Deadline: 5-May-22
The Spencer Foundation is pleased to announce a funding call for the Conference Grants Program to provide support to scholars to organize small research conferences, focused symposia, or other forms of convenings around important issues in education research.
This program is intended to bring together researchers, community members, practitioners, policymakers, and other important collaborators whose expertise, substantive knowledge and practice, theoretical insight, or methodological expertise can be engaged in ways that help to build upon and advance education research.
The Foundation encourages applicants to think creatively about how convenings can expand the understanding of research methods and how new innovative research methods can impact educational research that is grounded in advancing racial equity.
Funding Information
This grant program supports proposals with budgets of $50,000 or less.
Conference Structure and Participants
- The proposal should be explicit in describing the structure of the convening, the pedagogical or facilitative approaches, and the rationale for how these components work toward achieving the stated goals. By structure, they mean a description of how and why the convening is organized in a particular way, including the specific framework(s) to be used. By a pedagogical approach, they mean a clear plan for participation structures that highlight and showcase how participants will be engaged.
- They encourage applicants to consider ways of learning from the substantive theoretical, epistemological, axiological, and methodological expertise of participants. While not a requirement, successful proposals in previous rounds have also included attendees outside of the academy such as teachers, policymakers, families, artists, or journalists if the convening called for such expertise.
Eligibility Criteria
- Proposals to the Conference Grant program must be for small research conferences, focused symposia, or convenings that will explore understanding of research methods and how new innovative research methods can impact educational research that is grounded in advancing racial equity as specified in the Program Statement.
- Principal Investigators (PIs) and Co-PIs applying for a Conference grant must have an earned doctorate in an academic discipline or professional field, or appropriate experience in an education research-related profession. While graduate students may be part of the proposal, they may not be named the PI or Co-PI.
- The PI must be affiliated with a non-profit organization or public/governmental institution that is willing to serve as the administering organization if the grant is awarded. The Spencer Foundation does not award grants directly to individuals. Examples include non-profit or public colleges, universities, school districts, and research facilities, as well as other non-profit organizations with a 501(c)(3) determination from the IRS (or equivalent nonprofit status if the organization is outside of the United States).
- Proposals are accepted from the U.S. and internationally, however all proposals must be submitted in English and budgets must be proposed in U.S. Dollars.
For more information, visit https://www.spencer.org/grant_types/conference-grants