A budget is not required at the time of submission. The budget will be finalized with the grantee, their university’s research office, and RSF after the approval of the grant.
Review Process and Grant Decisions:
RSF employs a rigorous multi-disciplinary review process at every stage of the application process. All letters of inquiry and proposals submitted to RSF are reviewed by program staff, external reviewers from multiple disciplines selected specifically for their expertise, members of one of the standing Advisory Committees, or some combination of these.
Please review these resources before submitting your application for the Pipeline Grants Competition
Launched in 2020, the Pipeline Grants, initially co-funded with the Economic Mobility and Opportunity program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, support early-career scholars (Assistant Professors, Lecturers, and Adjunct Professors) and promotes diversity in the social sciences. They were renamed the Sheldon Danziger Pipeline Grants in 2025.
The Russell Sage Foundation seeks to support doctoral students and early-career scholars through its Pipeline Grants Competition, Grants for Causal Research on the Criminal Justice System, and Dissertation Research Grants program.
Below are resources for prospective grantseekers to review before submitting applications.
Register now for our Best Practices for Grant Writing Webinar
June 2, 2026 at 2:00pm ET
RSF program staff will discuss the application process.