Graduate Student Research Grants

CSDP graduate students — Photo credit: Fotobuddy Photography

CSDP reviews grant applications in two semi-annual rounds -- late October and late April.

The FALL 2024 deadline for applications is OCTOBER 31, 2024

CSDP invites CSDP-affiliated graduate students to apply for research funding to support projects relevant to democratic politics. Grant applications will be reviewed by the CSDP Executive Committee and awarded on the basis of scientific merit, feasibility, and likelihood of leading to published research and/or substantial improvement in the student’s doctoral dissertation. There is no formal grant maximum, but the overall pool of grant money is limited and more economical proposals of similar quality will receive preference. In addition, any proposal requesting in excess of $5000 must include documentation of submission to outside agencies or foundations (such as NSF).

Solo grants are available up to two times during the student’s graduate studies at Princeton (any additional co-PI grants are at the discretion of the executive committee). We anticipate that most of these CSDP grants will go to third- and fourth- year graduate students.

The application form will ask you to provide the name of your committee chair or primary adviser, so that CSDP can solicit a note from them that indicates their confidence in the scientific rigor and value of the proposed research project. You should also be prepared to list the members of your committee if known, and any other funding sources to which you've applied or plan to apply for support for this project.

Applications must include:

I. Research proposal (maximum of six double-spaced pages).

a. Statement of the research problem, specific aims, expectations, propositions or hypotheses

b. Short description or link to the most significant literature

c. Preliminary studies by the student, if any (which can show the feasibility of research and/or preliminary findings)

d. Research Plan, including

· Research Design, with an explicit rationale defending choices in the design

· Source of data

· Data analysis plans

e. Brief statement indicating the connection of the project to the dissertation work

II. Proposed budget. Explain how much funding is needed and for what purpose. Identify the source(s) of any other funding that may already be secured or in process.

III. Current CV

IV. Plan for IRB approval. For proposals involving human subjects, approval by the university’s Institutional Review Board (IRB) is required before CSDP will transfer monies or reimburse costs.

V. Appendices (optional). You may include any additional documentation that would support your application, such as a survey instrument.

For research with human subjects, IRB approval must precede any transfer of funds to grantees. For experimental work, along with securing IRB approval, successful applicants must file a pre-analysis plan (now required for any CSDP-sponsored experimental work). Successful applicants will be required to submit to CSDP a brief (no more than one page) statement at the conclusion of the related work, confirming how the grant funds were spent, and summarizing the research methodology and key findings. Grantees should acknowledge support from the Center for the Study of Democratic Politics in subsequent reports and publications.

ONLY CSDP-AFFILIATED GRADUATE STUDENTS ARE ELIGIBLE TO APPLY. CSDP-affiliated graduate students, please apply online using this application.