The Washington Center for Equitable Growth seeks to invest in early career scholars whose research agendas are policy relevant, related to how inequality affects economic growth, and who are interested in engaging with nonacademic audiences.
Donor Name: Washington Center for Equitable Growth
State: All States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 01/21/2025
Size of the Grant: $10,000 to $100,000
Grant Duration: 2 Years
Details:
Social scientists and research can play a powerful role in shaping policy. Grantees will have the opportunity to participate in trainings and receive assistance in translating research findings for nonacademic audiences and identifying policy-relevant research questions. The goal is to help equip an academic network with the necessary skills and opportunities to shape public debates and policy outcomes, including via temporary government service.
Early Career grants and the grantee resources that accompany them are intended to support early career scholars looking to advance their academic careers, as well as engage with nonacademic audiences. They are particularly interested in scholars who, as their career progresses, are willing and able to engage with media and policymakers on their research.
Research funded in response to this Request for Proposals will have the potential to generate actionable insights. This includes research that illuminates the policies that help or hinder more equitable growth in the United States, as well as research that identifies the need for a policy response. Equitable Growth takes an expansive view of policy, encompassing legislation, investments, regulations, standards, and oversight, among others.
Funding Priorities
- Early Career grants are intended to provide support to scholars. Therefore, the relevance—to Equitable Growth and to policy—of applicants’ overall research agenda, as described in the personal statement, is weighted equally to the relevance and strength of the proposal itself.
- Inequality and growth is a very large space, so they have had to make some tough decisions about what falls within the funding interests. Research on K–12 education, health, immigration, trade, financial literacy, and the criminal legal system fall outside of Equitable Growth’s funding priorities and are unlikely to advance, given the limited funding. Research using non-U.S. data or a non U.S. context will only be considered if the findings are applicable to domestic policymaking.
- The organization has identified the following broad areas of research as its primary interests:
- Macroeconomic growth
- Fiscal policy
- Labor market
- Human capital and well-being
- Economic mobility
- Market structure.
Funding Information
Graduate student grants are set at $15,000 over one year. Early career scholar grants are set at $30,000 over one to two years, depending on the timeline of the research project.
Eligibility Criteria
- This request for proposals is open to:
- Graduate students currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program at a U.S. college or university who are in the dissertation stage of their graduate career
- Early career scholars at a U.S. college or university whose Ph.D. was issued within the past 8 years. If you have received tenure, you are not eligible for an Early Career grant.
- Graduate student grants are typically administered directly to the student. International students at U.S. universities are eligible to apply, though if awarded, the grant would likely need to be administered through the university. International students are advised to communicate their intention to apply with their institution to ensure adherence to institutional protocol if funded.
For more information, visit WCEG.
