on my own career direction. If we conceptualize the players in this sector as falling on a spectrum between research and policy, J-PAL sits right in the middle. Understanding where on the spectrum I feel most useful and comfortable is important as I decide what career to pursue after my DPhil.
For other GUDTP students considering a placement, I would highly recommend choosing one that lets you see the ‘behind-the-scenes’ of your field. In particular, for those in the quantitative social sciences looking broadly at wellbeing in either Europe or in low-income settings, J-PAL Europe provides a very welcoming environment and teams that are enthusiastic to work with students. I hope to connect more students to opportunities with J-PAL in the future as it is guaranteed to be a mutually beneficial experience.
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