Pipeline Grants Competition

RSF's Pipeline Grants Competition is co-funded with the Economic Mobility and Opportunity program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This initiative will support early-career scholars and promote diversity in the social sciences, including racial, ethnic, gender, disciplinary, institutional, and geographic diversity. Since 2020, four rounds of the competition have funded 94 early-career scholars from colleges and universities across the United States. Pipeline grantees are paired with mentors who offer advice on their projects and career development. The competition funds innovative research on economic mobility and access to opportunity in the United States. We are particularly interested in research focused on structural barriers to economic mobility and how individuals, communities and state entities understand, navigate and challenge systemic inequalities. Early-career faculty who have not previously received research support or a visiting fellowship from RSF are eligible to apply.

Starting with our 2025 cohort, we are partnering with the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (J-PAL) to support pilot randomized control trials (RCTs) as part of the Pipeline Grants Competition.

Click here to read about our March 2020 Pipeline Grantees.
Click here to read about our March 2021 Pipeline Grantees.
Click here to read about our March 2022 Pipeline Grantees.
Click here to read about our March 2023 Pipeline Grantees.
Click here to read about our March 2024 Pipeline Grantees.

Click here to read about our March 2020 Pipeline Mentors.
Click here to read about our March 2021 Pipeline Mentors.
Click here to read about our March 2022 Pipeline Mentors.
Click here to read about our March 2023 Pipeline Mentors.
Click here to read about our March 2024 Pipeline Mentors.

Application Information

Funding Opportunity (RFP)
Upcoming deadlines
Eligibility and Guidelines
Submit a proposal
Frequently asked questions (FAQs) about applying for a pipeline grant


Advisory Committee Members

Cathy J. Cohen

David and Mary Winton Green Professor of Political Science, University of Chicago

Mesmin Destin

Associate Professor of Psychology, Northwestern University

Amy Hsin

Professor of Sociology, Queens College

Matthew Notowidigdo

David McDaniel Keller Professor of Economics/Business and Public Policy Fellow, University of Chicago

Featured Research

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RSF

RSF: The Russell Sage Foundation Journal of the Social Sciences is a peer-reviewed, open-access journal of original empirical research articles by both established and emerging scholars.

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The Russell Sage Foundation offers grants and positions in our Visiting Scholars program for research.

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