The Institute for Diversity Science will distribute a variety of seed grants as part of its 2024 Seed Grant Program: up to $35k for standard (new) projects, up to $70k for advanced projects, and up to $44k for funding of a graduate student.
Deadline for applications: May 31, 2024, at noon. Projects should be submitted via the button below. If you prefer to draft your responses in a Word document in advance, a copy is available for download.
Intent to apply. Please inform us of your intent to submit a proposal by April 4, 2024 [Extended from 3/31]. A one-line email to director.ids@wisc.edu stating your intent is sufficient.
Goals and eligibility The IDS seed grant program aims to support innovative research in diversity science. The proposed research can be fundamental or applied, and it can advance knowledge on diversity, equity, and inclusion over the short or long term. Our goal is to stimulate important research that helps UW–Madison establish itself as a national leader in diversity science.
All affiliate members of the Institute for Diversity Science can apply (at most one application per affiliate member). The submission may involve a collaboration with one or more other faculty members who do not have to be IDS affiliate members.
Funding The seed grant program provides three types of funding:
- Standard projects up to $35k
- Advanced projects up to $70k (the research must be sufficiently advanced to yield a publication in the next 18 months)
- 9-month funding for a graduate student from a marginalized group
There are no restrictions on how the money for standard and advanced projects can be used. The money can be used for salary (e.g., summer salary for the PI, support for a graduate student), equipment (e.g., laptop, experience sampling devices), participant payments (e.g., cash, gift cards), travel, or any other research-related expenditure. There is one exception: You cannot use the money for teaching buyout. Note that a standard project will be insufficient to fund a graduate student for nine months.
IDS will inform applicants of the funding decision by the beginning of July. The awarded funds must be spent by June 30, 2025, with the possibility to extend this deadline to December 31, 2025, upon request.
You can submit the same project to the IDS seed grant program and other UW-internal funding initiatives (e.g., fall competition), but if your project is selected for funding by the IDS seed grant program, you must decide on one initiative through which you want to obtain funding.
Supported research In the online submission form you will be asked to explain how your proposed research is related to diversity science. What is Diversity Science? You can also learn about the supported 2023 seed grant projects.
Please remember that Diversity Science examines the barriers of numerous groups in our society. These groups are defined by dimensions such as gender identity, ethnic/racial identity, religious identity, sexual orientation, nationality, disability, age, socio-economic status, being a first-generation college student or not, being from a rural vs. urban background, political affiliation, weight, appearance, and physical and mental health. In case of a tie, preference will be given to projects on groups that have historically been the target of the most severe discrimination and for which the greatest disparities exist in the United States.
Contact Contact IDS Executive Director Markus Brauer (director.ids@wisc.edu) with any questions about the grants or funding. Contact Dave Chancellor at dave.chancellor@wisc.edu for assistance with the application or application form.