Dissertation Grant Programs

Dissertation grants vary in scope from those which merely assist you in seeking other funding to those which will pay your full living expenses as well as all research costs. However, even small grants add to the researcher’s prestige and constitute an important listing on the researcher’s vita because they are evidence the researcher’s project has been peer-reviewed in a competitive process. The process of writing a grant is a very worthwhile endeavor in its own right, forcing the researcher to clarify his or her theories and hypotheses, have a good literature review, and be able to articulate and defend his or her research design and methodology.

Each dissertation grant program will have its own set of requirements. Requirements may include citizenship, minority status, gender, student status (ex., post-comprehensive exam status), intended career commitment, and others. Not infrequently a dissertation proposal will require a letter of support from a faculty member who has agreed to supervise the dissertation. Often this faculty member will be the nominal “Principal Investigator” even though actual research is to be done by the student. Corporate research programs, for instance, rarely fund graduate students directly. Other requirements may have to do with proposal length (going over may actually lead to your proposal being eliminated sheerly on this technical ground!), manner of delivery (ex., express rather than postal mail), and, of course, deadline date.

The most important portion of the dissertation proposal will be the substantive dissertation topic. It must fall clearly within the priorities of the funding agency, which will normally have a printed mission statement or research agenda, which may change annually. It is the objective of the student seeking the dissertation grant to show not only that his or her topic fits within funding agency priorities, but also that it will make a significant contribution to the field. Importance may be demonstrated by discussion of gaps in the literature, needs reflected in statements from policy agencies, and letters from scholars in the area.

The budget is also a key part of the dissertation funding proposal. Each item will need justification. Often a university research office will provide assistance on breaking down and costing each element of the budget, from the stipend to travel costs to equipment to overhead costs. All cost estimates should be verifiable through a cited reference, such as a reference to federally negotiated overhead rates for overhead costs or a reference to Wall Street Journal page listings of exchange rates for costs of changing money to a foreign currency. The university research office assistance will bring to light costs of which the student may be unaware, or prohibitions on asking for certain items (ex., that the agency will not fund computer purchases). The student is well-advised to take advantage of research office experience and to not prepare his or her budget in isolation.

The reference section of your library will have a selection of print resources relevant to funding your dissertation. Some of the most-used are the Annual Register of Grant Support (R. R. Bowker Data Publishing Group). Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (to locate government agencies receiving grants and contracts on topics relevant to one’s dissertation), the Directory of Research Grants (Oryx Press), the Directory of Grants in the Humanities (Oryx Press), The Foundation Directory (nongovernmental funding sources; see also the Foundation Grants Index and the Source Book Profiles from the Foundation Center), Grants and Fellowships of Interest to Historians (American Historical Association), the Grants Register (St. Martins Press), Guide for Grants and Contracts (National Institutes of Health), the National Directory of Grants and Aid to Individuals in the Arts (Washington International Arts Letter), and the periodical National Science Foundation Bulletin (NSF).

A number of online sources exist to aid in locating dissertation grants. An excellent starting point is the Illinois Researcher Information Service (IRIS), located at http://www.library.uiuc.edu/iris/. This service allows the researcher to search for funding opportunities in every field from agriculture to zoology, or view upcoming deadlines in 25 subject areas. The Foundation Center, located at http://foundationcenter.org/findfunders/ provides a “Grantmaker Search” facility for seeking grants from private foundations. A similar search service for corporate funding is provided at http://foundationcenter.org/findfunders/fundingsources/cgo.html Also note that many professional association home pages have discipline-specific pages listing dissertation funding in their respective areas. For instance, the one for the American Psychology Association is at http://www.apa.org/science/researchfunding.html.

For those with Dialog Information Services access (online but fee-based), Dialog File 85 is Grants, produced by The Oryx Press, which provides information on more than 8,500 available grants offered by federal, state, and local governments, commercial organizations, associations, and private foundations. Each entry includes full description, qualifications, money available, and renewability. Full name, address, and telephone number for each sponsoring organization, if available, are also included. The Grants database corresponds to the print publications Directory of Research Grants, Directory of Biomedical and Health Care Grants, Directory of Grants in the Humanities, Funding Sources for Community and Economic Development, and the forthcoming Funding Sources for K-12 Schools and Educational Organizations. Through Dialog, among other methods, one can also access the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) online. The NTIS database gives access to information on all federal research grants and contracts.

For those with access to the fee-based Community of Science (COS) online grants and contracts information service at http://login.cos.com/. COS is the leading online network for research professionals, providing weekly notification of funding opportunities tailored to the individual based on the researcher filling out a form revealing his or her interests. With detailed user profiles, COS gives researchers personalized access via the web and email to relevant funding information, contact information, and related data, covering all fields of research..

Selected Dissertation Grant Programs

A wide variety of government agencies and foundations support doctoral dissertation research. A selection of these programs is listed below, organized by their respective deadline months (as of 2000, subject to change). Note campus deadlines may be earlier. In general, the grant application effort should begin many months prior to the actual grant deadline. Note that most funding organizations welcome contact with applicants. You can often get a much clearer idea of funding agency priorities and requirements from a direct phone call to a program officer or, better yet, a personal visit. Direct discussion with program officers can alert you to additional funding opportunities you may not have noticed, and will let you know the criteria by which your proposal will be ranked and judged.

January

February

Berlin Program for Advanced German and European Studies, Social Science Research Council, covering dissertation research on German or European affairs

Ethics & Values Studies, National Science Foundation

Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation Dissertation Grants, covering the study of violence and aggression, any discipline

Institute of International Education (IIE) Professional Development Fellowships, for business and economics, law, journalism, public administration and international relations in relaion to East Central European, Baltic, and CIS studies.

IREX developmental fellowships for research in Azarbaijan, the Baltics, Eastern Europe, Georgia, and nations of the former Soviet Union, covering archaeology, anthropology, business, demography, economics, geography, law, musicology, political science, psychology, and sociology. Also in June.

Science and Technology Studies, National Science Foundation

March

American Foundation for Pharmaceutical Education

Hubert Humphrey Doctoral Fellowships in Arms Control, Nonproliferation and Disarmament

Lerner-Gray Fund for Marine Research, American Museum of Natural History

May

Agency for Health Care Policy and Research

Archaeology and Archaeometry, National Science Foundation

Cultural Anthropology, National Science Foundation

Linguistics, National Science Foundation

Physical Anthropology, National Science Foundation

June

July

HUD (Department of Housing and Urban Development) Dissertation Grants

August

Decision, Risk, & Management Science, National Science Foundation

Economics, National Science Foundation

Ethics & Values Studies, National Science Foundation

Law and Social Sciences, National Science Foundation

Political Science, National Science Foundation

Science and Technology Studies, National Science Foundation

September

American Psychological Association dissertation awards.

See http://www.apa.org/science/dissinfo.html

Doctoral Dissertation Awards for Arthritis Health Professionals

October

American Lung Association, Behavioral Science Dissertation Grants

Biological Instrumentation Resources, National Science Foundation

DAAD-Fulbright: dissertation research in Germany, US citizens

Environmental Biology, National Science Foundation

Fulbright-Hays Dissertation Awards, focusing economics, geography, or sociology Not covering Western Europe.

Health Care Finance Administration, Dissertation Fellowship Grants for social science

Integrative Biology and Neuroscience, National Science Foundation

Japan Dissertation Workshop, Social Science Research Council.

Sociology, National Science Foundation

Spencer Dissertation Fellowships Program, in education research

November

Agency for Health Care Policy and Research

American Association of University Women Educational Foundation

American Council of Learned Societies, Fellowships for East European Studies

American Educational Research Association, Minority Fellowships; Also Spencer Fellowships in educational research. Also Dissertation Fellowships in conjunction with the National Science Foundation and the National Center for Education Statistics.

Dunbarton Oaks Junior Fellowships in Byzantine, Pre-Columbian, and Landscape

Architecture Studies

Environmental Protection Agency, Science to Achieve Results Program (STAR). Funds 100 fellowships at Masters and Ph. D. levels in environment-related fields.

Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowships for Minorities, covering behavioral and social sciences, biological sciences, engineering, humanities, mathematics, physical sciences,, and selected interdisciplinary areas.

Getty Center for Education in the Arts, covering art education

Henry Luce Foundation/ACLS Dissertation Fellowship Program in American Art

covering U. S. art history.

National Endowment for the Humanities Dissertation Grants

Social Science Research Council Dissertation Research Fellowships, Underrepresented

Disciplines in Middle Eastern Studies. Focus on social sciences, philosophy, and fine arts.

Social Science Research Council Dissertation Fellowships, Middle East, covering social science and humanities

Social Science Research Council Dissertation Fellowships, South Asia.

Social Science Research Council-MacArthur Dissertation Fellowships on Peace and Security in a Changing World.

United States Institute of Peace, Jennings Randolph Program for International Peace

Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, Women's Studies Dissertation Grants, and Charlotte Newcomb Dissertation Grants in Ethical Studies.

December

American Planning Association Congressional Fellowship Program, covering urban planning and public policy, working with a member of Congress.

Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships, in ethics

Geography and Regional Science, National Science Foundation

Social Science Research Council Dissertation Fellowships for Soviet Union and Its

Successor States. Covering social science and humanities disciplines.

Social Science Research Council Dissertation Fellowship in Sexuality Research

All Year

Carnegie Institution of Washington, Predoctoral Fellows

Selected Dissertation Funding Agencies and Organizations

* American Association of University Women (AAUW) Educational Foundation, P. O. Box 4030, Iowa City, IA 52243-1204; (319) 337-1716. E-mail: fellows@access.digix.net.

* American Council of Learned Societies, Office of Fellowships and Grants, 228 East 45th St., New York, NY 10017-3398. Fax: (212) 949-8058. URL: http://www.acls.org/; e-mail: grants@acls.org.

* American Educational Research Association Minority Fellowships, 1230 17th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036-3078, (202) 233-9485;http://www.aera.net/grantsprogram/

* American Planning Association Scholarships and Fellowships, http://www.planning.org/institutions/scholarship.htm

* Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships, The Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, CN 5281, Princeton, NJ 08543-5281. e-mail: charlotte@woodrow.org. URL: http://www.woodrow.org/newcombe/.

* Environmental Protection Agency STAR Program, http://es.epa.gov/ncer/rfa/

* Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowships, National Research Council Fellowship Office, 2101 Constitution Ave., Washington, DC 20418; (202) 334-2872. e-mail: infofell@nas.edu.

* Fulbright-Hays Doctoral Dissertation Research Abroad Program, U.S. Department of Education, 600 Independence Avenue SW ,Washington, DC 20202-5331; tel. (202) 401-9774

* Fulbright Grants for Graduate Study Abroad, Institute of International Education, U. S. Student Programs Division, 809 United Nations Plaza, New York, NY 10017. URL: http://www.iie.org/fulbright

* Harry Frank Guggenheim Foundation, 527 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022-4304; (212) 644-4907. URL: http://www.hfg.org.

* Health Care Finance Administration, Attn. Marilyn Lewis-Taylor, Office of Internal Customer Support, 7500 Security Boulevard, C2-21-5, Baltimore, MD 21244-1850; (410) 786-6644. E-mail: Mlewistaylor@hfca.gov.

* Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Quadrus. 2400 Sand Hill Road, Menlo Park, CA 94025; tel. 415-854-9400. Funds dissertations in health research.

* Henry Luce Foundation/ACLS Dissertation Fellowships in American Art, American Council of Learned Societies, 228 East 45th St., New York, NY 10017-3398. Fax: (212) 949-8058. URL: http://www.acls.org/jshome.htm. e-mail: grants@acls.org.

* HUD Dissertation Grants, http://www.oup.org/

http://www.businessofgovernment.org/main/apply/index.asp

* Institute of International Education (IIE) Professional Development Fellowships, U. S. Student Programs, Professional Development Fellowship, IIE, 809 UN Plaza, New York, New York 10017-3580; (212) 984-5330. fax: 212-984-5325.

* Inter-American Foundation, Fellowship Programs, Fellowship Office, Inter-American Foundation, P.O. Box 9486, Rosslyn, VA, 22209; Tel. (703) 841-3800.

* Inter-American Foundation Fellowship Programs for Grassroots Development, Program-Dept.555, 901 N. Stuart St., 10th Floor, Arlington, VA 22203.

http://www.iaf.gov

1616 H Street, NW , Washington, DC 20006

; (202) 628-8188. fax: (202) 628-8189. e-mail: irex@irex.org.

http://www.irex.org/programs/grants.asp

* Link Foundation Energy Fellowship Program, Dr. Brian Thompson, Secretary, 200 Administration Building, University of Rochester, Rochester, NY 14627; (716) 275-5931.

* Logistics Education Foundation, http://www.sole.org/lef.asp

* Morris K. Udall and Excellence in National Environmental Policy Program, 2201 N. Dodge St., P. O. Box 4030, Iowa City, IA 52243; (319) 337-1650. fax: (319) 337-1204.

* National Institute of Health. Funding Opportunities http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/funding_program.htm

* National Endowment for the Humanities Dissertation Grants, http://www.neh.gov/

* National Science Foundation funding page , URL: http://www.nsf.gov/funding/

* National Science Foundation Grants for Improving Doctoral Dissertation Research (esp. Anthropology; Decision, Risk and Management Science; Environmental Biology; Integrative Biology and Neuroscience; Geography and Regional Science; Linguistics; Law and Social Sciences; Political Science; Sociology; and Studies in Science, Technology and Society). Contact one of these programs at National Science Foundation, 4202 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA 22230. URL http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5234.

* National Security Education Program (NSEP) Fellowships, Academy for Educational Development, Universal North Building, 1875 Connecticut Ave., NW, Suite 900, Washington DC 20009-1202.

* Social Science Research Council, 810 Seventh Avenue, New York, NY 10019; (212) 337-2700. fax: (212) 377-2727; URL: http://www.ssrc.org.

* Spencer Dissertation Fellowships Program, 900 North Michigan Avenue, Suite 2800, Chicago, IL 60611-1542; (312) 337-7000.

* United States Air Force Office of Scientific Research, tel. 202-767-5021/5022; collins@afosr.af.mil. Focus on the life sciences.

* United States Institute of Peace, Jennings Randolph Program for International Peace, 1200 17th St. NW, Suite 200, Washington, DC 20036-3011; (202) 457-1700. fax: (202) 429-6063. e-mail: jprogram@usip.org. URL: http://www.usip.org/fellows.html.

* Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation, CN 5281, Princeton, NJ 08543-5281. tel. (609) 452-7007; fax: (609) 452-0066.; http://www.woodrow.org

Bibliography

Bauer, G. D. (1988). The ‘how to’ grants manual. Second edition. NY: Macmillan.

Lauffer, A. Grantsmanship. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. A classic in the field.

Leskes, A., ed. (1986). Guide for grants for graduate students. Princeton, NJ: Peterson’s Guides, Inc.

Locke, Lawrence F., Waneen Wyrick Spriduso, and Stephen J. Silverman (1993). Proposals that work: A guide for planning dissertations and grant proposals. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Chapter 8 deals with funding dissertation proposals, including an example from the National Institutes of Health. The last 100 pages of the book contain a wide variety of examples of funding proposals.

Peterson's Grants for Graduate and Post Doctoral Study

Schumacher, D. (1992). Get funded! Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.