From 2018 to 2024, the Research Technical Assistance Center (RTAC) supported USAID’s missions, bureaus, and independent offices to make evidence-based decisions. Serving as a strategic resource to USAID, RTAC leveraged the scientific expertise of academic researchers to provide rapid and on-demand technical assistance. RTAC maintained a network of university researchers comprised of over 1,028 graduate and post-doctoral students, lecturers, and faculty affiliated with more than 465 organizations around the world.

Researchers had opportunities to work with other researchers across the United States and in countries where USAID works, be invited to present as part of expert panels, and have access to innovative tools and resources that helped maximize the policy-and-program-related impact of their research. Researchers accepted to the RTAC network were granted access to a password-protected database of short-term, USAID-funded research opportunities for global development. 

Contact us to learn more about IIE’s experience supporting the RTAC network.