U.S. Department of Justice announces 2020 Graduate Research Fellowship

Deadline: 15 April 2020

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), National Institute of Justice (NIJ) is seeking applications for funding innovative doctoral dissertation research that is relevant to preventing and controlling crime, and ensuring the fair and impartial administration of criminal justice in the United States.

The Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) program provides grants to accredited academic institutions to support outstanding doctoral students whose dissertation research is relevant to criminal justice.

The ultimate goal of this solicitation is to increase the pool of researchers who are engaged in providing solutions to problems relevant to criminal justice policy and practice in the United States. Through the GRF program, NIJ supports research by promising doctoral students as they train to become the creators of future innovation. This is consistent with National research and development (R&D) priority practices:

Educating and Training a Workforce for the 21st Century Economy: The training of the American workforce, a critical component of maintaining American competitiveness, is a national priority. This program supports the training of young scientists capable of meeting future science and technology workforce demands. NIJ’s GRF program seeks to engage these emerging researchers to help meet the needs of America’s criminal justice practitioners, while simultaneously developing their skills to contribute broadly to America’s R&D enterprise

Deliverables

Recipients of awards made under this solicitation will be required to deliver annual and final progress reports, and quarterly financial reports, to NIJ by specified deadlines. The final deliverables for awards under this solicitation are:

An official signed copy of the doctoral student’s defended dissertation, and
A list of scholarly products resulting from the dissertation research, as well as products developed for broad dissemination to informal audiences.

Areas

Proposals addressing one or more of the following seven areas are particularly encouraged:

Reducing and preventing violent crime;
Addressing drug trafficking, drug markets, and drug-related violence;
Promoting law enforcement officer safety, health, and wellness;
Rescuing and restoring crime victims;
Securing nation’s borders;
Enhancing law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, and
Investigating psychopathological, physiological, or biological correlates to offending behaviors and/or victimization.

Funding Information

Estimated maximum dollar amount for each award: $150,000;
Total amount anticipated to be awarded under solicitation: Up to $3,000,000;
Period of performance duration: Awards will be made for periods of performance of upto five years, while providing up-to three years’ worth of funding within that period.

Eligibility Criteria

Eligible applicants are degree-granting academic institutions in the United States and its territories.
To be eligible, the institution must be fully accredited by one of the regional institutional accreditation agencies recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education.
Under this solicitation, the applicant institution must apply as the sponsoring institution for the doctoral candidate conducting dissertation research relevant to NIJ’s criminal justice mission.
All recipients and subrecipients (including any for-profit organization) must forgo any profit or management fee.
An applicant may submit more than one application under this solicitation, but each application must propose sponsoring a different doctoral candidate’s dissertation research.
The graduate student must:
- Be currently enrolled full-time in a doctoral degree program in the sciences or engineering at the eligible academic institution; and
- Propose a dissertation research topic that is relevant to addressing the challenges of crime, and/or the fair and impartial administration of criminal justice, in the United States
The doctoral student need not have a dissertation committee at the time the application is submitted, nor is it necessary for the student’s dissertation topic to have been accepted by the committee. However, if the application is selected for award, grant funds will be withheld until the applicant academic institution submits proof that the student’s dissertation topic has been accepted by the committee, and that it is substantively the same as that proposed in the application.
Applicant academic institutions are eligible to apply only if:
- The student is currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program in the sciences or engineering; and
- The student’s proposed dissertation research has demonstrable relevance to preventing and controlling crime, and/or ensuring the fair and impartial administration of criminal justice, in the United States.