October 2018
Funding Opportunities in the Social Sciences

You are receiving this newsletter because you are subscribed to our mailing list. All Harvard University faculty and administrators may subscribe here, and you may unsubscribe at any time. Please feel free to   to interested colleagues.
Unless otherwise noted, all proposals to funders outside of Harvard must be submitted to the Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) five business days prior to the sponsor deadline. We can help you navigate the routing process for your proposal.

Questions? Please contact Erin Hale, Senior Research Development Officer at 
[email protected] or 617-496-5252.

* Indicates opportunities new to the newsletter this month
Internal Opportunities
For a more comprehensive list of Harvard internal funding opportunities, please see  here .
External Opportunities
Non-Federal Opportunities:
Federal Opportunities:
Internal Funding Opportunities
pifie
Deadline: October 26, 2018
Award Amount: $5,000-$60,000

The President's Innovation Fund for International Experiences provides seed funding to faculty members at any Harvard school, to support the development of creative and significant academic experiences abroad for Harvard College students. These grants seek to foster the participation of faculty at all Harvard schools (including graduate and professional), departments, centers, and other academic units in expanding international opportunities for Harvard undergraduates. This may mean developing experience-based courses for students overseas, including courses prior to and/or following their international experience; involving undergraduates in an ongoing overseas project sponsored by a Harvard graduate or professional school, department, center, or other academic unit; or other innovative projects.
fhb
Deadline: Last day of February, May, August and November
Award Amount: $40,000 for ladder faculty; $5,000 for doctoral students and post-docs
Eligible Applicants: Harvard University full time doctoral students, post-doctoral fellows, and ladder faculty.

The FHBI provides seed grants to support transformative research in the social and behavioral sciences. Successful proposals will be those that promise to advance understanding of the social, institutional and biological mechanisms shaping human beliefs and behavior. Funds will be used to support interdisciplinary social science research projects based on innovative experimental or observational designs that make use of sophisticated quantitative methods. The Fund also supports seminars, conferences, and other research-related activities.
External Funding Opportunities
caorc
OSP review not required
Sponsor Deadline: January 24, 2019
Award Amount: Up to $10,500

The CAORC Multi-Country Research Fellowship Program supports advanced regional or trans-regional research in the humanities, social sciences, or allied natural sciences for U.S. doctoral candidates and scholars who have already earned their PhD. Preference will be given to candidates examining comparative and/or cross-regional research. Applicants are eligible to apply as individuals or in teams. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or foreign nationals who have resided in the U.S. for three years prior to the application deadline.

Scholars must carry out research in two or more countries outside the United States, at least one of which hosts a participating American overseas research center. The award is for a minimum of 90 days and Fellows may travel and carry out research between the period of May 2019 and November 2020. The 90 day travel minimum can be split into multiple trips and does not need to be consecutive.
acls_digital
OSP Deadline: January 9, 2019
Sponsor Deadline: January 16, 2019
Award Amount: Up to $150,000

This program supports digitally based research projects in all disciplines of the humanities and related social sciences. It is hoped that these grants will advance humanistic scholarship by enhancing established digital projects and extending their reach to new communities of users. This program aims to extend the opportunity to participate in the digital transformation of humanistic inquiry to a greater number of humanities scholars.

Funds support a range of project costs, including, where necessary, salary replacement for faculty or staff, software, equipment, travel, and consultant fees. A portion of each proposed grant budget must be devoted to funding collaborations with and/or building networks among scholars of all career stages from US higher education institutions of diverse profiles.
whiting
OSP Deadline: January 4, 2019
Sponsor Deadline: January 11, 2019
Award Amount: Not specified. Last year the average award size was $5,286

These annual fellowships support scholars of all disciplines to study at a location or locations--either national or international--other than their home institution. The aim is to stimulate and broaden the minds of teachers so as to improve and enhance the quality of their instruction. Grants are primarily for travel and related expenses and not as salary substitutes, scholarships or grants in aid. While there is a preference toward teachers at Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the Foundation awards fellowships across the New England area.

The Foundation does not maintain a website but application guidelines can be found  at the link above. Applicants should submit all required materials along with the  candidate information form to the foundation via email. Additional information can be found in the foundation's FAQs.
kroc
OSP review not required
Sponsor Deadline: December 15, 2018
Award Amount:   Junior (untenured) fellows receive a stipend of $25,000 per semester; senior (tenured) fellows receive $30,000 per semester.

Each year, the Kroc Institute's Visiting Research Fellows Program brings outstanding scholars focused on peace research to the University of Notre Dame for a semester or a full academic year. The Institute particularly seeks scholars who will actively integrate their research with ongoing Kroc research initiatives. The Kroc Institute seeks applications for Visiting Research Fellows for 2019-20 in the following areas:
  • Gender and Conflict/Peacebuilding
  • Nuclear Disarmament, Sustainable Development and Climate Change
  • International Mediation
  • Peace Studies
us_japan
OSP review not required for letters of inquiry 
Sponsor Letter of Inquiry Deadline: December 15, 2018
Award Amount: Not specified. Recent grants have ranged from $5,000-$150,000.

The United States-Japan Foundation supports US-Japan policy-related studies, initiatives and exchanges that help address issues of significant mutual concern to the United States and Japan. The Foundation seeks to respond to policy-relevant needs as identified by experts and practitioners in US-Japan policy studies field and is therefore open to innovative projects. 
kluge
OSP review not required
Sponsor Deadline: December 6, 2018
Award Amount: $4,200 per month for up to 11 months

The Kluge Fellowship in Digital Studies provides an opportunity for scholars to examine the impact of the digital revolution on society, culture, and international relations using the Library's collections and resources. The Kluge Center seeks proposals from scholars worldwide that will generate deep, empirically-grounded understanding of the consequences of the digital revolution on how people think, how society functions, and how international relations shift. Proposals may also explore and analyze emerging trends and new phenomena that may generate consequential changes in the future. All proposals must state the importance of the research to fundamental thinking about the human condition. Scholars should include a discussion of how the resources of the Library of Congress will inform the intended research.
ford
OSP review not required
Sponsor Deadline: December 6, 2018
Award Amount: $45,000
 
The postdoctoral fellowships provide one year of support for individuals engaged in postdoctoral study after the attainment of the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) or Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) degree.  The awards will be made to individuals who have demonstrated superior academic achievement, are committed to a career in teaching and research at the college or university level, show promise of future achievement as scholars and teachers, and are well prepared to use diversity as a resource for enriching the education of all students. 

Eligible applicants are:
  • U.S. citizens, U.S. nationals, and U.S. permanent residents (holders of a Permanent Resident Card), as well as individuals granted deferred action status under the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Program, political asylees, and refugees, regardless of race, national origin, religion, gender, age, disability, or sexual orientation,
  • Individuals with evidence of superior academic achievement (such as grade point average, class rank, honors or other designations), 
  • Individuals committed to a career in teaching and research at the college or university level, and 
  • Individuals awarded a Ph.D. or Sc.D. degree no earlier than December 6, 2011 and no later than December 6, 2018 in an eligible research-based field from a U.S. institution of higher education.
Awards will be made for study in the following major disciplines and related interdisciplinary fields: American studies, anthropology, archaeology, art and theater history, astronomy, chemistry, communications, computer science, cultural studies, earth sciences, economics, education, engineering, ethnic studies, ethnomusicology, geography, history, international relations, language, life sciences, linguistics, literature, mathematics, performance study, philosophy, physics, political science, psychology, religious studies, sociology, urban planning, and women's studies. Also eligible are interdisciplinary ethnic studies programs, such as African American studies and Native American studies, and other interdisciplinary programs, such as area studies, peace studies, and social justice.  Research-based fields of education are eligible if the major field of study is listed above and is used to describe the Ph.D. or Sc.D. program of the applicant (e.g., sociology of education, anthropology and education).
schomburg
OSP review not required
Sponsor Deadline: December 1, 2018 
Award Amount: $35,000 for long-term fellowships (6 months); $3,000/month for short-term fellowships (1-3 months)

The Scholars-in-Residence Program is intended for scholars and writers requiring extensive, on-site research with collections at the Schomburg Center, the pre-eminent repository for documentation on the history and cultures of peoples of African descent around the globe. Fellows are expected to be in full-time residency at the Center during the award period and to participate in scheduled seminars and colloquia. The Program is intended to support research in African diasporic studies undertaken from a humanistic perspective; projects in the social sciences, science and technology, psychology, education, and religion are eligible if they utilize a humanistic approach and contribute to humanistic knowledge.

Long-term fellowships support postdoctoral scholars and independent researchers who work in residence at the Center for a continuous period of six months. Short-term fellowships are open to postdoctoral scholars, independent researchers, and creative writers (novelists, playwrights, poets) who work in residence at the Center for a continuous period of one to three months. Fellows are expected to devote their full time to their research and writing. They are expected to work regularly at the Schomburg Center and to participate in the intellectual life of the Scholars-in-Residence Program. 
 rsf
OSP review not required for letters of inquiry
Sponsor Letter of Inquiry Deadline: November 30, 2018
Award Amount: Up to $175,000

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. For the November 30 deadline, the Foundation is soliciting letters of inquiry for the following programs:

The Behavioral Economics program supports research that uses behavioral insights from psychology, economics, sociology, political science and other social sciences to examine and improve social and living conditions in the United States. 

The Future of Work program is concerned primarily with examining the causes and consequences of the declining quality of jobs for less- and moderately-educated workers in the U.S. economy and the role of changes in employer practices, the nature of the labor market and public policies on the employment, earnings, and the quality of jobs of American workers.

The Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration program is concerned with the social, economic, and political effects of the changing racial and ethnic composition of the U.S. population, including the transformation of communities and ideas about what it means to be American.

The Social Inequality program focuses on whether rising economic inequality has affected social, political, and economic institutions in the U.S., and the extent to which increased inequality has affected equality of opportunity, social mobility, and the intergenerational transmission of advantage.

Computational Social Science supports innovative social science research that brings new data and methods to bear on questions of interest in its core programs in Behavioral Economics, Future of Work, Race, Ethnicity and Immigration, and Social Inequality.

The Russell Sage Foundation/Carnegie Corporation Initiative on Immigration and Immigrant Integration seeks to support innovative research on the effects of race, citizenship, legal status and politics, political culture and public policy on outcomes for immigrants and for the native-born of different racial and ethnic groups and generations.

The Russell Sage Foundation/Kellogg Foundation's Initiative on Non-Standard Employment seeks to support innovative social science research on the causes and consequences of the increased incidence of alternative work arrangements in the United States.  
dandavid
OSP review not required
Sponsor Deadline: November 30, 2018
Prize Amount: $1 million

The Dan David Prize recognizes and encourages innovative and interdisciplinary research that cuts across traditional boundaries and paradigms. It aims to foster universal values of excellence, creativity, justice, democracy, and progress and to promote the scientific, technological and humanistic achievements that advance and improve our world. 

The Dan David Prize covers three time dimensions - Past, Present, and Future - that represent realms of human achievement. Each year the International Board chooses one field within each time dimension. The fields for 2019 are:

Past: The 2019 Dan David Prize in the Past Time Dimension will be awarded to an outstanding individual or organization whose ongoing, groundbreaking research is making a significant contribution to the field of

Present: The 2019 Dan David Prize in the Present Time Dimension will be focused on 
Defending Democracy and calls for nominations of individuals, organizations and institutions that are engaged in a political and intellectual struggle against anti-democratic and authoritarian tendencies. 

Future: The 2019 Dan David Prize in the Future Time Dimension will be awarded for
Combatting Climate Change, awarded to a visionary and innovator who has made outstanding achievements in research or technology to combat climate change by avoiding or reducing GHG abundances or their climate impact.

Nominees for the Dan David Prize may be individuals or organizations. The individual or institution being nominated has made a singular achievement or a series of achievements and continues to make a unique, profound contribution to humanity, on a global scale, in one of the selected fields for the year in which the nomination is being made.
Khmer
OSP review not required
Sponsor Deadline: November 15, 2018
Award Amount: Varies by award type

The Center for Khmer Studies (CKS) provides in-country research fellowships for U.S., Cambodian, and French scholars (or EU citizens holding a French degree) and doctoral students on a yearly basis. CKS Senior Research Fellows are given direct funding for their research, access to CKS in-country resources, and provided with logistical support and contacts while in- country. Senior Fellowships are open to scholars in all disciplines in the social sciences and the humanities to pursue further research focusing on Cambodia only, or Cambodia within a regional context.Scholars can pursue research in other countries in mainland Southeast Asia (Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Burma, Southern China) provided that part of their research is undertaken in Cambodia.

CKS offers three possibilities:
  • Ph.D. Dissertation Research Fellowships are available for a maximum of 11 months for doctoral dissertation research. Only PhD candidates are eligible for this fellowship.
  • Senior Long-Term Research Fellowships are available from 6 to 11 months (for U.S and Cambodian) and up to 9 months (for French). The fellowships are open to scholars who already hold a PhD degree.
  • Senior Short-Term Research Fellowships are available up to 4 months (for U.S and Cambodian) and open to scholars who already hold a PhD degree.
acls_buddhist
OSP review not required except for the New Professorship in Buddhist Studies
Sponsor Deadline: November 14, 2018 for most programs with the exception of the New Professorship in Buddhist Studies, which has a January 9, 2019 deadline
Award Amount: varies by award type (see below)

This program offers an integrated set of fellowship and grant competitions supporting work that will expand the understanding and interpretation of Buddhist thought in scholarship and society, strengthen international networks of Buddhist studies, and increase the visibility of innovative currents in those studies.

The Foundation offers five competitions to support research and teaching:
  • The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Dissertation Fellowships in Buddhist Studies provides a stipend of $30,000 for 10 consecutive months, initiated by September 30, 2019, devoted full time to the dissertation. No other employment is permitted during the fellowship period.The fellowship period may be used for fieldwork, archival research, analysis of findings, or for writing after research is complete.
  • The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowships in Buddhist Studies provide annual stipends of $55,000 (In addition, if required, a relocation and health-insurance allowance of $6,000) for two years to recent recipients of the PhD for residence at a university for the purpose of revising the dissertation into a publishable manuscript or for beginning the first new project after completion of the PhD degree. 
  • The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Research Fellowships in Buddhist Studies provide up to $70,000 for research and writing in Buddhist studies for scholars who hold a PhD degree, with no restrictions on time from the PhD.
  • The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation Grants for Critical Editions and Scholarly Translations provide up to $80,000 for 12 months to support a broad range of endeavor, from the creation of critical editions (with full scholarly apparatus), to translation of canonical texts into modern vernaculars, to the translation of scholarly works on Buddhism from one modern language into another.
  • The Robert H. N. Ho Family Foundation New Professorships in Buddhist Studies provide institutions of higher education worldwide with grants up to $300,000 (to be expended over four years) in support of new teaching positions in Buddhist studies. 
These are global competitions. There are no restrictions as to the location of work proposed, or the citizenship/residence of applicants. The final products of research supported may be in any language. 
princeton_lapa
OSP review not required
Sponsor Deadline: November 14, 2018
Award Amount: Fellows receive a research salary of one-half their ten (10) month salary at their home institution, up to a maximum set each year before selection is made

The Program in Law and Public Affairs (LAPA) at Princeton University invites outstanding faculty members of any discipline, independent scholars, lawyers, and judges to apply for residential fellowships for the academic year 2019-2020.  LAPA Fellows devote the major portion of their time to their own research and writing on law-related subjects of empirical, interpretive, doctrinal and/or normative significance.  In addition, LAPA Fellows are expected to be in residence for ten months and participate in LAPA programs, including a biweekly seminar, a weekly luncheon discussion group, as well as some public events and conferences.  
sar_scholars
OSP review not required
Sponsor Deadline: November 5, 2018
Award Amount: $40,000 maximum

Resident scholar fellowships are awarded annually by the School for Advanced Research (SAR) to up to six scholars who have completed their research and who need time to prepare manuscripts or dissertations on topics important to the understanding of humankind. Resident scholars may approach their research from the perspective of anthropology or from related fields such as history and sociology. Scholars from the humanities and social sciences are encouraged to apply.

Resident scholars are provided with an office, low-cost housing, a stipend (amount varies according to award), library assistance, and other benefits. Books written by scholars may be considered for publication by SAR Press in its Resident Scholar Series. Fellowships involve a nine-month tenure, from September 1 through May 31.
aauw
OSP review not required
Sponsor Deadline: November 1, 2018
Award Amount: $30,000
 
The primary purpose of the Postdoctoral Research Leave Fellowship is to increase the number of women in tenure-track faculty positions and to promote equality for women in higher education. This fellowship is designed to assist the candidate in obtaining tenure and further promotions by enabling her to spend a year pursuing independent research. Candidates are evaluated on the basis of scholarly excellence; quality and originality of project design; and active commitment to helping women and girls through service in their communities, professions, or fields of research. This program is open to scholars in all fields. Applicants must be U.S. citizens or permanent residents. 
ias_ss
OSP review not required
Sponsor Deadline: November 1, 2018
Award Amount: In setting compensation, the school attempts to provide half of the current academic base salary for all members, up to a maximum stipend of $75,000

The School of Social Science takes as its mission the analysis of contemporary societies and social change. It is devoted to a pluralistic and critical approach to social research, from a multidisciplinary and international perspective. Each year, the School invites approximately twenty-five visiting scholars with various perspectives, methods and topics, providing a space for intellectual debate and mutual enrichment. Scholars are drawn from a wide range of fields, notably political theory, economics, law, psychology, sociology, anthropology, history, philosophy, and literature. Members pursue their own research, and participate in collective activities, including a weekly seminar at which on-going work is presented.  The theme for 2019-20 is "Economy and Society" but applications outside the theme are also welcomed.  
acls_china
Harvard OSP Deadline: October 31, 2018
Sponsor Deadline: November 7, 2018
Award Amount: Varies by award type, see below

These grants for collaborative work in China studies are funded by the Chiang Ching-kuo Foundation for International Scholarly Exchange.  In this cycle of competitions ACLS invites proposals in the humanities and related social sciences that adopt an explicitly cross-cultural or comparative perspective. Projects may, for example, compare aspects of Chinese history and culture with those of other nations and civilizations, explore the interaction of these nations and civilizations, or engage in cross-cultural research on the relations among the diverse and dynamic populations of China. Proposals should be empirically grounded, theoretically informed, and methodologically explicit.

The program supports collaborative work of three types:
  • Planning Meetings: Grants up to $6,000 for one-day meetings to develop topics selected by participants. These brainstorming sessions may lead to workshops or conferences, but that is not required.
  • Workshops: Grants of $10,000 to $15,000 for workshops to promote discussion and the exchange of ideas on newly available or inadequately researched data or texts in a collegial, seminar-like setting. Workshops are not mini-conferences for presentation of formal papers describing work already completed.
  • Conferences: Grants up to $25,000 for formal conferences for presentation of significant new research to be published in a conference volume.
cfr
OSP review not required
Sponsor Deadline: October 31, 2018
Award Amount: $100,000 stipend

The International Affairs Fellowship is the hallmark fellowship program of Council on Foreign Relations. It aims to bridge the gap between the study and making of U.S. foreign policy by creating the next generation of scholar-practitioners. The program offers its fellows the unique chance to experience a new field and gain a different perspective at a pivotal moment in their careers. Academics are thus placed in public service and policy-oriented settings, while government officials are placed in scholarly settings.

Applicants must be U.S. citizens and must be mid-career professionals. Applicants should possess a strong record of professional achievement and have a firm grounding in and a demonstrated commitment to the field of foreign policy.
Federal Funding Opportunities
neh_public_scholar
OSP review not required
Sponsor Deadline: February 6, 2019
Award Amount: $5,000 per month for 6-12 months

The Public Scholar Program supports well-researched books in the humanities intended to reach a broad readership. Some humanities scholarship is necessarily specialized, but the humanities can also engage broad audiences in exploring subjects of general interest. Such scholarship might present a narrative history, tell the stories of important individuals, analyze significant texts, provide a synthesis of ideas, revive interest in a neglected subject, or examine the latest thinking on a topic. Books supported by this program must be grounded in humanities research and scholarship, making appropriate use of primary and/or secondary sources. They must also be written in a readily accessible style, addressing significant humanities themes in a way that will appeal to a large audience of general readers. Applications to write books directed primarily to scholars are not appropriate for this program.
nhprc
Sponsor Preliminary Proposal Deadline: January 17, 2019
OSP Deadline: April 9, 2019
Sponsor Full Proposal Deadline: April 16, 2019
Award Amount: $100,000-$350,000 for 1-3 years

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission seeks projects that will significantly improve public discovery and use of major historical records collections. The Commission is especially interested in collections of America's early legal records, such as the records of colonial, territorial, county, and early statehood and tribal proceedings that document the evolution of the nation's legal history.  All types of historical records are eligible, including documents, photographs, born-digital records, and analog audio and moving images.  

otherfederal
Agency for International Development (USAID)
Department of State
National Institutes of Health

National Endowment for the Humanities
alerts
Sign up for agency-specific funding alerts:

For assistance, please contact:
Erin Hale
Senior Research Development Officer
[email protected] | 617-496-5252
 
To see previous Social Science Funding Newsletters, please visit our email archive.

Research Development | RAS | research.fas.harvard.edu