Deadline: 8 January 2020

Spencer Foundation is seeking applications for its Research-Practice Partnership (RPP) Grants Program to support education research projects that engage in collaborative and participatory partnerships.

This grant program is specifically intended to build the capacity of partnerships to make educational change. Effective governance is a key aspect of successful partnerships, and as such all proposals should specify their governance structures and how the work is jointly developed across all partners.

Activities that May be Funded

• Research Activities:Each proposal should describe new research that would be launched or existing research activities that would be expanded with the grant.
• Research Infrastructure:Funds may be used for building and sustaining infrastructure needs for the research activities of the partnership.
• Outreach, Communications, and Relationship Building:Activities that strengthen the working relationship between partners and other stakeholders are also a possible component of the projects.
• Capacity Development:Many research-practice partnerships seek to assist the practice partner in developing capacity to use research evidence and data in their daily decision-making.

The Spencer Foundation has been a leading funder of education research since 1971 and is the only national foundation focused exclusively on supporting education research.

Funding Information

• Research-Practice Partnership budget up to $400,000.
• Durations of up to three years.

Eligibility Criteria

• Proposals are accepted from the U.S. and internationally, however all proposals must be submitted in English and budgets must be proposed in U.S. Dollars.
• Proposals to the Research-Practice Partnership program must be for research and other activities aimed to support collaborative partnerships between academic researcher(s) and a broad array of practitioner(s) of education.
• Principal Investigators (PIs) and Co-PIs applying for a Research-Practice Partnership Grant are expected to have an earned doctorate in an academic discipline or professional field, or demonstrated professional experience appropriate for this program.
• The PI must be affiliated with a non-profit organization that is willing to serve as the administering organization if the grant is awarded. The Spencer Foundation does not award grants directly to individuals. Examples include non-profit colleges, universities, school districts, and research facilities, as well as other non-profit organizations with a 501(c)(3) determination from the IRS.
• The PI associated with the administering organization for this grant could be either the practitioner or researcher of the partnership. At least one Co-PI should be from the other member organization(s).

Note:If the PI or Co-PI from the practice side of the partnership does not have an earned doctorate, they are expected to have appropriate professional experience to serve in this role in the partnership. While graduate students may be part of the team, they may not be named the PI or Co-PI on the proposal.

How to Apply

Applications must be submitted online via given website.

For more information, please visit https://www.spencer.org/grant_types/research-practice-partnerships