The Spencer Foundation supports high-quality, innovative research on education, broadly conceived. The goal of their research grants is to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious and technically sound research that is relevant to the most pressing questions and compelling opportunities in education. They value work that fosters creative and open-minded scholarship, engages in deep inquiry, and examines robust questions related to education. They seek to support scholarship that develops new foundational knowledge that may also have a lasting impact on policy-making, practice, or educational discourse.
Small Research Grants on Education support education research projects that will contribute to the improvement of education, broadly conceived. This program is “field-initiated” in that proposal submissions are not in response to a specific request for a particular research topic, discipline, design, method, or location. The 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 education.
Amount: up to $50,000 for projects ranging from one to five years.
Applications accepted three times per year.
Next Cycle:
Application opens: early October 2023
Full Proposal deadline: early December 2023
Large Research Grants on Education support education research projects that will contribute to the improvement of education, broadly conceived. This program is “field-initiated” in that proposal submissions are not in response to a specific request for a particular research topic, discipline, design, method, or location. The 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 education.
Amount: $125,000 to $500,000 for projects ranging from one to five years (funding tiers — $125,000 to 250,000; $250,001 to $375,000; and $375,001 to $500,000)
Intent to Apply forms are accepted twice a year.
Next Cycle:
Application opens: early December 2023
Intent to Apply deadline: late January 2024
Full Proposal deadline: late February 2024
Vision Grants fund the collaborative planning of innovative, methodologically diverse, interdisciplinary research on education that contributes to transforming education systems for equity. Vision Grants are research planning grants to bring together a team, for 6 to 12 months, to collaboratively develop ambitious, large-scale research projects focused on transforming educational systems toward greater equity. This program takes as core that visionary, interdisciplinary, and collaborative research projects require time, space, and thoughtfulness to incubate and plan. The proposal does not yet need to be a fully fleshed out research plan. Proposals are identifying a research topic, scope for impact, process and a team that will lead to a fully fleshed out research plan by the end of the grant period.
Amount: up to $75,000 total
Two cycles of this grant program are held annually.
Next Cycle:
Application opens: early December 2023
Intent to Apply deadline: early February 2024
Full Proposal deadline: mid March 2024
Racial Equity Research Grants support education research projects that will contribute to understanding and ameliorating racial inequality in education. The 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. They are interested in 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.
Research-Practice Partnership Grants (RPP) support education research projects that engage in collaborative and participatory partnerships. Partnerships are an important approach to knowledge generation and the improvement of education, broadly construed. Over the long term, the foundation anticipates that research conducted by RPPs will result in new insights into the processes, practices, and policies that improve education for learners, educators, families, communities, and institutions where learning and teaching happen (e.g., schools, universities, museums, other workplaces).
Amount: up to $400,000 for up to three years.
Intent to Apply forms accepted once a year.
Next Cycle:
Application opens: mid September 2023
Intent to Apply deadline: late October 2023
Full Proposal deadline: late November 2023
Eligibility: Applicants must hold an eligible academic research appointment at Western. Proposals are accepted from the U.S. and internationally.
Applications: Full Applications are to be processed through Western Research and are to be accompanied by a completed ROLA. More information, applications and instructions are available through the Foundation’s website.
Please contact Karen Kueneman if you intend to apply.
