The Spencer Foundation offers major research grants to support educational research projects that will contribute to the improvement of education.

This programme is 'field-initiated', meaning that proposals are not submitted in response to a specific demand for a particular research topic, discipline, design or method. The aim of the programme is to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious and technically sound research that addresses the most pressing questions and exciting opportunities in education. They seek to support research that develops new fundamental knowledge that can have a lasting impact on educational discourse.

This programme supports proposals researchers at various stages of their careers, both at home and abroad, from disciplinary and methodological perspectives. They anticipate that proposals will cover a wide range of topics and disciplines that innovatively investigate issues central to education, including, for example, education, anthropology, philosophy, psychology, sociology, law, economics, history or neuroscience, among others.

Information on funding

• The total budget for major research grants is expected to be between 125,000 $ and 500,000 $, including up to 15 % of indirect costs.
• They will propose funding at the following levels: 125,000 $ to 250,000 $; 250,001 $ to 375,000 $; and 375,001 $ to 500,000 $. They will distribute their subsidies between these three levels.
• They strongly encourage applicants to take this into account when drawing up their project budgets and not to settle for the highest budget category.
• The projects proposed may not be for more than 5 years.
• Note on funding levels : They recognise that applicants are often encouraged to apply for the highest levels and amounts of funding. However, in the case of the large grants Spencer, they prefer budgets to be well matched to the design of the project. In previous rounds, the first tier has been the most competitive bidding group, while proposals submitted at lower levels had a better chance of being funded. They encourage researchers to think about which level of funding best suits their project and design.

Eligibility criteria

• Proposals submitted to the Education Research Grants program must be for academic research projects that study education. Proposals for non-research activities are not eligible (e.g., program evaluations, professional development, curriculum development, scholarships, capital projects). In addition, proposals for research studies in areas other than education are not eligible. eligible.
• Principal Investigators and Co-Principal Investigators applying for a Major Educational Research Grant must hold a doctorate in an academic discipline or professional field, or have appropriate experience in a profession related to educational research. Although graduate students may be part of the research team, they may not be named as principal investigators or co-principal investigators in the proposal.
• The principal investigator must be affiliated with a not-for-profit organization or a public or government institution that is willing to act as the administering body if the grant is awarded. The Spencer Foundation does not make grants directly to individuals. Examples include public or nonprofit colleges, universities, school districts and research facilities, as well as other nonprofit organizations with an IRS 501(c)(3) determination (or equivalent nonprofit status if the organization is located outside the United States).
• Proposals are accepted from the United States and abroad, but all proposals must be submitted in English and budgets must be proposed in US dollars.
• Principal Investigators and Co-Principal Investigators may hold only one Spencer Foundation Active Research Grant at any one time. (This restriction does not apply to the administering organization; organizations may submit as many proposals as they wish, provided they are for different projects and have different research teams).
• Principal Investigators and Co-Principal Investigators may not submit more than one research proposal at a time to the Spencer Foundation. This restriction applies to the Small Grants Programme, the Large Grants Programme, the Racial Equity Research Grants Programme and the Research-Practice Partnership Programme.
• If the principal investigator or one of the co-principal investigators currently has a research proposal under consideration in one or other of these programmes, he or she must wait until a final decision has been made on the pending proposal before being able to submit a new proposal.

For more information, visit the The Spencer Foundation.