Applying for grants can often be a confusing and even frustrating process. Too often, grant seekers feel like they spend hours and hours putting together a meticulously crafted proposal, only to submit that proposal into what feels like a black box to then wait for weeks or even months to learn if they will be receiving the funds they need. As part of the Centennial Center’s work to serve APSA’s members in the most transparent and equitable way possible, we have put together this grant guide to shine a light on how the Center approaches its grantmaking in the hopes that this will make the process less mystifying and intimidating to prospective applicants. Grantmaking is at the core of what the Centennial Center does, and it is our hope that this guide will encourage APSA’s members to take advantage of the opportunities for reaching funding we offer.
Below you will find a quick overview of each of our annual grant programs. Each grant overview provides a brief description of the purpose of the grant, the maximum amount of money we offer for each award, application data from 2021, and the questions we ask each reviewer.
We have also prepared a list of answers to frequently asked questions, which you can find here.
Brief Description: Growing Democracy grants support community-based programming led by political scientists that aims to bridge the boundaries between academia and community and break down the barriers between residents and governing institutions.
Grant Amount: Up to $10,000
Number of applicants in 2021: 14
Number of grants awarded in 2021: 2 (14% acceptance rate)
Questions we ask our reviewers:
- Does the proposed work address pressing real world problems with the aim of advancing the public good?
- Does the proposed work bring together experts with divergent ideological perspectives and/or methodological approaches?
- Does the proposed work address topics on which political scientists have something distinctive to offer and will findings be shared with policy makers?
Research Partnerships on Critical Issues (RPCI)
Brief Description: APSA’s Research Partnerships on Critical Issues program provides grants to diverse groups political scientists from different methodological and ideological backgrounds for collaborative, research-based projects aimed at advancing the public good.
Grant Amount: Up to $20,000
Number of applicants in 2021: 3
Number of grants awarded in 2021: 1 (33% acceptance rate)
Questions we ask our reviewers:
- Does this project address pressing real world problems with aim of advancing the public good?
- Does this project bring together experts with divergent ideological orientations, perspectives, and/or methodological priors to deepen our understanding and suggest ways forward on areas where debate is stagnant and/or polarized?
- Does this project include a feasible plan for the researchers to share their research and findings with policy makers, stakeholders, and the general public.
- Does this project address topics on which political scientists have something distinctive to offer?
Peer-to-Peer Pedagogical Partnerships (P4)
Brief Description: APSA seeks proposals from members for projects that will bring together political science from research-intensive institutions and teaching-intensive institutions, including community colleges, to share expertise and produce cutting-edge teaching resources. These partnerships can be between scholars in a similar geographic area or from across the nation or world via Zoom.
Grant Amount: Up to $20,000
Number of applicants in 2021: 2
Number of grants awarded in 2021: 1 (50% acceptance rate)
Questions we ask our reviewers:
- Does the proposed work create partnerships among colleagues at different kinds of higher education institutions?
- Does the proposed work support colleagues in generating cutting-edge teaching materials highlighting best practices and/or innovative methods and current research?
- Does the proposed work assist faculty at more research-intensive institutions in teaching and mentoring first-generation, under-represented minority, and economically disadvantaged students?
- Does the proposed work enable colleagues at more teaching-intensive institutions to teach materials that they would not otherwise have the time or inclination to teach?
Spring Centennial Center Research Grants (CCRG)
Brief Description: Supports research in all fields of political science conducted by political scientists in non-tenure track or contingent positions who are ineligible for departmental funding; political science faculty of all ranks who are employed in departments that do not grant PhDs; and graduate students.
Grant Amount: Up to $2,500
Number of applicants in 2021: 70
Number of grants awarded in 2021: 17 (24% acceptance rate)
Questions we ask our reviewers:
- To what extent do the proposed research activities suggest and explore creative, original, under-studied or potentially transformative topics?
- Does the proposed work contribute to existing scholarship?
- Is the plan for carrying out the proposed activities well-reasoned, well-organized, and based on a sound rationale?
- How well-qualified is the individual or team to conduct the proposed activities?
Summer Centennial Center Research Grants (CCRG)
Brief Description: Summer Centennial Center Research Grants are open to all APSA members. Grants are supported by a set of endowed funds, ten of which are managed by the Centennial Center for the purpose of supporting specific areas of research ranging. The full descriptions of these funds can be found on the Centennial Center’s website. The summer application deadline also offers a limited number of grants for mini-conferences, workshops, and other collaborative projects.
Grant Amount: Individual projects up to $2,500 and collaborative projects up to $10,000
Number of applicants in 2021: 150
Number of grants awarded in 2021: 41 (27% acceptance rate)
Questions we ask our reviewers:
- To what extent do the proposed research activities suggest and explore creative, original, under-studied or potentially transformative topics?
- Does the proposed work contribute to existing scholarship?
- Is the plan for carrying out the proposed activities well-reasoned, well-organized, and based on a sound rationale?
- How well-qualified is the individual or team to conduct the proposed activities?