The Centennial Center offers thirteen grants to assist APSA members with the costs of research. The typical Centennial Center grant for an individual scholar is between $1,000 and $2,500, but awards can reach a maximum size of $10,000 for workshops, events, or projects that more broadly support or advance the discipline.
Examples of supported activities include:
- Research, including travel, interviews, access to archives, or costs for a research assistant.
- Auxiliary devices or services uniquely necessary for scholars with disabilities to conduct their research.
- Assisting scholars in publishing their research, including holding manuscript workshops.
- Workshops, events, or projects that support or advance the discipline. These can be but do not need to be centered around producing traditional research and can include mini-conferences, methods training workshops, mentoring and professional development opportunities, programming related to teaching or public engagement, and more.
Each grant fund has a unique set of aims, including supporting international scholarship,
electoral scholarship, and scholarship on race and gender. See below for detailed information
about individual grant aims.
Supports general professional opportunity grants, including research and teaching affiliated with the Centennial Center.
The Artinian Fund supports programs that encourage and assist early career scholars in publishing their research. To learn more visit our Artinian Fund page.
Supports international scholarship, especially in Asia.
Supports the global study of political life and the internationalization of the political science discipline.
Supports research on diversity, cultural nationalism, African-American voting behavior, education policy, or urban and minority policy and politics.
The Steiger Fund enables Congressional Fellowship Program alumni to extend their stays in Washington for research. It also supports scholarly research in any aspect of domestic or international legislative politics.
Supports research on the intersection of gender, race, ethnicity, and political power.
Supports scholars conducting work on the presidency, and whose work brings them to Washington, D.C. to examine executive politics.
The Miller Fund supports research in national and comparative electoral politics.
Supports scholarship in the field of women and politics.
The Volcker Fund promotes and supports excellence in research and theory on public administration issues affecting governance in the United States and abroad. This award is administered by the Organized Section for Public Administration. For more information, visit their website.
The Ostrom Fund supports the Association’s promotion of democratic engagement;
efforts to advance understanding of self-governing systems; the possibilities of moving from
authoritarian to democratic systems; and the critical role of citizens in a democratic polity. Grants can support training seminars, publications, outreach activities, and research.
This fund supports Latino/a graduate study as well as Latino/a scholarship, research, and activities that advance our knowledge of Latino/a politics. Additionally, the fund is used to support Latino/a junior faculty. The Fund for Latino Scholarship is administered by the Latino Caucus in Political Science/Sector Latino de Ciencia Politica. If you are interested in seeking funding from this fund, please contact latinofund@apsanet.orgfor more information.
How to apply:
With a single application, you can apply for support from all of our Centennial Center Funds. Applications require the following materials (see our application form for more details):
- Abstract (maximum 1 page, 12 pt Times New Roman font, double spaced)
- Project Statement (maximum 5 pages, 12 pt Times New Roman font, double spaced). Should include: a description of the topic and the value/contribution of the proposed study; a summary of the basic ideas and hypotheses; the methodology to be used; the present status of your research; the relevance of your grant application to the grant fund(s) selected; and the materials that will be used.
- Budget (1 page maximum in spreadsheet, list, or table format)
- ONLY For graduate students and funding requests over $5000 – two (and no more than two) letters of recommendation submitted via this form.
Applications due June 15th and December 15th every year
We highly recommend that you apply widely and that you consider how your project might relate to multiple funds. Applicants are encouraged to note in their project proposal how their work might speak to the focus of multiple funds. For example, you may consider your project to be focused on gender and politics, but your work may draw on, build on, or have implications for legislative studies. You should identify and explain all of these ties and select all relevant funds in your application form. For further advice for preparing your grant application visit our tips page.
Who Can Apply:
All APSA members, including undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty, are
encouraged to apply for Centennial Center Research Grants. APSA members from departments that do not grant PhDs, and/or who are contingent faculty who do not qualify for institutional support, are also encouraged to apply to APSA’s Small Research Grant Program, which supports faculty in BA and terminal-MA granting departments. Learn more about the small research grant program here.
Please note that grants are not able to support previously conducted research and must be requested for work that is yet-to-be completed at the time of application.