Call For Proposals: Departmental Grants Available for Anthropology Graduate Students
The Anthropology Department has funds available to support graduate student research and other professional activities. The funds for these grants originate from graduate tuition; these grants are informally referred to as “GTR.” We have two GTR funding cycles: Round 1 in fall, Round 2 in spring. Round 1 funds are to be used during the academic year, and don’t typically involve human subjects (e.g. as conference support for students who are presenting). Round 2 is for projects to be conducted during the summer.
2022-23 Round 2 Deadline: Monday, April 3, 2023. Recommended—submit draft to your advisor by March 20, get feedback and revise. In any case, proposals should go to advisors for vetting/signature no later than March 27. Submit final proposal via email to Laurel Carpenter and Barbara Strauss.
Post-Fieldwork Report and Checklist. To be submitted by those who receive Anthropology Department research funds. Must be submitted within a month of completing fieldwork.
Instructions for reimbursement.
Selection Criteria and Procedure
The faculty will review the proposals and determine both the number of grants and the stipend size. Approval of the proposal by the student’s advisor is a pre-requisite for submission.Applications will be evaluated in light of contribution of the project to the applicant’s degree program, the feasibility of the project, and the clarity of the proposal.
GTR funds have been used in the past to cover the following projects or expenses:
- master’s paper research project (students must apply to GSAS/GSA and other relevant sources first)
- travel to academic conferences at which the student is presenting a research paper or poster (Please note: Students must first apply to GSAS/GSA for conference travel funds. The department will consider support for conference travel not covered by GSAS.)
- pre-dissertation research visits to the field (to develop the basis for full research and grant proposals)
- travel for use of collections or data acquisition
- language training necessary for the completion of graduate research (note: the department expects that students will utilize course opportunities through Brandeis and our consortium when possible)
- Equipment such as cameras, phones, computers, voice recorders. Students should make use of the university borrowing resources for these items.
- Food/Per Diem expenses (special cases will be considered)
- Any items prohibited by Brandeis University travel and business expense policies
All international or domestic travel on Brandeis business or with Brandeis programs, for all faculty, students, postdocs and staff must comply with the University's COVID-19 policies. Please be in conversations with your advisor as soon as possible about these issues as they relate to your research.
In the event of heavy demand, consideration will be given to those who have not previously received funds. If a student has an outstanding incomplete, this may be taken into consideration.
In most cases, funds will be provided on a reimbursement basis, following the university travel and business expenses policies. Original receipts are required, and expense reports must be submitted within 30 days of return from travel (see above for policies relating to any university travel restrictions).
Proposal Format
Applications must be in Word and Excel; PDFs will not be accepted (except the IRB materials).Submit your final proposal via email to Laurel Carpenter and Barbara Strauss.
Applications need to include the following (please number your responses).
- A project title
- A one or two sentence “research objective snapshot” at the start
- A description of the project or activity. This will be the longer portion of your application, but please keep it to roughly 700-1000 words (fewer could be fine, too). We are looking for the following within this section:
b. Briefly situate your questions in some of the relevant existing scholarship (e.g. how do your questions build on or otherwise articulate with this body of work?)
c. Describe what kind of evidence you need to collect to address your question(s), and how you plan to collect it using the funds
d. Explain how this project will contribute to your dissertation, MA paper, or professional development
4. A brief timetable for accomplishing the work
5. An itemized budget in Excel.
6. A description of other funding received or requested for this project, specifying the funding agency, date and amount received or applied for. Please note the Department expects you to apply for other funding sources you’d be eligible for, including GSAS, GSA, and other sources where relevant such as the Jane’s Grant, Brandeis India Initiative, etc. See this link for inspiration: https://www.brandeis.edu/anthropology/graduate/resources/funding.html
7. A list of previous GTR funds received for this or other projects
8. If your project will require Human Subjects Approval, you must submit your materials before applying for departmental funding. Attach a copy of your IRB submission. IRB approval is not required to receive the GTR funds, but the project must have IRB approval before you begin research.
9. Your advisor’s name
10. Indication of whether your advisor has reviewed a draft of this proposal.
Submit your final proposal via email to Laurel Carpenter and Barbara Strauss.
Your advisor’s approval of the proposal is required.
Post-Fieldwork Report and Checklist. To be submitted by those who receive Anthropology Department research funds. Must be submitted within a month of completing fieldwork.