May 2018

• Foundations of Human Behavior Initiative

For a more comprehensive list of Harvard internal funding opportunities, please see  here .

Laura and John Arnold Foundation: Demonstrating the Power of Evidence-Based Programs to "Move the Needle" on Major U.S. Social Problems

Sponsor Deadline: Rolling

Award Amount: $1-$5M 

A central goal of U.S. evidence-based policy reform is to focus government and philanthropic funding on social programs that have credible evidence of meaningful positive effects on people's lives. The imperative for doing so is clear: Most social programs are unfortunately found not to produce the hoped-for effects when rigorously evaluated-a pattern that occurs not just in social policy but in other fields where rigorous evaluations are conducted, such as medicine and business. Thus, without a strong focus on evidence-based programs, it is hard to see how social policy can successfully address poverty, educational failure, violence, drug abuse, and other critical U.S. problems. Fortunately, there are some social programs that have been rigorously shown to improve important life outcomes. While relatively few in number, their strong evidence of sizable effects suggests that, if expanded, they offer a path to meaningful progress that spending-as-usual cannot. 

The Laura and John Arnold Foundation's Moving the Needle initiative seeks to spur expanded implementation of such programs in order to make significant headway against U.S. social problems. Specifically, the initiative is designed to encourage state or local jurisdictions, or other entities, to: (i) Adopt social programs shown in well-conducted randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to produce large, sustained effects on important life outcomes; (ii) Implement these programs on a sizable scale with close adherence to their key features; and (iii) Determine, through a replication RCT, whether the large effects found in prior research are successfully reproduced so as to move the needle on important social problems.

• The Science & the Big Questions Funding Area supports innovative efforts to address the deepest questions facing humankind. Why are we here? How can we flourish? What are the fundamental structures of reality? What can we know about the nature and purposes of the divine?
• The Character Virtue Development funding area seeks to advance the science and practice of character, with a focus on moral, performance, civic, and intellectual virtues such as humility, gratitude, curiosity, diligence, and honesty.
• The Individual Freedom & Free Markets Funding Area supports education, research, and grassroots efforts to promote individual freedom, free markets, free competition, and entrepreneurship. Grounded in the ideas of classical liberal political economy, we seek and develop projects that focus on individuals and their place in a free society. 
• The Exceptional Cognitive Talent & Genius Funding Area supports programs that aim to recognize and nurture exceptional cognitive talent, especially for those at an early stage of life. This Funding Area also supports research concerning the nature of cognitive genius, including extraordinary creativity, curiosity, and imagination.
• The Genetics Funding Area seeks to advance genetics research by supporting novel approaches and contrarian projects, especially research that is undervalued by traditional funding sources. In addition to basic and translational research, this Funding Area supports educational programs that increase public awareness concerning the ways in which genetics-related research and its applications can advance human flourishing at the individual, familial, and societal levels.
• The Voluntary Family Planning Funding Area supports programs that provide such resources for parents and families worldwide.

Sociological Initiatives Foundation Grants

OSP review not require for concept papers

Sponsor Concept Paper Deadline: August 15, 2018

Award Amount: $10,000-$20,000

The Sociological Initiatives Foundation was established to support research that furthers social change, including language learning and behavior and its intersection with social and policy questions.

The Foundation specifically supports research that focuses on impacting:

The Foundation supports projects that address institutional rather than individual or behavioral change. It seeks to fund research and initiatives that provide insight into sociological and linguistic issues that can be useful to specific groups and or communities.

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. Questions that interest the foundation concern violence and aggression in relation to social change, intergroup conflict, war, terrorism, crime, and family relationships, among other subjects.  

W.T. Grant Scholars Program

Harvard OSP Deadline: June 27, 2018

Sponsor Deadline: July 5, 2018

Award Amount: $350,000 distributed over five years

Target Applicants: Tenure-track faculty who received their terminal degree in 2011 or later

This is a limited submission opportunity and Harvard may put forward only one nominee from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. To determine if an internal competition is required, FAS faculty who wish to apply for this opportunity should contact Erin Hale at [email protected].

The W.T. Grant Foundation funds research that increases understanding in one of two focus areas:

The foundation seeks research that builds stronger theory and empirical evidence in these two areas. While it is not expected that any one study will create that change, the research should contribute to a body of useful knowledge to improve the lives of young people.

 

The William T. Grant Scholars Program supports career development for promising early-career researchers. The program funds five-year research and mentoring plans that significantly expand junior researchers' expertise in new disciplines, methods, and content areas. Scholars Program applicants should have a track record of conducting high-quality research and an interest in pursuing a significant shift in their trajectories as researchers. Proposed research plans must address questions of policy and practice that are relevant to the Foundation's focus areas.

Russel Sage Foundation Visiting Scholars Program

OSP review not required

Sponsor Deadline: June 28, 2018

Award Amount:  Supplemental salary support of up to 50 percent of recipient's academic year salary when unavailable from other sources (up to a maximum of $125,000 for the full academic year, or up to a maximum of $62,500 for a half year)

The Russell Sage Foundation's  Visiting Scholars Program  provides a unique opportunity for select scholars in the social, economic and behavioral sciences to pursue their research and writing while in residence at the Foundation's New York headquarters. Research carried out by Visiting Scholars constitutes an important part of the Foundation's ongoing effort to analyze and understand the complex and shifting nature of social and economic life in the United States. While Visiting Scholars typically work on projects related to the Foundation's  current programs , a few scholars whose research falls outside these areas are occasionally invited as well. 

All scholar applicants must have a Ph.D. or comparable terminal degree, or a career background that establishes their ability to conduct high-level, peer-reviewed scholarly research. Most selected applicants are typically several years beyond the Ph.D. 

Smith Richardson Foundation Strategy and Policy Fellows Program

OSP review not required

Sponsor Deadline: June 15, 2018

Award Amount: $60,000

The Smith Richardson Foundation Strategy and Policy Fellows Program supports young scholars and policy thinkers on American foreign policy, international relations, international security, military policy, and diplomatic and military history.  The purpose of the program is to strengthen the U.S. community of scholars and researchers conducting policy analysis in these fields.  Within the academic community, this program supports junior or adjunct faculty, research associates, and post-docs who are engaged in policy-relevant research and writing. Within the think tank community, the program supports members of the rising generation of policy thinkers who are focused on U.S. strategic and foreign policy issues. 

Please note that the Fellowship program will only consider single-author book projects.  It will not consider collaborative projects (e.g., edited or multi-authored books, conference volumes or reports, or a collection of previously published articles, chapters or essays.)

U.S. Army Research Institute for the Behavioral and Social Sciences Broad Agency Announcement for Basic, Applied, and Advanced Research

Sponsor Deadline: Rolling through April 29, 2023

Award Amount: No specified limit

The ARI is the Army's lead agency for the conduct of research, development, and analyses for
the improvement of Army readiness and performance via research advances and applications of the behavioral and social sciences that address personnel, organization, and soldier and leader development issues. Programs funded under this BAA include basic research, applied research, and advanced technology development that can improve human performance and Army readiness .

Those contemplating submission of a proposal are encouraged to contact the ARI Technical Point of Contact (TPOC) identified in this BAA or the responsible ARI Manager noted at the end of the technical area entry to determine whether the proposed project warrants further inquiry. If the proposed project warrants further inquiry and funding is available, submission of a white paper or proposal will be entertained. The recommended three-step sequence is (1) initial contact with the ARI TPOC or responsible ARI Manager, (2) white paper submission, (3)
proposal submission.

National Historical Publications & Records Commission: Publishing Historical Records in Documentary Editions  

Harvard OSP Deadline: June 6, 2018

Sponsor Deadline: June 13, 2018

Award Amount: Up to $200,000. The Commission provides no more than 50 per cent of total direct project costs so cost sharing is required.

The National Historical Publications and Records Commission seeks proposals to publish documentary editions of historical records.  The goal of this program is to provide access to, and editorial context for, the historical documents and records that tell the American story. Projects may focus on the papers of major figures from American history or cover broad historical movements in politics, social reform, business, military, the arts, and other aspects of the national experience. The historical value of the records and their expected usefulness to broad audiences must justify the costs of the project.  Applicants should demonstrate familiarity with the best practices recommended by the  Association for Documentary Editing  or the  Modern Language Association Committee on Scholarly Editions. 

All new projects must publish a digital edition which provides online access to a searchable collection of all documents. (Ebooks or volumes in PDF do not qualify for the purposes of this grant program.) New projects may also prepare print editions as part of their overall publishing plan, but the contents of those volumes must be published online within a reasonable period of time following print publication.  

• See all current NIH opportunities
   

• Cognitive Neuroscience - June 11, 2018
• Perception, Action & Cognition - June 15, 2018
• Archaeology and Archaeometry - July 2, 2018
• Science of Learning - July 11, 2018
• Developmental Sciences - July 16, 2018
• Linguistics - July 16, 2018
• Social Psychology - July 16, 2018
• Faculty Early Career Development Program (CAREER) - July 18, 19 and 20 (depending on directorate)
• Law & Social Sciences - August 1, 2018
• Perception, Action & Cognition - August 1, 2018
• Science, Technology, and Society - August 3, 2018
• Cognitive Neuroscience - August 13, 2018
• Cultural Anthropology - August 15, 2018
• Political Science - August 15, 2018
• Sociology - August 15, 2018
• See all current NSF opportunities in the Social, Behavioral and Economic Sciences 

• Humanities Collections and Reference Resources - July 19, 2018
• Infrastructure and Capacity Building Challenge Grants - August 1, 2018
• Media Projects: Production Grants - August 8, 2018
• Media Projects: Development Grants - August 8, 2018
• Public Humanities Projects - August 8, 2018
• See all NEH opportunities 

• National Endowment for the Humanities Funding Opportunities in RSS Format 
• National Institute of Justice Email Update: Provides an email alert every time NIJ releases a solicitation
• National Institutes of Health Funding Opportunities in RSS Format 
• National Science Foundation Update: A daily email alert service with subscription options that include new research opportunities, upcoming deadlines, and other content categories.
• Grants.gov Federal Grant Opportunities: You can subscribe to receive email or RSS notification of funding opportunities.