Updated September 5, 2013
RESEARCH GRANT AND FELLOWSHIP OPPORTUNITIES IN
THE SOCIAL SCIENCES AND EDUCATION
To learn more about these and other opportunities, please contact Kathy Zimmerman
(kaz309@lehigh.edu, 8-5481), Research Liaison, Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations.
Aetna Foundation
http://www.aetna-foundation.org/foundation/aetna-foundation-programs/index.html
Award Amount: up to $250,000
The Aetna Foundation is dedicated to promoting wellness, health, and access to high-quality health care
for everyone. To improve the quality and delivery of health services to everyone, and to drive improved
health status for the American public, the health care system must be repaired. The Aetna Foundation
seeks national partners with the vision to make these goals a reality. Grant making is focused on issues
that improve health and the health care system in three areas:
Obesity: Addressing the rising rate of obesity among U.S. adults and children
Racial and Ethnic Health Care Equity: Promoting equity in health and health care for common chronic
conditions and infant mortality
Integrated Health Care: Improving care coordination and promoting cost-effective, affordable care
The Numbers: The foundation accepts unsolicited requests but invites proposals from select
organizations. An overview of recently funded projects is available on the foundation’s website.
American Association of University Women
http://www.aauw.org/what-we-do/educational-funding-and-awards/
American Fellowship Program
Deadline: November 15, 2011
Award Amount: Research Leave Fellowship ($30,000); Summer Research Publication Grant ($6,000)
Postdoctoral Research Leave Fellowships offer one-year of support for women in tenure-track faculty
positions in support of their earning tenure and further promotions. Postdoctoral fellowships are
available in the arts and humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences.
Summer/Short-Term Research Publication Grants fund women university faculty and independent
researchers to prepare research for publication. The grants are intended for tenure-track, part-time, or
temporary faculty or new or established scholars and researchers at universities. Time must be available
for eight consecutive weeks of final writing, editing, and responding to issues raised in critical reviews.
Funds cannot be used for undertaking research. Scholars with strong publishing records should seek
other funding.
Eligibility: Application is limited to women. Applicants must be American citizens or permanent
residents of the United States.
The Numbers: 76 grants were funded through the American Fellowship Program in 2010-11. A list of
past recipients is available on the program website.
Updated September 5, 2013
American Council of Learned Societies
http://www.acls.org
ACLS Fellowships (and others)
Award Amount: $35,000-$60,000
ACLS supports academic research in the humanities and humanities-related social sciences. Fellowships
are intended as salary replacement to help scholars devote six to twelve continuous months to full-time
research and writing. The ultimate goal of the fellowship project should be a major piece of scholarly
work by the applicant. ACLS does not fund creative work (e.g., novels, films, performance, or musical
composition), textbooks, work that deals purely with translation, or pedagogical projects.
Eligibility: Candidates must hold U.S. citizenship or permanent resident status and a Ph.D. degree
conferred at least two years before the application deadline.
The Numbers: 65 ACLS Fellowships were awarded in 2013. A list of current awardees can be accessed
via the program website.
American Philosophical Society
http://amphilsoc.org/
Franklin Research Grants
Deadline: October 1
Award Amount: $1,000-$6,000
This is a program of small grants to scholars intended to support the cost of research leading to
publication in all areas of knowledge. The Franklin program is particularly designed to help meet the cost
of travel to libraries and archives for research purposes; the purchase of microfilm, photocopies or
equivalent research materials; the costs associated with fieldwork; or laboratory research expenses.
Eligibility: Applicants are expected to have a doctorate or to have published work of doctoral character
and quality. Ph.D. candidates are not eligible, but the Society is especially interested in supporting the
work of young scholars who have recently received the doctorate.
The Numbers: In 2012-2013 the Franklin Research Grants program awarded over $435,000 to 85
scholars. A list of past recipients and their projects is available on the program website.
Henry Frank Guggenheim Foundation
http://hfg.org/index.html
Award Amount: $15,000-$40,000
The foundation welcomes proposals from any of the natural and social sciences and the humanities that
promise to increase understanding of the causes, manifestations, and control of violence and
aggression. Highest priority is given to research that can increase understanding and amelioration of
urgent problems of violence and aggression in the modern world.
Eligibility: Applicants may be citizens of any country.
Updated September 5, 2013
The Numbers: Over the past five years, approximately 60 grants have been awarded.
Institute for New Economic Thinking
http://ineteconomics.org/grants
Award Amount: $25,000-$200,000
The Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET) was created to broaden and accelerate the development
of new economic thinking that can lead to solutions for the great challenges of the 21st century. Grants
allow the in-depth examination of an issue or development of a concept. In many cases INET funds
projects that would not generally be funded through conventional academic funding channels.
Eligibility: Grants will be awarded primarily to individuals or teams of individuals affiliated with academic
institutions, think tanks, and other research centers. The foundation is especially interested in funding
early stage research and junior research scholars. As part of its commitment to encourage thinking
beyond current paradigms, the foundation also invites proposals from economic thinkers in allied fields
such as Political Science, Sociology, History, and the Physical Sciences.
The Numbers: In the latest round of funding, 29 projects were awarded grants totaling $2.7 million. A
complete list of grantees and their project descriptions can be accessed via the foundation’s website.
John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation
http://www.gf.org/
Guggenheim Fellowships
Award Amount: Variable
Often characterized as "midcareer" awards, Guggenheim Fellowships are intended for men and women
who have already demonstrated exceptional capacity for productive scholarship or exceptional creative
ability in the arts.
Eligibility: Awards are made to advanced professionals. Writers, scholars, or scientists who have a
significant record of publication, or as artists, playwrights, filmmakers, photographers, composers, or
the like, have a significant record of exhibition or performance of their work.
The Numbers: Although no one who applies is guaranteed success in the competition, there is no
prescreening: all applications are reviewed. 175 Fellowships were awarded in 2013 from about 3,000
applications.
Lindbergh Foundation
http://www.lindberghfoundation.org
The Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation provides grants to men and women whose
individual initiative and work in a wide spectrum of disciplines furthers the Lindberghs' vision of a
balance between the advance of technology and the preservation of the natural/human environment.
Program areas include agriculture, aviation, conservation of natural resources, education, exploration,
health and waste minimization and management.
Updated September 5, 2013
Eligibility: There is no minimum education requirement for an applying to the Lindbergh Foundation.
Ph.D. and Master’s students are eligible as well as faculty members.
The Numbers: Program currently postponed.
Russell Sage Foundation
http://www.russellsage.org/
Award Amount: $35,000 - $200,000
The Russell Sage Foundation dedicates itself exclusively to strengthening the methods, data, and
theoretical core of the social sciences as a means of diagnosing social problems and improving social
policies. Current topics of Foundation interest include: Future of Work; U.S. Immigration; Cultural
Contact; Social Inequality; and Behavioral Economics. First step in the application process is a brief
Letter of Intent to the Foundation.
Eligibility: The Foundation's awards are restricted to support for basic social science research within its
announced programs (see above and foundation website). Major awards range between $35,000 and
$200,000 and mainly provide support for analyzing data and writing up results.
The Numbers: The Foundation supported 33 research projects in 2013.
Smith Richardson Foundation
http://www.srf.org/
International Security and Foreign Policy Program: Junior Faculty Research Grant Program
Award Amount: $60,000
The mission of the Smith Richardson Foundation is to contribute to important public debates and to help
address serious public policy challenges facing the United States. The junior faculty grants program
supports faculty members engaged in research on American foreign policy, international relations,
international security, military policy, and diplomatic and military history. Projects in military and
diplomatic history are especially encouraged. Grants are intended to buy-out up to one year of teaching
time and to underwrite research costs (including research assistance and travel).
Eligibility: An applicant must have a Ph.D., preferably in Political Science, Public Policy, Policy Analysis,
International Political Economy, or History. Proposals must be submitted by Lehigh on behalf of the
individual. He or she also must hold a position as a full-time tenure-track faculty member of a college or
university in the United States.
The Numbers: The Foundation will award at least three junior faculty research grants each year.
Spencer Foundation
http://www.spencer.org/
Award Amount: small grants for up to $40,000; large grants for up to $500,000
CFR Contact: Suzanne Irvine
The Foundation is committed to investigating ways in which education, broadly conceived, can be
improved around the world and is dedicated to the belief that research is necessary to the improvement
Updated September 5, 2013
in education. The Foundation has defined four areas of inquiry: the relation between education and
social opportunity; organizational learning in schools, school systems, and higher education institutions;
teaching, learning, and instructional resources; and, purposes and values of education. In addition to
proposals in these defined areas, the Foundation also supports research in the area of civics education
and philosophy in educational policy and practice.
Eligibility: Principal Investigators (PIs) applying for a Research Grant must have an earned doctorate in
an academic discipline or professional field and be affiliated with a college, university, research facility,
school district, or cultural institution that is willing to serve as the fiscal agent if the grant is awarded. PIs
and Co-PIs may only hold one active research grant from the Spencer Foundation at a time.
Simultaneous submissions to Spencer from PIs and Co-PIs are discouraged due to this policy.
The Numbers: The Foundation receives many more well-conceived and worthwhile project proposals
than it can fund. Therefore, it is frequently necessary to forgo opportunities to support high quality
projects in the research programs or in the fellowship competitions even though they are well within the
Foundation's area of interest. The Foundation website contains a list of Spencer Foundation-sponsored
research publications.
United States Institute for Peace
http://www.usip.org/grants-fellowships
Award Amount: $25,000-$100,000
The USIP annual grant program supports academic and applied research, the identification of promising
models and effective practices, and the development of practitioner resources, tools, and training
programs related to conflict management, international peace and security and peacebuilding.
The Institute also funds a priority grants competition for projects related to communication and
peacebuilding in Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, and Sudan.
Eligibility: USIP may provide grant support to nonprofit organizations and individuals—both U.S. and
foreign—including the following: institutions of post-secondary, community, and secondary education;
public and private education, training or research institutions, and libraries. Only one application per
competition may be submitted by the same project director but there is no limit to the number of
applications submitted from the university.
The Numbers: The annual grant program funds 20-25 of applications in each funding cycle, typically 200300. A searchable database of past grant awards is available on the Institute’s website.
Wenner-Gren Foundation
http://www.wennergren.org/
Post-Ph.D. Research Grants
Award Amount: $20,000
The Foundation's overall mission is to support basic research in anthropology and to ensure that the
discipline continues to be a source of vibrant and significant work that furthers our understanding of
humanity's cultural and biological origins, development, and variation.
Updated September 5, 2013
Eligibility: Post-Ph.D. Research Grants are awarded to individuals holding a Ph.D. or equivalent degree to
support individual research projects.
The Numbers: 20 grants were awarded through this program in 2013. A list of current and past awardees
can be accessed via the foundation’s website.
Updated September 5, 2013
Wenner-Gren Foundation
http://www.wennergren.org/
International Collaborative Research Grants
Award Amount: $30,000
The Foundation's overall mission is to support basic research in anthropology and to ensure that the
discipline continues to be a source of vibrant and significant work that furthers our understanding of
humanity's cultural and biological origins, development, and variation. The International Collaborative
Research Grant (ICRG) program supports international research collaborations between two or more
qualified scholars, where the principal investigators bring different and complementary perspectives,
knowledge, and/or skills to the project.
Eligibility: Proposals must involve collaboration between two or more researchers of different
nationalities who are working in different countries. Each researcher must hold a doctorate or
equivalent qualification in anthropology or a related discipline. Scholars are eligible without regard to
institutional or departmental affiliation. Priority is given to those projects involving at least one principal
investigator who is a citizen of, and is working and residing in a country where anthropology is
underrepresented and where there are limited resources to develop the discipline although other
applications will be given serious consideration.
The Numbers: 3 International Collaborative Research Grants were awarded in 2013 and 6 grants were
awarded in 2012.
William T. Grant Foundation
http://www.wtgrantfoundation.org/Home
Award Amount: $100,000-$600,000
CFR Contact: Suzanne Irvine
The Foundation supports high-quality research to enhance our understanding of how youth settings
work, how they affect youth development, and how they can be improved; and when, how, and under
what conditions research evidence is used in policy and practice that affect youth, and how its use can
be improved.
Eligibility: Proposals must address issues that have compelling relevance for theory, policy, and/or
practice affecting the settings of youth ages 8 to 25 in the United States; and reflect high standards of
evidence and rigorous methods, commensurate with the project's goals.
The Numbers: A list of recently funded grants is available on the program website.