2023 Racial Equity Research Grants

Eligibility

• Proposals to the Racial Equity Research Grants program must be for academic research projects that will contribute to understanding and ameliorating racial inequality in education, broadly conceived. Proposals for activities other than research are not eligible (e.g., program evaluations, professional development, curriculum development, scholarships, capital projects). Additionally, proposals for research studies focused on areas other than education are not eligible.
• Principal Investigators (PIs) and Co-PIs applying for a Racial Equity Research 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 research team, they may not be named the PI or Co-PI on the proposal.
• 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 non-profit 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.

Restrictions

• Proposed budgets for this program are limited to $75,000 total and may not include indirect cost charges per Spencer’s policy.
• Projects proposed may not be longer than 5 years in duration.
• PIs and Co-PIs may not submit more than one application for a given deadline in this program.  Additionally, PIs or Co-PIs cannot have two projects under review in different programs.

Summary

The Spencer Foundation's 2023 Racial Equity Research Grants program supports education research projects that will contribute to understanding and ameliorating racial inequality in education. The Spencer Foundation is interested in funding studies that aim to understand and disrupt the reproduction and deepening of inequality in education, and which seek to (re)imagine and make new forms of equitable education. Thus, this program supports research projects that seek to envision educational opportunities in a multiplicity of education systems, levels, settings, and developmental ranges and that reach beyond documenting conditions and paradigms that contribute to persistent racial inequalities.

The Spencer Foundation's goal for this program is to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious, and technically sound research that is relevant to the most pressing questions and compelling opportunities in relation to racial equity in education. The foundation encourages proposals from across the methodological spectrum, including qualitative methods, mixed-methods, and quantitative methods. Additionally, Spencer Foundation especially encourages proposals that utilize QuantCrit methods, social network analysis, geo-spatial mapping, and other quantitative methods that use critical lenses.

As with other Spencer grant programs, this program is “field-initiated” in that proposal submissions are not required to be developed around a particular research topic, discipline, design, method, or geographic location. Spencer Foundation will be accepting applications for projects ranging from one to five years with budgets up to $75,000.

Application Process

The application process begins with an Intent to Apply form.  Once submitted, you will automatically have access to the Full Proposal application in our online portal. Intent to Apply forms are due by 12:00pm Noon Central time, North America on the deadline date.

Intent to Apply Guidelines

The Intent to Apply form must be submitted through an online application form following the guidelines below before you are given access to the full proposal application. If you (the PI) have never accessed the Spencer Foundation online portal, you must register and create a profile at https://spencer.smartsimple.us.  Follow the guidelines on the registration page to create your profile. To fill out the Intent to Apply form, go to your Workbench and click the Apply button for the Racial Equity Research Grants program. Once you have completed the form, click the Submit button at the bottom of the page. You’ll now have access to the Full Proposal application form on your Workbench. Note: You must complete an Intent to Apply form by 12:00pm Central Time on May 16, 2023 if you intend to submit a Full Proposal for the upcoming review cycle.

Full Proposal Guidelines

Once your Intent to Apply form has been submitted, you will automatically have access to the Full Proposal application on your Workbench. Within the online application, there are detailed guidelines for each section. Note: The Full Proposal application requires a Signature from Authorized Representative of the Administering Organization. To obtain this, you must submit a copy of your application through RMS for review and approval by the RSO Final Internal Review Deadline of 12:00pm MT, June 9, 2023.

Overhead

Not applicable per Spencer’s policy.

Application deadlines

RSO detailed review deadline

RSO final internal review deadline

Program application deadline

Application deadlines

Intent to Apply (Non-Competitive)

NOTE: Consult your Faculty Associate Dean (Research) (ADR) regarding Faculty-specific deadlines and submission processes.

Principal Investigators: Complete a Research Management System (RMS) record, including a copy of your complete application, and submit this for approvals in RMS.

Postdocs, students, and trainees: For fellowships and externally-sponsored research training awards or opportunities, you must complete the Research Funding Application Approval (RFAA) Trainee PDF form, and submit it, along with a complete copy of the application, to Research Services at rsogrants@ucalgary.ca. Trainees should not use RMS at this time.

Approvals: The University of Calgary requires that all funding applications be approved prior to submission. Approval requires signatures via either RMS or the RFAA Trainee form, in the following order:

• Principal Investigator
• Department Head
• Faculty ADR/Dean
• Research Services (on behalf of the Vice-President Research)

Read the Meaning of Grant Signatures policy to understand what your approval means. Please see the agency guidelines for details about which signatures are required on your application, as it may differ from internal requirements.

Late submissions: Late submissions will only be accepted in cases of medical or family emergencies, or other exceptional circumstances. If you submit your RMS record to Research Services after the internal deadline has passed, you must secure additional approvals. Please read: Late Applications Process.

Resources

Program Details

Application Portal