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Awards

What We Support
The Foundation's awards are restricted to support for basic social science research within our announced programs. Our website, biennial reports, and other publications provide descriptions of each of these programs and examples of the research we have supported in the past. We provide support primarily for analyzing data and writing up results, but we occasionally consider larger awards for projects that are highly relevant to the Foundation's program goals.

Our Project Awards typically range between $35,000 and $200,000. Additionally, our Presidential Authority Awards program offers a limited number of small grants each year. The budget for these awards must be $35,000 or less, with no overhead or indirect costs allowed.

Application Process
Applications for external awards must be preceded by a brief letter of inquiry (~3 pages in length) to determine whether the Foundation's present interests and funds permit consideration of a proposal for research. The Foundation does not generally consider unsolicited project proposals unless otherwise specified in a request for proposals.

Letters of inquiry should summarize the project's importance, the major questions to be addressed, the work plan, the qualifications of persons engaged in the research, and must include an estimated budget.

Letters of inquiry are generally reviewed within 2-4 weeks. If a full proposal is invited, the proposal is ordinarily submitted to outside peer review, either by a standing advisory committee for the program to which the proposal is submitted, or by ad hoc reviewers, or both.

Deadlines
All Project Awards (over $35,000) must be approved by the Foundation's Board of Trustees, which meets to consider invited proposals only in June and November. Unless otherwise specified in the request for proposals in a particular research competition, the deadline for submitting letters of inquiry for the November funding round is August 1, and for the June round is March 1. Invited proposals will be due by September 1 and April 1, respectively.

There are no formal deadlines for Presidential Authority Awards, which are reviewed throughout the year subject to the availability of funds.

Click here for detailed information about preparing and submitting a proposal.

Visiting Scholars Program

Details
The Russell Sage Foundation annually awards up to 19 residential fellowships to selected scholars in the social sciences, who are at least several years beyond the Ph.D. The award allows these Visiting Scholars to pursue their research and writing at the Foundation for periods of up to 10 months. Visiting Scholar positions begin September 1 and ordinarily run through June 30th. Each scholar is provided with an office at the Foundation, research assistance, computer and library facilities, salary support for the academic year of up to $110,000 when unavailable from other sources and, for scholars outside the greater New York City area, a subsidized apartment nearby the Foundation offices.

Application Process and Deadlines
Application to the program can be made by completing a brief questionnaire and writing a four-to-five page letter describing the project to be undertaken while in residence at the Foundation. An up-to-date CV should accompany the letter, but papers and recommendations should not be included. All applications are reviewed by outside experts selected by the Foundation and final decisions are made by a sub-committee of the Russell Sage Board of Trustees. The deadline for applications is September 30th of the year prior to the desired year of residence. Decisions are ordinarily announced in March. Acceptances cannot be deferred to subsequent years.

Applications are now closed. Applications are accepted between August 1st and September 30th of each year.

Click here for detailed information about eligibility requirements and guidelines.
Click here for a list of frequently asked questions about applying for the Visiting Scholars program.

Small Grants Program in Behavioral Economics

Details
The Russell Sage Behavioral Economics Roundtable supports a small grants research program to support high quality research in behavioral economics and to encourage young investigators to enter this developing field. There are no limitations on the disciplinary background of the principal investigator, and the proposed research may address any economic topic. Interdisciplinary efforts are welcome. Appropriate projects will demonstrate explicit use of psychological concepts in the motivation of the design and the preparation of the results. This program will be administered under the auspices of the Behavioral Economics Roundtable, a group of researchers in behavioral economics formed by the Russell Sage Foundation to encourage inter-disciplinary research in behavioral economics.

Application Process
Proposals should be submitted to the Small Grants Program in Behavioral Economics, Russell Sage Foundation, 112 East 64th Street, New York, NY 10065. Please note that there is no deadline for the Small Grants Program in Behavioral Economics; applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

The maximum length for the text of a proposal is 1,000 words, excluding budget and bibliography. Proposals should outline briefly the basic rationale of the research, the question under study and the methods and analytic approach to be employed.

Click here for detailed information about preparing and submitting a proposal.

Small Grants Program in Behavioral Economics and Consumer Finance

Details

The Russell Sage and Sloan Foundations have established a new small grants program to support young investigators interested in undertaking research on the financial decisions posed to consumers by increasingly complex retail financial products. The proposed research must address a topic in consumer finance using the theory and/or methods of behavioral economics. There are no limitations on the disciplinary background of the principal investigator and interdisciplinary efforts are welcome.

Application Process
Proposals should be submitted to the Small Grants Program in Behavioral Economics and Consumer Finance, attn: Consumer Finance Small Grants, Russell Sage Foundation, 112 East 64th Street, New York, NY 10065. There is no deadline for the Small Grants Program; applications are accepted on a rolling basis. The maximum length for the text of a proposal is 1,000 words, excluding budget and bibliography. Proposals should outline briefly the basic rationale of the research, the question under study and the methods and analytic approach to be employed.

Click here for detailed information about preparing and submitting a proposal.

What We Do Not Fund

The Russell Sage Foundation is an operating foundation dedicated to programs of basic social science research in five program areas: research on the future of work, principally concerned with changes in the quality of low-wage work in advanced economies; research on current U.S. immigration that focuses on how well immigrants adapt to life in American society; research on cultural contact and improving relations between racial and ethnic groups; research that examines the social effects of rising economic inequality, and research on behavioral economics that incorporates insights of psychology into the study of economic behavior. Our limited budget makes it necessary for us to confine our grants to projects that fall within these announced areas of interest.

Our guidelines restrict us from giving grants for pre-doctoral study or research. We do not award scholarships or other types of grants for support of college funding.

We do not fund residential fellowships elsewhere. (See information about the Russell Sage Foundation Visiting Scholar Program.)

We are enjoined by IRS code from making general support grants to other institutions. Only specific project grants that further our declared program goals are permitted.

As an operating foundation carrying out our own programs of basic social science research, we are in a position to publish only those books deriving from the research that we support.


The Russell Sage Foundation seeks to promote diversity through all of its program activity. The Foundation does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender and/or gender identity, pregnancy or parental status, marital or domestic partner status, national origin, ancestry, age, sexual orientation, disability or medical condition, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.