RFPs
A request for proposals (RFP) is a funder’s written announcement inviting proposals, usually for a specific grant program.
- Our office serves as a clearinghouse for many RFPs. Current opportunities can be found below.
- We disseminate select RFPs via email directly to faculty and administrators in relevant schools and centers.
- If an RFP is a limited funding opportunity, for which a limited number of applicants per institution may apply, it is generally announced by the Stanford Research Development Office and an internal selection committee decides on the final candidate(s). UCFR manages a small number of limited RFPs, as indicated below.
- Additional RFP resources are listed on the Funding Search Tools page.
Funding Opportunities & Resources
March Deadlines:
Russell Sage Foundation
Core Research Grants
RSF will accept letters of inquiry (LOIs) under the core programs for Race, Ethnicity and Immigration and Behavioral Science and Decision Making in Context. The foundation will also accept LOIs under its special initiatives on Promoting Educational Attainment and Economic Mobility among Racially, Ethnically, and Economically Diverse Groups after the 2023 Supreme Court Decision to Ban Race-Conscious Admissions at Colleges and Universities and Immigration and Immigrant Integration.
· 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 program on Behavioral Science and Decision Making in Context is focused on examining economic, social, political, and psychological decision-making processes, attitudes, behaviors, and institutional practices in public and private contexts such as policing/criminal legal systems, employment, housing, politics, racial/ethnic relations, and immigration.
· Promoting Educational Attainment and Economic Mobility among Racially, Ethnically, and Economically Diverse Groups after the 2023 Supreme Court Decision to Ban Race-Conscious Admissions at Colleges and Universities: The Russell Sage Foundation, in collaboration with the Hewlett, Spencer, and William T. Grant Foundations, seeks to support innovative research on the aftermath of the 2023 Supreme Court decision striking down race-conscious college and university admissions policies.
· The special 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.
RSF encourages methodological variety and inter-disciplinary collaboration, but all LOIs and proposals must have well-developed conceptual frameworks and research designs. Analytical models must be well-specified and research questions and hypotheses (where applicable) must be clearly stated.
Grants are available for research assistance, data acquisition, data analysis, and investigator time for conducting research and writing up results. We are particularly interested in analyses that make use of newly available data or demonstrate novel uses of existing data, to answer emerging or long-standing questions of interest in the foundation’s program areas and special initiatives. We also support original data collection. Proposals to conduct field experiments, in-depth qualitative interviews, and ethnographies are also encouraged.
Applicants must hold a doctorate, or must demonstrate a long career trajectory that supports the ability to carry out high-level research.
Funding Amount: Up to $200K
Deadline: March 11, 2025 (Letters of Inquiry)
Guidelines: https://www.russellsage.org/how-to-apply/application-deadlines
Whitehall Foundation
Grant Programs
The Whitehall Foundation, through its program of grants and grants-in-aid, assists scholarly research in the life sciences. Research grants are available to established scientists of all ages working at accredited institutions in the United States. The Grants-in-Aid program is designed for researchers at the assistant professor level who experience difficulty in competing for research funds because they have not yet become firmly established. Grants-in-Aid can also be made to senior scientists. The Foundation is currently interested in basic research in neurobiology, defined as follows: Invertebrate and vertebrate (excluding clinical) neurobiology, specifically investigations of neural mechanisms involved in sensory, motor, and other complex functions of the whole organism as these relate to behavior. The overall goal should be to better understand behavioral output or brain mechanisms of behavior. The Foundation does not support research focused primarily on disease(s) unless it will also provide insights into normal functioning. The principal investigator must hold no less than the position of assistant professor, or the equivalent, in order to participate in the application process. The applicant need not be in a tenure track position but must be an independent researcher and have Principal Investigator status at his/her institution, usually construed as having lab space independent of another Principal Investigator.
Funding amount: $100K/yr for up to 3 years (Research grants); Up to $30K (Grants-in-Aid)
Deadline: April 15, 2025 (Letter of Intent)
Guidelines: https://www.whitehall.org/grants/
Arnold Ventures
Building Evidence: Support for QEDs to Evaluate Social Programs and Policies
Ventures (AV) is a philanthropy dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans through evidence-based policy solutions that maximize opportunity and minimize injustice. AV focuses on improving systems where outcomes are falling short, incentives are misaligned, and the time is right for change. By funding rigorous research, we strive to better understand the root causes of problems and build the evidence about what works to solve them. Using this research, we advocate for policy reforms at all levels of government and build durable, bipartisan coalitions to drive lasting change and impact.
The Evidence and Evaluation team has been at the forefront of AV’s mission to inform policy solutions through an evidence-based lens. We are driven by the core belief that by increasing the body of evidence about ‘what works’ – while also identifying programs and policies that do not demonstrate impact – we create opportunities for government to better target limited resources and drive improved outcomes.
The Evidence and Evaluation team aims to identify, evaluate, and scale evidence-based solutions targeting the nation's most pressing social problems. This funding targets the first two phases of that goal - identifying and evaluating potential solutions – and is geared toward studies examining the causal effects of a policy, program, or intervention that aligns with key AV policy areas. Causal research employing strong, quasi-experimental methods are a critical component of the evidence-building process and are important for increasing the knowledge base for decision-makers and stakeholders. Examples of causal research methods include natural experiments, regression discontinuity, difference-in-differences, and instrumental variable designs.
This Request for Proposals (RFP) aims to bolster the knowledge base about potentially effective policies, programs, and interventions by funding researchers to conduct rigorous, causal research using quasi-experimental methods that aligns with key AV policy areas. We seek studies that will advance the knowledge base within key AV policy areas, including higher education, career education and training, infrastructure, contraceptive choice and access, and public finance.
There is no maximum budget, and we expect project costs to vary depending on complexity, data collection methods, etc. The cost of studies previously funded by AV has tended to be about $350,000-500,000.
Funding Amount: Varies
Deadline: March 14, 2025 (Letters of Interest)
Arnold Ventures
Strengthening Evidence: Support for RCTs to Evaluate Social Programs and Policies
Arnold Ventures (AV) is a philanthropy dedicated to improving the lives of all Americans through evidence-based policy solutions that maximize opportunity and minimize injustice. AV focuses on improving systems where outcomes are falling short, incentives are misaligned, and the time is right for change. By funding rigorous research, we strive to better understand the root causes of problems and build the evidence base about what works to solve them. Using this research, we advocate for policy reforms at all levels of government and build durable, bipartisan coalitions for lasting change and impact.
The Evidence and Evaluation team has been at the forefront of AV’s mission to inform policy solutions through an evidence-based lens. We are driven by the core belief that by increasing the body of evidence about ‘what works’ – while also identifying programs and policies that do not demonstrate impact – we create opportunities for government to better target limited resources and drive improved outcomes.
The Evidence and Evaluation team aims to identify, evaluate, and scale evidence-based solutions targeting the nation’s most pressing social problems. One of the strongest tools in the evidence-building toolkit is the randomized controlled trial (RCT). While not applicable to all policy and program contexts, RCTs are often the strongest choice for evaluating social programs because they fairly compare results between a treatment group and a control group, making it clear whether the program or policy truly works. This strong evidence can be important for informing decision-makers and stakeholders to support effective programs.
This Request for Proposals (RFP) aims to build the body of proven, effective policies, programs, and interventions by funding researchers to conduct rigorous RCTs across the spectrum of social policy. There is no maximum budget, and we expect project costs to vary depending on complexity, data collection methods, etc. The cost of studies previously funded by AV has tended to be about $350,000-500,000.
Funding Amount: Varies
Deadline: March 14, 2025 (Letters of Interest)
Sloan Foundation
Call for Letters of Inquiry: Interdisciplinary Social Science Research on Energy System Interactions in the United States
The Energy and Environment program at the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation supports research, training, networking, and dissemination efforts to inform the societal transition toward low-carbon energy systems in the United States by investigating economic, environmental, technological, and distributional issues. The program is currently inviting Letters of Inquiry for interdisciplinary, collaborative social science research projects led by early- and mid-career scholars that analyze the systemic interactions and connections associated with the transition to a low-carbon economy in the United States. This Call for Letters of Inquiry is deliberately framed broadly to encourage the submission of research project ideas that examine the links and implications between different components of the energy system and how they relate to other aspects of the economy.
Projects are expected to be highly interdisciplinary across fields, involving researchers deploying a range of research methodologies. Participating faculty can be drawn from multiple social science or related disciplines, either within or across universities. Relevant disciplines and fields could include but are not limited to: economics, finance, political science, public policy, sociology, anthropology, geography, and energy system modeling, among others. Projects are expected to emphasize student training, involving graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, or undergraduates, and with attention to diversity among students and trainees of particular importance. Projects are expected to undertake original empirical data collection and analysis, or to combine and analyze existing datasets in new, innovative ways. Projects are expected to link research to practice by engaging a wide range of stakeholders in either the conduct of research or in dissemination efforts used to inform decision-making. This includes potential collaboration with government, industry, non-governmental organizations, or other stakeholder organizations as appropriate. Projects with the ability to secure additional financial support, or relevant in-kind contributions, from other funding sources—including foundations, universities, the private sector, or government funders—are strongly encouraged.
Researchers who have not previously received funding from the Sloan Foundation’s Energy and Environment program are encouraged to submit a Letter of Inquiry. Priority will be given to these submissions. The lead principal investigator must be an Assistant or Associate Professor, or in equivalent positions, based at a university or college in the United States. Submissions from highly diverse teams are strongly encouraged and priority will be given to these submissions. Researchers based at Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) are strongly encouraged to apply, either as lead primary investigators or in team member roles. Submissions are encouraged across the full allowed budgetary range, and close attention will be paid to ensure that requested budget amounts are warranted. Senior researchers and non-U.S.-based researchers may participate in proposed projects and can receive funding as research team members, advisors, or collaborators. Researchers may participate in a maximum of two proposed projects.
Funding Amount: $500K-$1M
Deadline: March 25, 2025 (Letters of Inquiry)
Guidelines: https://apply.sloan.org/prog/energy_system_interactions/
Ploughshares
Grants to Build a Nuclear Weapons-Free World
Ploughshares supports organizations and individuals working to build a safe, secure, nuclear weapons-free world. In line with Ploughshares’ organizational goals and priorities, our grantmaking and programmatic activities are focused on the following areas:
Near-term Steps: Drive policies and activities that help eliminate nuclear threats or address regional conflicts. This portfolio supports essential near-term steps to counter nuclear policy regression, advance arms control and diplomacy, and resolve nuclear-related regional conflicts.
Strengthened Community: Create a stronger, more resilient nuclear field. This portfolio supports core organizations in the nuclear field and targeted projects that aim for a more dynamic, inclusive, and effective community.
Shared Purpose: Build new partnerships with intersecting issues. This portfolio develops a broad power base by aligning with social justice movements and exploring intersections between nuclear topics and other issues.
Bold Futures: Support transformational thinking and activities. This portfolio creates favorable terrain for long-term policy change by investing in transformational approaches that fundamentally challenge the nuclear status quo.
Ploughshares is unique in that we place very few restrictions on our grantmaking:
- There are no geographical limitations on our grants.
- We are able to fund direct lobbying programs.
- We make grants to individuals.
- We encourage women and people from diverse communities to apply.
Please note that we do not fund the production of films, videos, books, art projects, provide scholarships or the research and writing of academic dissertations.
Funding amount: Varies
Deadline: March 31, 2025
Guidelines: https://ploughshares.org/grants/apply/
April Deadlines:
Russell Sage Foundation and Arnold Ventures
Causal Research on the Criminal Justice System
The Russell Sage Foundation (RSF), in collaboration with the Criminal Justice program at Arnold Ventures (AV) is pleased to announce its first annual grants competition for early-career scholars, "Causal Research on the Criminal Justice System" (CRCJ). Our goal is to cultivate a pipeline of researchers conducting causal research on the criminal justice system. Criminal justice policies and practices include the work of police, courts, jails, prisons, probation and parole, and immigration detention.
Proposals must include causal research designs that can reliably isolate the treatment effects of a policy, practice, or intervention. Examples include difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity, instrumental variables, and randomized controlled trials. Mixed methods projects will be considered if a causal research design is central to the proposal.
Applicants must be tenure-track assistant professors at a college or university in the U.S. by August 1. We especially encourage applicants who have not previously received a grant from the Russell Sage Foundation. The program prioritizes disciplinary diversity and welcomes applications from scholars who are underrepresented in the social sciences, and/or employed at under-resourced universities.
Funding Amount: Up to $100K
Deadline: April 3, 2025
Guidelines: https://www.russellsage.org/funding/causal-research-criminal-justice-system/eligibility-guidelines
Spencer Foundation
Small Research Grants on Education Program
The Small Research Grants on Education Program supports education research projects that will contribute to the improvement of education, broadly conceived, with budgets up to $50,000 for projects ranging from one to five years. Eligible investigators may also request additional supplemental funds for a course release. We accept applications three times per year. This program is “field-initiated” in that proposal submissions are not in response to a specific request for a particular research topic, discipline, design, or method. Our goal for this program is to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious and technically sound research that is relevant to the most pressing questions and compelling opportunities in education. We seek to support scholarship that develops new foundational knowledge that may have a lasting impact on educational discourse.
We recognize that learning occurs across the life course as well as across settings—from the classroom to the workplace, to family and community contexts and even onto the playing field—any of which may, in the right circumstance, provide the basis for rewarding study that makes significant contributions to the field. We value work that fosters creative and open-minded scholarship, engages in deep inquiry, and examines robust questions related to education. To this end, this program supports proposals from multiple disciplinary and methodological perspectives, both domestically and internationally, from scholars at various stages in their career. We anticipate that proposals will span a wide range of topics and disciplines that innovatively investigate questions central to education, including for example education, anthropology, philosophy, psychology, sociology, law, economics, history, or neuroscience, amongst others.
Moreover, we expect and welcome methodological diversity in answering pressing questions; thus, we are open to projects that utilize a wide array of research methods including quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, ethnographies, computational modeling, design-based research, participatory methods, and historical research, to name a few. We are open to projects that might incorporate data from multiple and varied sources, span a sufficient length of time as to achieve a depth of understanding, or work closely with practitioners or community members over the life of the project.
Principal Investigators (PIs) and Co-PIs applying for a Small Research Grant on Education must have an earned doctorate in an academic discipline or professional field. While graduate students may be part of the research team, they may not be named the PI or Co-PI on the proposal.
Funding amount: Up to $50K
Deadline: April 16, 2025
Guidelines: https://www.spencer.org/grant_types/small-research-grant
Burroughs Wellcome Fund
Climate Change and Human Health Seed Grants
The Burroughs Wellcome Fund aims to stimulate the growth of new connections between thinkers working in largely disconnected fields who might together change the course of climate change’s impact on human health. In the three years between Fall 2023 and Summer 2026, we will dedicate $1M to supporting small, early stage grants of $2,500–$50,000 toward achieving this goal.
We are mainly but not exclusively interested in activities that build connections between basic/early biomedical scientific approaches and ecological, environmental, geological, geographic, and planetary-scale thinking, as well as with population-focused fields, including epidemiology and public health, demography, economics, and urban planning. Also of interest is work piloting new approaches or interactions toward reducing the impact of health-centered activities, such as developing more sustainable systems for health care, care delivery, and biomedical research systems.
Another area of interest is preparation for the impacts of extreme weather and other crises that can drive large-scale disruptions that will immediately impact human health and the delivery of health care. Public outreach, climate communication, and education efforts focused on the intersection of climate and health are also appropriate for this call. This program supports work conceived through many kinds of creative thinking. Successful applicants include academic scientists, physicians, and public health experts, community organizations, science outreach centers, non-biomedical academic departments, and more.
Applications must be submitted by non-profit organizations or degree-granting institutions in the United States or Canada. Applicant organizations may submit multiple proposals, but an individual may only serve as a principal investigator/project director on one application during each review period.
This call focuses on developing partnerships. Proposals from single institutions must develop partnerships that do not already occur naturally: for example, proposals from departments that draw students from the same shared graduate program are not responsive to this call. Proposals from more than one institution are responsive. Academic institutions, professional societies, and advocacy organizations are only a few of the appropriate drivers of proposals. Only non-profit institutions may be supported by BWF’s award, but non-profits may involve for profit organizations in their proposals. This program does not support biomedical research projects proposed by individual investigators, but only by collaborative teams.
Funding amount: Up to $50K
Deadline: April 24, 2025
May Deadlines:
Retirement Research Foundation
Grantmaking Program
The RRF Foundation for Aging focuses on improving the quality of life for older people. In an effort to strengthen the Foundation’s impact, RRF has established Priority Areas. These Priority Areas are specific topics in aging that will be given higher priority within the Foundation’s grantmaking program.
- Caregiving: Ensuring that caregivers are informed, well-trained, and supported, while providing care to older people in community settings.
- Economic Security in Later Life: Valuing the dignity of older people through efforts that ensure and protect their economic security and well-being.
- Housing: Promoting efforts that make housing more affordable and provide coordinated services that enable older people to live safely in community settings.
- Social and Intergenerational Connectedness: Strengthening social bonds through efforts that promote meaningful connections, including those that span generations.
RRF’s grant eligibility criteria differs by our five categories of project type – some projects are limited to Illinois (Direct Service, Organizational Capacity Building), whereas others require national reach (Advocacy, Professional Education, Research) if not in Illinois.
Advocacy Grants
RRF funds advocacy projects that focus on improving public policy for older persons. Of particular interest are projects that:
· Advance policy issues of critical importance to older people such as economic security, caregiving, housing, etc.
· Use clearly focused and strategic efforts to address systemic problems
· Forge partnerships with organizations to achieve better use of resources and to share knowledge
Advocacy Grants are provided to nonprofit organizations that are:
· Proposing a project that has a significant impact on persons, age 60 and older
· Focusing on achieving policy change throughout the U.S. or within the state of Illinois
Research Grants
RRF funds research that seeks to identify interventions, policies and practices to improve the well-being of older adults and/or their caregivers. Preference is given to projects aimed at generating practical knowledge and guidance that can be used by advocates, policy-makers, providers, and the aging network. Of particular interest are:
· Interventional trials; translational studies; and health services and policy research.
· Projects that build on the investigator’s past studies.
· Proposals that include robust dissemination plans, if appropriate, to assure that findings reach audiences positioned to act on them.
Research Grants are provided to nonprofit organizations that are:
· Proposing applied research projects that have immediate and direct implications on the adult population, age 60 and older.
· Proposing a project that will have national relevance across the U.S. or regional relevance within the state of Illinois.
Funding amount: Varies (approx. range $20K-$400K)
Deadline: May 1, 2025 (Letters of Inquiry)
Guidelines: https://www.rrf.org/what-we-fund/
Nasdaq Foundation
Quarterly Grant Program
Established in 1994, the Nasdaq Foundation works to connect business, capital and innovative ideas to advance global economies and local communities to champion greater access in investor engagement.
Program Criteria
1. Empower organizations that equip diverse investors with the financial knowledge and confidence they need to share in the wealth that markets can create. Grants will be given in this area to organizations and programs which deliver impact in one or more of the following ways:
· Enhancing financial literacy among under-resourced communities, with an element of teaching participants how to invest in the capital markets
· Improving access to knowledge and tools for investing and wealth creation among under-resourced communities
2. Support entrepreneurs from under-resourced communities with the resources to strengthen and scale those businesses and contribute to the prosperity of society. Grants will be given in this area to organizations and programs which deliver impact in one or more of the following ways:
· Equipping under-resourced founders with mentoring and resources
· Improving access to capital for under-resourced founders
There is no set minimum or maximum grant amount, though the average size of a grant made by the Foundation is $75,000. Reasonable overhead costs may be included in the grant request but must be specified. There is no limit to the number of proposals a single entity may submit at one time.
Funding amount: $75K average
Deadline: May 2, 2025
Guidelines: https://www.nasdaq.com/nasdaq-foundation/grant-program
Spencer Foundation
Racial Equity Research Grants
The Racial Equity Research Grants program supports education research projects that will contribute to understanding and ameliorating racial inequality in education. We are interested in funding studies that aim to understand and disrupt the reproduction and deepening of inequality in education, and which seek to (re)imagine and make new forms of equitable education. Thus, we are interested in research projects that seek to envision educational opportunities in a multiplicity of education systems, levels, settings, and developmental ranges and that reach beyond documenting conditions and paradigms that contribute to persistent racial inequalities.
Our goal for this program is to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious, and technically sound research that is relevant to the most pressing questions and compelling opportunities in relation to racial equity in education. In this cycle of funding, we will continue to fund scholarship focused on a range of communities and issues with respect to equity. We encourage proposals from across the methodological spectrum, including qualitative methods, mixed-methods, and quantitative methods. We want to especially encourage Racial Equity proposals that focus on the following areas: (1) youth and educator mental health that explores possibilities that promote resilience, center healing, and foster well-being; (2) current political challenges in Pre-K-12 and higher education around diversity, equity, and inclusion; and (3) youth civic education and engagement across learning contexts. Additionally, and as part of The Spencer Foundation’s Initiative on AI and Education, we will fund an additional set of Racial Equity grants specifically focused on AI and racial equity.
As with other Spencer grant programs, this program is “field-initiated” in that proposal submissions are not required to be developed around a particular research topic, discipline, design, method, or geographic location.
Funding amount: Up to $75K
Deadline: May 5, 2025 (Intent to Apply)
Guidelines: https://www.spencer.org/grant_types/racial-equity-special-research-grants
William T. Grant Foundation
Research Grants on Reducing Inequality and Research Grants on Improving the Use of Research Evidence
Research grants on reducing inequality support research to build, test, or increase understanding of programs, policies, or practices to reduce inequality in the academic, social, behavioral, or economic outcomes of young people ages 5–25 in the United States. We prioritize studies that aim to reduce inequalities that exist along dimensions of race, ethnicity, economic standing, sexual or gender minority status, language minority status, or immigrant origins.
Our research interests center on studies that examine ways to reduce inequality in youth outcomes. We welcome descriptive studies that clarify mechanisms for reducing inequality or elucidate how or why a specific program, policy, or practice operates to reduce inequality. We also welcome intervention studies that examine attempts to reduce inequality. Finally, we welcome studies that improve the measurement of inequality in ways that can enhance the work of researchers, practitioners, or policymakers.
Research grants on improving the use of research evidence support research on strategies focused on improving the use, usefulness, and impact of evidence in ways that benefit young people ages 5-25 in the United States. We welcome impact studies that test strategies for improving research use as well as whether improving research use leads to improved youth outcomes. We also welcome descriptive studies that reveal the strategies, mechanisms, or conditions for improving research use. Finally, we welcome measurement studies that explore how to construct and implement valid and reliable measures of research use.
We are particularly interested in research on ways to improve the use of research evidence by state and local policymakers, mid-level managers, community organizers, and intermediaries. These decision-makers play important roles in deciding which programs, practices, and tools to adopt; deliberating ways to improve existing services; shaping the conditions for implementation; and making resource allocation decisions.
We invite studies from a range of disciplines, fields, and methods, and we encourage investigations into various youth-serving systems, including justice, housing, child welfare, mental health, and education.
Funding amount: $100K-$600K (Research grants on reducing inequality); $100K-$1M (Research grants on improving the use of research evidence)
Deadline: May 7, 2025
Guidelines: https://wtgrantfoundation.org/funding#current-opportunities
July Deadlines:
Research Corporation for Science Advancement
Cottrell Scholar Award
The Cottrell Scholar Award honors and helps to develop outstanding teacher-scholars who are recognized by their scientific communities for the quality and innovation of their research programs and their academic leadership skills. The Cottrell Scholar Award provides entry into a national community of outstanding scholar-educators who produce significant research and educational outcomes.
The Cottrell Scholar Award is available to early career faculty at U.S. and Canadian research universities and primarily undergraduate institutions. Eligible applicants are tenure-track faculty who hold primary or courtesy appointments in chemistry, physics, or astronomy departments that offer bachelor's and/or graduate degrees in the applicant's discipline.
For the 2025 proposal cycle, eligibility is limited to faculty members who started their first tenure-track appointment anytime in calendar year 2022. Accommodations are made for faculty who have taken maternity or paternity leave, or who have experienced medical conditions or research delays that prompted a tenure clock extension.
Funding amount: $120K
Deadline: July 1, 2025
Guidelines: https://rescorp.org/cottrell-scholars/guidelines
Ongoing Deadlines
Arnold Ventures
Causal Research on Community Safety and the Criminal Justice System
Arnold Ventures (AV) is a nonpartisan philanthropy whose core mission is to invest in evidence-based solutions that maximize opportunity and minimize injustice. AV focuses on correcting system failures in the United States through evidence-based solutions. AVs’ Criminal Justice Initiative seeks to generate new evidence to inform policies that will make communities safer and make the criminal justice system more fair and effective. This Request for Proposals (RFP) from the Criminal Justice Initiative (CJI) seeks letters of interest to conduct causal research projects of policies, practices, and interventions related to community safety and the criminal justice system.
To be eligible to submit through this funding opportunity, research projects must adhere to the following criteria:
· Propose a strong causal research design, which can reliably and validly isolate the treatment effect of a policy, practice, or intervention. Examples of such research designs include difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity, instrumental variable, and randomization.
· The policy, practice, or intervention being tested is in the United States.
· Outcomes include measures of real-world behaviors (such as crime rates or criminal justice involvement), as opposed to measures collected in a controlled lab setting or measures of perceptions. Submissions are welcome across all issues of crime and criminal justice that meet the above criteria. The ultimate goal of this RFP is to build credible evidence on policies, practices, and interventions that can improve crime and justice system outcomes and grow the number of policies and practices rigorously shown to produce improvements in community safety and to make the justice system fairer and more effective.
Arnold Ventures anticipates that project budgets will depend on a variety of factors, including the complexity of the data acquisition and analysis plans, the number of study sites, and the study timeline. While there is no budget ceiling or fixed period of performance for applications received under this RFP, we expect to support projects that align with a typical CJI research project that has a 3-4 year period of performance and a median budget of $500,000.
We will prioritize studies that:
• Focus on interventions where there is a clear path to federal and/or state policy adoption or implementation. Is there a state or federal policy lever available to scale this intervention?
• Outcomes are measured using administrative data, where they exist.
• Align with the CJI’s priority research areas: reducing violent crime; reducing unnecessary use of force or arrests by police; facilitating police investigations and increasing clearance rates; effects of alternative models of police/crisis response; reducing intimate partner violence; prosecutor-initiated resentencing; improving pretrial outcomes; strategies to improve the quality of public defense; improving community supervision outcomes; effects of prison oversight; effects of policy changes related to fines and fees or the payment of court debt; effects of record clearance/expungement policies; effects of sentencing reforms; projects using Criminal Justice Administrative Records (CJARS) data to measure effects of interventions on people with criminal records.
• Are led by researchers who have not previously received funding from Arnold Ventures as the primary or principal investigator, or are early-career/junior researchers (those who received their PhD in the past 6 years). We recognize the need to expand and diversify the pool of researchers doing causal research in the criminal justice space. Thus we strongly encourage researchers who are new to causal research, including those from groups historically underrepresented in the research community – such as researchers of color, women, and justice[1]impacted individuals – to participate in this funding opportunity.
Funding Amount: Varies (anticipated median budget of $500K)
Deadlines: Rolling
Arnold Ventures
Strengthening Evidence: Support for RCTs to Evaluate Social Programs and Policies
Arnold Ventures’ (AV) Evidence and Evaluation team aims to identify, evaluate, and scale evidence-based solutions targeting the nation’s most pressing social problems. One of the strongest tools in the evidence-building toolkit is the randomized controlled trial (RCT). While not applicable to all policy and program contexts, RCTs are often the strongest choice for evaluating social programs because they fairly compare results between a treatment group and a control group, making it clear whether the program or policy truly works. This strong evidence can be important for informing decision-makers and stakeholders to support effective programs.
This Request for Proposals (RFP) aims to build the body of proven, effective policies, programs, and interventions by funding researchers to conduct rigorous RCTs across the spectrum of social policy.
Proposals that demonstrate alignment with AV’s strategic areas of interest, such as higher education, housing, climate, transportation, and public finance, are encouraged. A full list of AV areas of investment can be explored here. (RCTs primarily measuring Criminal Justice outcomes will not be considered under this RFP; for such studies, please see this RFP).
Funding amount: Varies
Deadline: Rolling
Guidelines: https://craftmediabucket.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/PDFs/AVEE_StrengtheningEvidenceRFP_Final.pdf
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Evidence for Action: Innovative Research to Advance Racial Equity
Evidence for Action prioritizes research to evaluate specific interventions (e.g., policies, programs, practices) that have the potential to counteract the harms of structural and systemic racism and improve health, well-being, and equity outcomes. We are concerned both with the direct impacts of structural racism on the health and well-being of people and communities of color (e.g., Black, Latina/o/x, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander people, and other races and ethnicities)—as well as the ways in which racism intersects with other forms of marginalization, such as having low income, being an immigrant, having a disability, or identifying as LGBTQ+ or a gender minority.
This funding is focused on studies about upstream causes of health inequities, such as the systems, structures, laws, policies, norms, and practices that determine the distribution of resources and opportunities, which in turn influence individuals’ options and behaviors. Research should center on the needs and experiences of communities exhibiting the greatest health burdens and be motivated by real-world priorities. It should be able to inform a specific course of action and/or establish beneficial practices, not stop at characterizing or documenting the extent of a problem.
E4A seeks grantees who are deeply committed to conducting rigorous and equitable research and ensuring that their findings are actionable in the real world. In addition to research funding, RWJF also supports grantees with stakeholder engagement, dissemination of findings, and other activities that can enhance their projects’ potential to “move the needle” on health and racial equity. Only through intentional and collaborative efforts to disrupt racism and translate research to action can we hope to build a more just and equitable society and a Culture of Health.
Grant periods are flexible up to 36 months; rare exceptions may be made for projects needing up to 48 months if sufficient justification is provided. Our preference is for projects that produce findings in the near term.
Funding Amount: Varies
Deadline: Rolling
Charles Koch Foundation
Trade Policy Research
The Charles Koch Foundation is pleased to invite proposals for research and related projects that bridge the gap between theory and practice and contribute to contemporary debates around important trade-policy issues. We are especially interested in research related to the topics below.
- Examining the potential impact of China’s mega-initiatives on the United States, such as the Belt and Road Initiative or China’s large-scale investments in Africa. This could be along economic, social, diplomatic, and/or security lines.
- Exploring issues and topics related to U.S-China trade and foreign direct investment and implications for national security.
- Examining how to better protect U.S. intellectual property in China and other markets.
- Exploring the impact of Chinese tech theft and commercial espionage on American businesses.
- Examining the real threat of China as compared to the threat claimed by domestic interest groups, businesses, think tanks, and the media.
- Exploring opportunities for U.S.-China economic cooperation.
- Exploring the role of the WTO in dispute settlement.
- Assessing the historical track record of national industrial policy in the United States.
- Conducting a comparative analysis of countries’ industrial policies, with a focus on possible lessons for the United States.
- Exploring alternative means of achieving the stated goals of national industrial policy, e.g. increasing innovation, productivity growth, unemployment gains, etc.
- Examining the impact and value of Free Trade Agreements, especially in comparison to managed trade agreements.
- Presenting solutions to any concentrated costs that may be caused by Free Trade Agreements.
Funding Amount: Varies
Deadline: Rolling
Guidelines: https://charleskochfoundation.org/grants/trade-policy-research/
Smith Richardson Foundation
Domestic Public Policy Program
The mission of the Smith Richardson Foundation is to contribute to important public debates and to address serious public policy challenges facing the United States. The foundation seeks to help ensure the vitality of our social, economic, and governmental institutions. It also seeks to assist with the development of effective policies to compete internationally and to advance U.S. interests and values abroad. The Domestic Public Policy Program supports projects that will help the public and policy makers understand and address critical challenges facing the United States. To that end, the foundation supports research on and the evaluation of existing public policies and programs, as well as projects that inject new ideas into public debates.
Funding Amount: Varies
Deadline: Concept papers accepted anytime
Guidelines: https://www.srf.org/programs/domestic-public-policy/
Simons Foundation
Targeted Grants in Mathematics and Physical Sciences
The Simons Foundation’s Mathematics and Physical Sciences (MPS) division invites applications for its new Targeted Grants in MPS program. The program is intended to support high-risk projects of exceptional promise and scientific importance on a case-by-case basis. A typical Targeted Grant in MPS provides funding for up to five years. The funding provided is flexible and based on the type of support requested in the proposal. Indirect costs are limited to 20% of direct costs, with the following exceptions: equipment, tuition, and any subcontracts with budgets, including indirect expenses. Indirect costs paid to a subcontractor may not exceed 20% of the direct costs paid to the subcontractor. Expenses for experiments, equipment, or computations, as well as for personnel and travel, are allowable. Applications may be submitted by established U.S. and foreign public and private educational institutions and stand-alone research centers.
Funding Amount: Varies
Deadline: Letter of Inquiry accepted anytime
Limited Programs:
Deadline passed - for reference only
2025 Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program Competition
Limited submission program for sabbatical-eligible faculty (see eligibility) - a university-wide internal nomination process is required. The fellowships of $200,000 each enable recipients to take sabbaticals of one or two years from their institution to focus on research and writing.
In 2023, Carnegie Corporation of New York announced a second phase of the program and a new focus on political polarization in the United States. For at least three years, the program will ask scholars to help Americans understand how and why our society has become so polarized and what we can do to strengthen the forces of cohesion in American society. The next class of fellows will be announced in spring 2025.
Award Purpose
The fellows program was established in 2015 to provide philanthropic support to extraordinary scholars and writers for high-caliber research in the humanities and social sciences.
Topic
After a one-year pause in 2022, the program resumed with the focus on political polarization in the United States. The issue is characterized by threats to free speech, the decline of civil discourse, disagreement over basic facts, and a lack of mutual understanding and collaboration.
The Corporation anticipates that the work of the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program will explore the many ways political polarization in the United States manifests itself in society and suggest ways that it may be mitigated. Studies of polarization in other countries will be welcomed providing they offer lessons that can be applied to the United States. Projects based in disciplines across the humanities and social sciences are welcomed.
# of nominations
Two nominations are permitted from each university: one junior scholar and one senior scholar. (See eligibility below)
Timeline
Internal university deadline: Mon., Sept. 23, 2024, 5:00 pm (see the internal nomination process below)
The nominee(s) selected to represent Stanford will be notified: Wed., Oct. 9, 2024
Sponsor’s deadline: Nov. 8, 2024
Fellows announced: Apr. 2025
Start of the fellowship: by Sept. 1, 2025
Guidelines
https://www.carnegie.org/news/articles/andrew-carnegie-fellows-program-info/
Eligibility
- Senior, junior, and emerging scholars; journalists; and public intellectuals
- University presidents may nominate one junior scholar (sabbatical-eligible faculty) and one senior scholar (any holder of a tenured post)
- Nominees must have a Ph.D. or other terminal degree
- U.S. citizenship or permanent U.S. residency status
- See the award terms below
Award terms
- Fellowships of $200,000 each, enabling recipients to take sabbaticals of one or two years from their institution to focus on research and writing. Fellowships may be used for such expenses as salary, fringe benefits, project-related travel, research assistants, data collection, and surveys. No indirects are provided to the university.
- While the fellowship can be paid directly to the individual or through the home institution, Stanford highly recommends that it be paid to the individual. (Please consult your financial advisor and department manager on tax implications, benefits, contributions, etc.)
- Carnegie does not fund dissertations, debt repayments, lobbying efforts, the purchase of equipment, or rent.
- In accepting the nomination, candidates are affirming that, if chosen for the fellowship, s/he will accept the fellowship.
- Recipients may not accept other fellowships of equal caliber or at a comparable level of funding that overlaps the same timeline as the Carnegie fellowship, especially awards that have specific time requirements. However, smaller grants and project support are acceptable on a case-by-case basis.
Carnegie’s Selection Criteria and Process
- Originality and promise of the idea
- Quality of the proposal
- Promise to offer means to reduce harmful polarization or to enhance social cohesion
- Record of the nominee
- Plans to communicate findings to a broad audience
- Carnegie’s selection process will consist of two stages. First, anonymous evaluators — nationally prominent experts in fields related to political polarization in the United States — will review all proposals. Next, the top-ranked proposals will be forwarded to the members of the jury for their scrutiny and ultimate decision.
STANFORD NOMINATION SELECTION PROCESS
By Mon., Sept. 23, 2024 5:00pm please send one PDF file containing the following in the order listed below via email attachment to:
Amanda Reilly
Associate Director
University Corporate and Foundation Relations
650-498-7726
File name: Last Name_Carnegie.pdf
1) Title page
2025 Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program
Name of nominee
Nominee Scholar Category: junior or senior
Title
Department
Email address, phone number
2) Nomination letter from your Department Chair or Dean printed on department letterhead and addressed to the Carnegie Fellows Program Review committee which provides a brief description of the candidate’s qualifications and potential, and how his or her contributions will address political polarization in the United States. (This letter is for internal review only.)
3) Internal Application materials
- 3-5 page prospectus describing the project, including a projected work plan and approximate time frame. The prospectus should be double-spaced and set at a minimum 12-point font. Note: jurors will not read any prospectus beyond the five-page limit (footnotes and bibliography excepted). Bibliography and footnotes do not count toward the page limit.
- CV
- Budget in Carnegie’s format: Carnegie’s budget instructions are located here. The budget template is located here. (Please download the template before inputting your budget information as all Stanford applicants will be using this budget template link.)
Selection Process
A committee appointed by the Provost will review applications and select up to two nominees. Applicants will be notified by Oct. 9, 2024. The selected nominee(s) will then be asked to provide additional materials (1-page summary of the prospectus, a description of the project in 75 words or fewer, 1-page summary of the CV [bulleted form], and a short narrative biography (250-400 words). The University Corporate and Foundation Relations office will help assemble and submit the application by November 8, including the necessary institutional letter of nomination.
Sawyer Seminars 2024
Please note: this year’s competition has changed significantly from past competitions and this program overview contains the correct, up-to-date information. As of August 27, 2024 the foundation’s Sawyer Seminars webpage has not been updated from last year’s competition.
Purpose
- The program was established in 1994 to provide support for comparative research on historical and contemporary topics of major scholarly significance.
- October 2024 marks the program’s 30th year. To observe this milestone, at a time when universities and humanities study are facing a myriad of unprecedented challenges, the foundation is reorienting the 2024 competition and beyond from the study of comparative cultures to the study of major social and political challenges that directly impact the structures,policies, and practices of the American university.
- Mellon seeks to fund humanities-grounded seminars wherein multidisciplinary teams of faculty and other academic leaders collaboratively address timely issues affecting their campuses.
- Mellon invites proposals that meaningfully engage faculty, other academic leaders, and visitors from a variety of fields in the study of academic freedom and democracy in the American university.
- Mellon seeks to support seminars that demonstrate through humanistic methods the ways in which a higher education system featuring a multiplicity of perspectives, thoughts, and voices is essential to a functional democracy.
Terms
- Maximum grant for each seminar is $300,000.
- Each seminar normally meets for one year (though some have continued for longer periods).
- To allow for planning, seminars need not be scheduled for the coming academic year.
- The seminar should be led or co-led by humanities faculty; however, the proposed seminar should be a collaborative effort involving participation by scholars and administrators from across disciplines and units, with varying perspectives on the problem being addressed.
- The foundation encourages applicants to invite participants from nearby institutions, such as community colleges, liberal arts colleges, museums, research institutes, and local organizations to achieve interdisciplinary and community-engaged collaboration.
- Grant recipients would be expected to highlight and disseminate findings across campus units using a medium that best fits their campus context, such as a white paper or town hall.
- As Mellon reviews proposals, preference will be given to those that seek to:
- Bridge the gap between the socially equitable world envisioned in much humanities scholarship and the policies and practices characterizing today’s universities
- Empower humanists to be active participants in the strategic conversations and planning that many universities are engaged in or preparing to undertake
- Imagine new and revised university structures that would enhance the growth of the humanities and promote the realization of more just futures
- Funds may support: one postdoc; up to two dissertation research fellows (in the form of graduate tuition or supplemental funding). Please note: hiring of postdocs or awarding dissertation research fellowships is not a requirement this year.
- Funds may also support: travel and living expenses for short stays by visiting scholars; costs associated with coordinating seminars, including meals, honoraria, consulting fees, and stipends.
- Unlike in previous years, there are no required expenditures.
- Funds may not be used to cover released time for regular faculty participants, rentals of university space, or indirect costs.
- Annual reports on the progress of the seminar are required for the term of the grant.
Mellon Selection Criteria and Process
- Invitations have historically been limited to a rotating subset of a larger invitation list. This year, all institutions on that larger list will be invited to apply. Up to 20 finalists will be selected and recommended to the Mellon Trustees for funding.
- Mellon is fundamentally interested in the themes of social and racial justice.
- Competitive proposals will demonstrate the ways in which the humanities might reform or reimagine existing institutional structures and campus cultures. They might promise to amplify the work of a pre-existing institutional committee or envision a new committee or seminar-style initiative, with academic freedom and democracy in the American university as the central subject of inquiry.
- Applications will be evaluated on a) the centrality of humanities leadership to the proposed project; b) evidence of concrete buy-in and support for the proposed structure from university administration; and c) the strength of the plan for disseminating the project’s findings across campus units to catalyze institutional transformation.
Timeline
- Sept 25: Deadline to submit application to Amanda Reilly, University Corporate and Foundation Relations.
- Senior faculty members will review applications and choose Stanford’s nomination.
- Selected seminar will be notified in early October and involved faculty will need to prepare the final proposal by early November (detailed instructions available to nominee).
- Mellon Foundation Trustees confirm selection and funding in June 2025; following approval by the Foundation’s Trustees, funds will be disbursed to the host institution. Past experience suggests that it can take a year or more to organize the seminars.
Preliminary Applications for Sept 25 should consist of:
Proposal should include the following. The text covering the first three questions typically ranges from 3,000 to 6,000 words and must not exceed 8,000 words:
- Executive Summary - Description of proposed work.
- Rationale - The rationale for raising the indicated problem/topic, the central questions to be addressed, and the potential significance of the inquiry to be pursued, including its impact on the institution.
- Project Description and Significance - A description of the cases to be studied and the humanities methodologies to be brought to bear on them; the thematic “threads” that will run through the seminar; and evidence of concrete buy-in and support from university administration.
- Selection Criteria - If support for a postdoctoral fellow and/or dissertation research fellow(s) is envisioned, the procedures to be used in recruiting for these positions. (As noted in the terms above, hiring of postdocs or awarding dissertation research fellowships is not a requirement this year.)
- Preliminary Seminar Plan - A well-developed preliminary plan for the seminar that outlines the specific topics to be addressed in each session, provides the names and qualifications of the scholars and community partners who would ideally participate, and offers direction for developing a resource that summarizes and aims to institute the seminar’s findings.
- Budget and Budget Description in Mellon format - Mellon’s budget template is located here and budget description template is located here. Budget periods should align with reporting dates that work for the institution, but the first budget period must begin with July 1, 2025. For this reason, the first period may be longer or shorter, than 12 months. (Please download the templates before inputting your budget information as all Stanford applicants will be using these template links.)
Short CVs (1-2 pages) for the principal seminar organizers. Information about other core participants should be limited to a few lines of text included as an appendix.
Please click here for the limited submissions opportunities portal (VPDoR/RMG)
Please click here for a list of recurring limited submission programs (DoResearch)