University at Buffalo Libraries

Funding Sources for Research Scholars

NOTE: This guide is intended to provide information on possible sources of funding for the research projects of Law School faculty. While a comprehensive list of such sources would be beyond the scope of this guide, the selected programs on this list represent a broad cross-section of available funding. The “Additional Resources” section at the end of the guide provides suggestions for further investigation. Please send any desired program additions to Joe Gerken.

• All Social Sciences/General
• Criminal Law/Justice
• Education
• Ethics/Professional Responsibility
• Humanities
• International Programs
• Public Affairs/Policy
• Additional Resources

All Social Sciences/General

http://www.acls.org/grants/Default.aspx?id=380

• Description: "research applications in all disciplines of the humanities and humanities-related social sciences", including legal studies
• Eligibility: U.S. citizen or permanent resident with Ph.D. conferred at least two years before the application deadline, with a lapse of at least two years since prior "supported research leave"
• Duration: "six to twelve consecutive months devoted to full-time research" (July-February)
• Amount: $60,000 (full Professor) / $40,000 (Associate Professor) / $35 ,000 (Assistant Professor)
• Deadline: late September/early October

http://www.acls.org/grants/Default.aspx?id=408

• Description: "fellowships [to] support advanced assistant professors and untenured associate professors in the humanities and related social sciences whose scholarly contributions have advanced their fields and who have well designed and carefully developed plans for new research";
• Availability: "tenure-track assistant professors and untenured associate professors… whose tenure review will not be complete before February 1"
• Duration: "academic year of research (9 months), plus an additional summer's research (2 months) if justified"; research may be divided over a three-year period
• Amount: "$64,000, plus $2,500 for research and travel, and the possibility of an additional summer's support"
• Deadline: late September/early October

http://www.law.gwu.edu/Academics/FocusAreas/IP/Pages/IP_Fellowship.aspx

• Description: "designed for persons who are interested in pursuing an academic career in some area of intellectual property law"
• Availability: applicants must possess a law degree
• Duration: two year appointment
• Amount: $60,000/year
• Deadline: every two years, mid-January

http://www.law.upenn.edu/cf/faculty/fellowships/

• Description: fellowships "to encourage scholars who plan to enter legal academia"
• Availability: "applicants must have earned a law degree or Ph.D equivalent in a related field and should not yet have held a full-time tenure track legal academic appointment"
• Duration: "two years of research, writing, and teaching"
• Amount: not specified
• Deadline: late January

http://www.bioethicsinstitute.org/web/page/408/sectionid/378/pagelevel/2/interior.asp

• Description: "an unparalleled opportunity for fellowship and faculty development training in bioethics and health policy"
• Availability: intended for people at an early stage in their career; most past fellows have doctoral degrees in medicine, philosophy, or law; other fellows have had doctoral degrees in public health, biomedical sciences, religious studies, social sciences, nursing or a related field
• Duration: two years
• Amount: $118,450 (total financial package) for two years
• Deadline: philosophy – December 1; all other disciplines – rolling basis

http://www.law.uchicago.edu/node/987

• Description: "provides an opportunity for fellows to further their research and to participate in the day-to-day opportunities of the Law School and the University"
• Availability: not specified
• Duration: terms of recent fellowships have spanned from one semester to two academic years
• Amount: not specified
• Deadline: not specified

http://www.fed-soc.org/aboutus/id.526/default.asp

• Description: funding for "original research that improves our understanding of how the legal environment, understood broadly to include areas of law beyond intellectual property protection, promotes or hinders innovative activity"
• Availability: applicant "must be a tenure-track faculty member at a law school" and "[s]pecial consideration will be given to applicants in the second to fifth years of their teaching careers."
• Duration: one semester
• Amount: stipend comparable to applicant's salary for one semester
• Deadline: September 15

http://lawweb.usc.edu/centers/scip/grants.cfm

• Description: funding for "original research that improves our understanding of how the legal environment, understood broadly to include areas of law beyond intellectual property protection, promotes or hinders innovative activity"
• Availability: not specified
• Duration: applicants are "expected to produce a publishable paper within one year of acceptance of the award"
• Amount: up to $20,000
• Deadline: late January

Criminal Law/Justice

http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/sl000837.pdf

• Description: grants for "proposals to replicate findings from previous research or to conduct original research using data from the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data"
• Availability: applicants "should be able to demonstrate awareness of the state of current research, soundness of methodology and technical approach, as well as potential for significant advances both in the field and in scientific understanding of the problem"
• Duration: typically 12 months
• Amount: Up to $35,000
• Deadline: January 21

http://www.soros.org/initiatives/usprograms/focus/justice/programs/justice_fellows

• Description: funding for outstanding individuals to implement innovative projects that advance OSI efforts to reform the U.S. criminal justice system.
• Availability: "outstanding individuals - including lawyers, advocates, grassroots organizers, and activist academics" who will "initiate innovative policy advocacy projects at the local, state, and national levels that will have a measurable impact on one or more of OSI's U.S. criminal justice reform priorities;" Track I is intended for "new and emerging leaders" with at least two years of relevant advocacy experience while Track II is designed for "individuals with a demonstrated record of achievement and expertise in their fields" and ten years relevant experience in their field
• Duration: 18 months
• Amount: $69,750 (Track I) / $79,500 (Track II); additional insurance and professional development funding
• Deadline: late September

http://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/nij/sl000793.pdf

• Description: funding for proposals relating to policy issues in crime, violence and the administration of justice in diverse cultural contexts; residency at NIJ encouraged
• Availability: "talented researchers early in their professional careers"
• Duration: typically 12 months; proposed work should begin no sooner than 6 months after application deadline to allow sufficient time for review and approval process
• Amount: not specified; recent grants ranged from $74,000-78,000
• Deadline: February 1

Education

http://www.lsac.org/Research/lsac-legal-education-grant-program.asp

• Description: "Funds empirical research on legal training and legal practice broadly viewed. This includes the study of precursors to legal training (including demographic variables), all varieties of legal training itself, and the work that lawyers, judges, law teachers, and other legal professionals do after they complete their training… from any of a variety of methodologies, [and] a potentially broad range of topics" but NOT including "doctrinal studies, curriculum development for a particular law school, conferences or symposia, preparation of casebooks, and other course-specific material."
• Availability: grants awarded only to institutions or organizations with which individual investigators are affiliated
• Duration: not specified
• Amount: budget submitted with proposal
• Deadline: February 1 and September 1

Ethics/Professional Responsibility

http://www.ethics.harvard.edu/fellowships-and-grants/faculty-fellowships

• Description: "Encourages teaching and research about ethical issues in public life and the professions; helps meet the growing need for teachers and scholars who address questions of moral choice in practical ethics and in areas such as architecture, business, education, government, journalism, law, medicine, public health, and public policy"; residency required.
• Availability: all academics with "doctorate in philosophy, political theory, theology or related disciplines; or a graduate degree in one of the professions"; preference for those with less than 10 years since receipt of degree
• Duration: September – June of the following year
• Amount: up to one-half of current academic year salary (not to exceed a maximum stipend set each fall); home institutions expected to contribute at least half salary and benefits
• Deadline: late October/early November

http://uchv.princeton.edu/fellowships_awards/lsr_visiting_fellowships.php

• Description: fellowships for "outstanding scholars and teachers interested in devoting a year in residence at Princeton writing about ethics and human values"
• Availability: grantees "typically have a doctorate or a professional postgraduate degree and cannot be in the process of writing a dissertation"
• Duration: September-July academic year in residence
• Amount: up to one-half of current academic year salary; home institutions expected to provide other half of salary and all benefits
• Deadline: November 1

http://www.ethics.utoronto.ca/index.php?id=5

• Description: fellowships for "outstanding scholars and teachers interested in writing and conducting research about ethics during a year in residence at the University of Toronto"
• Availability: candidates must hold a university faculty appointment at the time of application
• Duration: September - May academic year in residence
• Amount: up to one-half of current academic year salary up to $50,000 Canadian; home institutions expected to provide other half of salary and all benefits
• Deadline: December 15

Humanities

http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/fellowships.html

• Description: support for full-time "advanced research in the humanities that contributes to scholarly knowledge or to the general public's understanding of the humanities"
• Availability: academic faculty/staff as well as independent scholars
• Duration: 6-12 months of full-time research work
• Amount: stipend of $4,200/month
• Deadline: May 1

http://nationalhumanitiescenter.org/fellowships/fellshipapinfo.htm

• Description: "residential fellowships for advanced study in the humanities" as well as "individuals from the natural and social sciences, the arts, the professions, and public life who are engaged in humanistic projects"
• Availability: junior or senior scholars with a doctorate and record of publication
• Duration: academic year, September through May
• Amount: $60,000 maximum, amount dependent on needs of scholar
• Deadline: October 15

http://www.neh.gov/grants/guidelines/stipends.html

• Description: support for "individuals pursuing advanced research that is of value to scholars and general audiences in the humanities"
• Availability: academic faculty/staff as well as independent scholars
• Duration: "two consecutive months of full-time research and writing"
• Amount: $6,000
• Deadline: October 1

International Programs

http://fellowships.ssrc.org/abe/detailed_app_criteria/

• Description: opportunities for "international multidisciplinary research on topics of pressing global concern", some overseas residency required
• Availability: U.S. citizens with Ph.D. or equivalent in their fields
• Duration: "minimum of 3 and maximum of 12 months of full-time support over a 24 month period" ; at least one-third of proposed research time should be spent in Japan or the United States
• Amount: not specified
• Deadline: September 1

http://www.acls.org/grants/Default.aspx?id=524

• Description: for scholars in the humanities and humanities-related social sciences to do research in China if they have fully utilized the available resources in the U.S. ; continuous residency required
• Availability: U.S. citizens or permanent residents with a Ph.D. or demonstrated equivalent
• Duration: 4-12 consecutive months with an 18-month window of opportunity
• Amount: "monthly stipend and travel allowance"; $40,000 maximum
• Deadline: mid-November

http://www.cfr.org/about/fellowships/iaf.html

• Description: "The International Affairs Fellowship Program is designed to advance the professional development of outstanding young Americans between the ages of 27 and 35…. [t]he fellowships seek to bridge the gap between thought and action in foreign policy by supporting both a variety of policy studies and active exposure to policymaking. …[The program] encourages academics and others from the private sector to serve in a policy-oriented environment through operational experience in public service. Conversely, it permits government officials on leave to study key issues in a scholarly atmosphere free from operational pressure."
• Availability: U.S. citizens between the ages of 27 and 35 (inclusive)
• Duration: one year
• Amount: not specified
• Deadline: mid/late September

http://www.acls.org/grants/Default.aspx?id=534

• Description: "work on Eastern Europe: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Kosovo/a, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Montenegro, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, and Slovenia"; comparative studies also acceptable
• Availability: U.S. citizen or permanent resident with Ph.D. or scholarly equivalent
• Duration: 6-12 consecutive months, with a 15-month window of opportunity
• Amount: $25,000 maximum
• Deadline: mid-November

http://www.cies.org/us_scholars

• Description: short and long-term lecturing and research opportunities abroad; residency required
• Availability: programs are country- and discipline-specific; each has own requirements; U.S. citizens only with Ph.D or equivalent professional/terminal degree
• Duration: 2-6 weeks (Fulbright Senior Specialists Program) – academic year (Traditional Fulbright Scholar Program)
• Amount: varies depending on specific program
• Deadline: varies depending on specific program

Public Affairs/Policy

http://www.wilsoncenter.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=fellowships.welcome

• Description: provides residential fellowship for "outstanding project proposals in a broad range of the social sciences and humanities on national and/or international issues", especially related to themes of "key public policy challenges"
• Availability: postdoctoral scholars with "ublications beyond their doctoral dissertations"
• Duration: nine-month academic year; no deferrals or extensions
• Amount: $26,000 - $85,000 range; attempts to approximate regular salary and includes round-trip travel costs
• Deadline: October 1

http://lapa.princeton.edu/fellowships.php

• Description: residential fellowship to "devote an academic year in residence at Princeton [for] research, discussion, and scholarly collaboration on topics broadly related legal studies"
• Availability: requires doctorate or a professional postgraduate degree
• Duration: academic year in full-time residence
• Amount: one-half of academic year salary; additional income may be provided to Fellows who elect to teach a course while in residence
• Deadline: November/December

Additional Resources

http://library.buffalo.edu/libraries/asl/guides/grants.html

• Directory of Research Grants, Oryx Press
  Lockwood Reference LB2338 .D4
• Foundation Grants to Individuals,The Foundation Center
  Lockwood Reference LB 2336 .F6 or
  Silverman/Science & Engineering Reference LB 2336 .F6
• Funding Opportunities, Community of Science
  http://fundingopps.cos.com
  The "Search Wizard" feature allows users to retrieve a customized list of funding opportunities from diverse sources including academic institutions, governments, and private foundations
• Sponsored Programs Administration, University at Buffalo
  http://www.research.buffalo.edu/spa/
  A Web portal assembled by the Office of the Vice President for Research provides links to numerous funding opportunities. Faculty may explore the databases independently or use Search for Sponsors at http://www.research.buffalo.edu/sps/search/default.cfm