A research network from Latin America
A total of 54 researchers have participated in the TREES Research Grant Fund workshops; they are conducting 40 research projects and come from 10 different disciplines, forming an academic network that transcends institutions and borders.
Understanding inequalities requires high-quality research. To this end, it is important to create spaces where researchers from Latin America, representing various disciplines, can engage in dialogue, question their own approaches, and collectively develop new research questions. That is why we created the TREES Research Grant Fund, whose purpose is to fund research projects and foster an academic community committed to broadening our understanding of inequalities from multiple perspectives.
The first Research Grant Fund workshop was the September 27, 2024 and brought together economists, sociologists, political scientists, anthropologists, and historians for the first time, who shared their projects in a space designed to foster the exchange of ideas and strengthen their research through interdisciplinary dialogue.
From this first meeting, it became clear that the value of this initiative goes beyond funding. Bringing together researchers from different disciplines allowed each project to receive feedback from various fields, broadening the analytical frameworks for addressing inequalities.
Watch the video summary of the First Grant Fund Workshop.
During the second workshop, the May 7, 2025, the participants presented their ongoing research and received feedback from colleagues. This session proved particularly valuable because it allowed them to identify strengths, challenge assumptions, and explore new lines of analysis before completing their studies.
For James Torres, a professor of history and geography at the Universidad de los Andes, said, “The workshop is fantastic because it brings together an interdisciplinary team of economists, historians, political scientists, and lawyers all discussing the same topic: inequality.”
The discussions addressed topics as diverse as the role of the state in land distribution, the reconstruction of women’s place in economic history, informal employment, social mobility, the cultural dimensions of inequality, and the challenges of applying models developed in the Global North to Latin American contexts.
That diversity also transformed the research itself. Natalia Amaya, a researcher at the Prolongar Foundation, highlighted how the conversation with other participants opened up new possibilities for her work: “I really liked the comparative perspective. One of the professors suggested we examine classism versus the caste system in India, something we hadn’t considered.”
Similarly, Emiliano Tealde, an economist and professor at the Catholic University of Uruguay, highlighted the value of receiving feedback while the project was still in development: “It’s very constructive to receive comments from colleagues at this stage. Concerns arise, as do weaknesses one might have suspected, but there are also suggestions that help improve the work.”
As explained Leopoldo Fergusson, head of research at TREES, “We want to look at inequality not only from a strictly economic perspective. This has led to a very rich mix of perspectives on its causes and consequences.”
Watch the video summary of the second workshop.
The third edition of the workshop was held on February 17 of 2026. The researchers spent the meeting discussing the progress of their projects and receiving feedback from their colleagues. This approach fostered more in-depth conversations about the methodologies, findings, and challenges of each research project. This way of working was appreciated by the participants, as noted by Sebastián Fleitas, professor at the Catholic University of Chile: “I think it’s very important to have a space for reflection on inequality where different perspectives can contribute, build on one another, and address the problem of inequality in Latin America and its solutions.”
Beyond academic exchange, the workshop also strengthened a research community committed to producing knowledge in a rigorous and collaborative manner. Luz Ángela Rodríguez, a professor in the School of Rural Studies at the Pontificia Universidad Javeriana, noted: “Thinking collectively about inequalities provides us not only with a learning community, but also with the opportunity to develop new ideas for further research and, ideally, to influence public policy processes.”
Watch the video summary of the third workshop.
Over the course of the three editions, the following have participated 54 researchers, which develop 40 investigations from 10 different disciplines, thereby strengthening an academic network that transcends institutions and borders.
Several of these studies are already part of the TREES Research Repository and continue to provide evidence to help us understand the multiple dimensions of inequality. When research is open to the exchange of ideas and peer feedback, it expands its capacity to understand the root causes of inequalities and generate evidence that contributes to the design of public policies and other initiatives aimed at building more equitable societies.