Deadline: 3 July 2019

Instagram has launched ‘Well-being and Safety Research’ programme to invest in keeping their communities safe and understanding Instagram’s impact on human well-being.

There is an ongoing conversation about how every day social media usage affects personal, community, and societal well-being, as well as the effect of those who use social media to compromise the safety and beliefs of others.

To combat this, they have focused on technology and people to remove bad content and behavior from their services. While they do a lot to understand these problematic issues, the effectiveness of these efforts relies strongly on their engagement with foundational research and partnerships with social scientists.

Award recipients will be invited to a workshop in Menlo Park, California to discuss their findings/insights with the Instagram Team in 2020. Please budget travel for one PI to attend as a part of the proposed project budget.

They encourage the winners to openly publish any findings/insights from their work. Successful awardees will be also listed on the Facebook Research website.

Funding Information

• Award amount: can vary; typically up to $50,000.
• Payment: The award will be made to the PI’s host university as an unrestricted gift. Overhead is limited to 5% for gifts.

Eligibility Criteria

• Organizations must be a nonprofit or non-governmental organization with recognized legal status in their respective country (equal to 501(c)(3) status under the United States Internal Revenue Code).
• Applicants must be the Principal Investigator on any resulting award.
• Applicants may submit one proposal per solicitation.
• Awards must comply with applicable US and international laws, regulations and policies.
• Proposals that require the use of Instagram, WhatsApp, or Facebook data will not be considered for funding.

Applications should include

• Summary of the project (1-2 pages): Include an explanation of the area of focus, a description of techniques, any relevant prior work, and a timeline with milestones and expected outcomes. Please also include a clear and concise statement of the scientific contribution and routes to eventual deployment.
• A budget description (1 page): Include an approximate cost of the project and explanation of how funds would be spent. Please also include funds for travel for the PI to attend a workshop in Menlo Park to discuss findings with the Instagram team in 2020.
• Curriculum Vitae(s): Provide the names of the researcher(s) involved in the proposed work with their CV/resume or links to Google Scholar pages.
• Previous collaborations: Indicate any previous or current connections/collaborations with Facebook (in which case please name the Facebook contacts).
• Organization details: this includes tax information and administrative contact details.

How to Apply

Interested applicants can apply via given website.

For more information, please visit https://bit.ly/2Z7eote