Deadline: 27-Mar-23
The National Endowment for the Arts is inviting applications for NEA Research Labs Program funds transdisciplinary research teams grounded in the social and behavioral sciences, yielding empirical insights about the arts for the benefit of arts and non-arts sectors alike.
The NEA Research Labs program offers grant funding for longer-term research agendas. These agendas will include multiple research studies and activities that build and inform the field throughout the life of an NEA Research Lab. Applicants seeking grant funding for a specific and discrete research study should refer to the Research Grants in the Arts program guidelines.
Funding Information
- Grants will range from $100,000 to $150,000, based on the availability of funding.
- Period of Performance
- Their support of a project may start on or after January 1, 2024. The period of performance is a minimum of 12 months and a maximum of 24 months. An awardee may not receive more than one NEA award for the same activities during the same period of performance.
Projects and Research Methods
- As in previous years, they welcome applications from diverse research fields (e.g., economics; psychology; education; sociology; medicine, health, and therapy; communications; business administration; urban and regional planning). They expect their total awards portfolio to be diverse in terms of geographical distribution, the artistic and research fields or disciplines involved, and the research topics proposed. They also expect their portfolio to reflect an array of study design characteristics.
- Accordingly, applicants may propose research projects drawing from a range of study design types. In recent years, the NEA has supported a growing cohort of studies that hypothesize a cause-effect relationship between the arts and key outcomes of interest (e.g., in health, education, or the economy). For projects seeking to explore causal claims about the arts, experimental approaches (e.g., randomized controlled trials) are generally preferred. Where experimental approaches are not feasible, then high-quality, quasi-experimental design studies offer an attractive alternative for impact studies about the arts.
- In many cases, however, other or different study design characteristics will be preferable. These designs may include, but are not limited to, case studies, complex surveys, mixed methods, and meta-analyses. In particular, they encourage community-based participatory research approaches where warranted by the research objective. Program evaluations also are eligible for funding.
- The NEA research agenda states that, through such awards, the agency will “incentivize the creation of practitioner tools grounded in research.” In keeping with this aim, they especially welcome translational research that moves scientific evidence toward the development, testing, and standardization of new arts-related programs, practices, models, or tools that can be used easily by other practitioners and researchers. This function is especially important to NEA Research Labs, which should be prepared to contribute products and services not only for the research community but for practitioners in the arts and other sectors.
NEA Research Lab Project Activities
- Choose one of the following research areas in which to develop and refine a multiyear research agenda. For detailed descriptions of NEA priority topics and related sample questions, applicants are directed to NEA’s own research agenda for FY 2022-2026.
- Measuring the Impacts of the Arts:
- On U.S. Economic Growth, and/or Innovation
- On Cognition and Learning
- On Health and Wellness for Individuals
- Monitoring and Improving Systems:
- Community Health and/or Revitalization
- Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in the Arts
- Other Aspects of the Arts Ecology.
Eligibility Criteria
- The official applicant must be an organization with research and policy as a principal focus for its core components, either as the primary work or as part of a transdisciplinary mission. Eligible official applicants are:
- U.S. institutions of higher education, or
- Nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c)(3), U.S. organizations with a three-year history of commissioning and conducting research in the behavioral or social sciences, and communicating research findings and policy implications through reports and/or convenings, at the time of application.
- NEA Research Labs require a partnership that involves multiple organizations. One organization that meets the eligibility requirements must act as the official applicant, submit the application, and assume full responsibility for the grant. Partnering organizations are not required to meet the eligibility requirements.
- To be eligible, the applicant organization must:
- Meet the NEA’s “Legal Requirements” at the time of application. (All organizations must apply directly on their own behalf. Applications through a fiscal sponsor/agent are not allowed. See more information on fiscal sponsors/agents.)
- Eligible organizations that received American Rescue Plan (ARP) or CARES Act funding may apply to this program as long as there are no overlapping costs during the same grant period.
- All applicants must have a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI), be registered with the System for Award Management and maintain an active SAM registration until the application process is complete, and should an award be made, throughout the life of the award.
For more information, visit NEA.