Call for Researchers: TRACE – Checkpoints, Conflict, and the Politics of Circulation 

The Cross-border Conflict Evidence, Policy and Trends (XCEPT) research programme brings together world-leading experts and local researchers to examine conflict-affected borderlands, how conflicts connect across borders, and the drivers of violent and peaceful behaviour. Funded by UK International Development, XCEPT offers rigorous public good research to advance scholarship and inform policies and programmes that support peace. The programme includes the XCEPT Research Fund (XRF) to commission high-quality new research.

The XCEPT Research Fund (XRF) invites applications from researchers with expertise in conflict-affected borderlands to contribute to a comparative study on the roles and dynamics of checkpoints. Selected researchers will participate in a 2.5-day collaborative workshop (18–20 November 2025), support the development of a workshop report, and develop a case study paper for publication. This initiative offers a unique opportunity to engage in cutting-edge research, share insights across geographies, and shape scholarly understanding of borderland governance.

Checkpoints are central to the movement of people and goods, shaping both local livelihoods and wider systems of authority and governance. Yet, their roles differ greatly across contexts, ranging from revenue collection to security control to embedded systems of redistribution and authority. Researchers selected to work on this project will be expected to:

• Take stock of the diverse roles that checkpoints play across XCEPT’s core
  geographies.
• Co-develop a typology of checkpoint geographies as a shared framework for
  comparative research.
• Examine the moral economy of borderland governance, asking how roadblocks
  reflect and reshape alternative systems of authority, redistribution, and exchange.

To learn more about this opportunity and how to apply, please download the full call document below:

• Call for Researchers – TRACE: Checkpoints, Conflict, and the Politics of Circulation

Applications must be submitted via email to [email protected].

The submissions deadline is Wednesday 24 September 2025, 10:00 BST