Funder: Russell Sage Foundation
Due Dates: April 3, 2025 (2pm ET, Application Deadline) | October 1, 2025 (Funding Start Date)
Funding Amounts: Up to $100,000 total for a 1-year project (including up to 15% indirect costs)
Summary: Supports early-career scholars conducting causal research on U.S. criminal justice policies and practices using rigorous research designs.
Key Information: Applicants must be tenure-track assistant professors at U.S. institutions; no LOI required; proposals must use causal research designs.
Description
The Russell Sage Foundation, in partnership with Arnold Ventures, offers an annual grant competition to support early-career scholars conducting causal research on the U.S. criminal justice system. The program aims to build a pipeline of researchers using rigorous causal methods to evaluate the effects of policies, practices, or interventions related to policing, courts, jails, prisons, probation, parole, and immigration detention. Projects must employ research designs capable of isolating treatment effects, such as difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity, instrumental variables, or randomized controlled trials. Mixed methods projects are eligible if a causal design is central.
Grantees will be paired with senior mentors in their field and are required to present their findings at a capstone conference at the end of the grant period.
Due Dates
- Application Deadline: April 3, 2025 (2pm ET)
- Funding Start Date: October 1, 2025
There is one application cycle per year.
Funding Amount
- Maximum award: $100,000 (including up to 15% indirect costs)
- Project duration: 1 year
- Allowable costs: Up to $15,000 salary support or course buyout per eligible PI/co-PI, research assistance, data access/collection, subject payments, U.S.-based conference travel (up to $3,000 per investigator), and other research expenses.
- Mentorship: Grantees are paired with senior mentors (honorarium provided to mentors).
- Capstone conference: Required presentation; travel costs reimbursed separately from the grant budget.
Eligibility
- PI Requirements: Must be a tenure-track assistant professor at a U.S. college or university by August 1, 2025.
- Co-PIs: Associate professors may serve as co-PIs but cannot receive salary support.
- Postdocs: Not eligible as PI/co-PI, but may be included on the project team.
- Focus: Projects must address U.S. criminal justice policies/practices. International data may be used only if directly relevant to U.S. issues and not otherwise available.
- Priority: Scholars who have not previously received RSF funding, those from underrepresented groups, and those at under-resourced institutions are especially encouraged to apply.
Application Process
- No letter of inquiry (LOI) required.
- Submission portal: RSF Fluxx online application system
- Application steps:
- Create or log in to a Fluxx account (allow up to 2 business days for approval).
- Select “Apply for a Small Grant (for Emerging Scholars)” and choose “Causal Research on Criminal Justice” as the application type.
- Submit:
- A single-spaced proposal (max 10 pages, 12-point font, 1-inch margins) including a brief literature review, research question, hypotheses, methods, data, analytic plan, and timeline.
- Abbreviated CV (max 5 pages) for each investigator.
- If selected for funding, provide a detailed budget, budget justification (1–2 pages), IRB approval, proof of data access, and pre-registration as applicable.
- Review timeline: Decisions are expected by mid-summer.
Additional Information
- Mentorship: Grantees are matched with senior scholars for project and career guidance.
- Capstone conference: All grantees must present their research at a dedicated conference; travel is reimbursed.
- Reporting: Final substantive and financial reports are required at the end of the grant period.
- Administrative: Grants must be administered by the PI’s institution; full payment is made upon completion of due diligence.
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