Deadline: 4 December 2019

The Spencer Foundation is accepting applications for its Conference Grant Program that provides support to scholars for small research conferences and focused symposia.

This program is intended to bring together researchers whose substantive knowledge, theoretical insight, and methodological expertise can be assembled in ways that build upon and advance best practices in education research.

For this funding cycle Spencer will support conferences related to three topics that emerged from their year-long field engagement with the education research community:

• Developing High-Quality Educators and Leaders
• Exploring Human Learning and Thriving
• Innovative Research Methods
• Making the case

The Spencer Foundation invests in education research that cultivates learning and transforms lives.

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.

Foundation’s Goals

• Invest in education research that is transformative, methodologically rigorous, and helps create a better society.
• Support high-quality education research training.
• Broaden the diversity of scholars and scholarship in education research.
• Strengthen the impact of education research for improving educational practice.
• Make education research more accessible to public audiences.

Core Commitments

They support education research that is:

• Rigorous: Intellectually ambitious, innovative, and methodologically sound.
• Relevant: Touching on the most pressing questions and opportunities in education and learning, wherever it occurs.
• Equitable: Representing a diversity of scholars and scholarship and contributing to more just learning environments.
• Collaborative: Engaging multiple voices and disciplinary perspectives.
• Transformative: Reaching beyond academic audiences and leading to lasting improvement in education and learning.

Funding Information

This grant program supports conference proposals with budgets of $50,000 or less.

Eligibility Criteria

• Principal Investigators (PIs) and Co-PIs applying for a Conference grant must have an earned doctorate in an academic discipline or professional field, or appropriate experience in an education research-related profession. While graduate students may be part of the proposal, they may not be named the PI or Co-PI.
• 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.
• 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.

How to Apply

Applications must be submitted via given website.

For more information, please visit https://www.spencer.org/grant_types/conference-grants