Research Funding

Bingham Powell and Lynda W. Powell Applied Research Grants

The Powell Applied Research Grants are available for all 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳ political science PhD students seeking to fund empirical research. The grants are designed to help enable students to:

  • Conduct field experiments
  • Survey research
  • Field research
  • Data collection

Priority will be given to students seeking funding for their dissertation research. Grants of up to $6,000 per student can be used for research expenses. Please submit applications by email to the director of the Democracy Center, Gretchen Helmke at gretchen.helmke@rochester.edu. Proposals will be reviewed three times per year: October 15, February 1, and May 1.

To apply, please submit the following information:

  • A title and brief description of the proposed research project, including how the funding will be used to support the research (roughly 500 words)
  • The name(s) of the graduate students applying for the funds
  • A detailed budget for the funds requested
  • A brief letter or email of support for the project proposal from the student’s advisor or committee chair

Beck Grants

PhD alumnus Doug Beck has generously provided money to support graduate research. Specifically, a limited number of grants of up to $4,000 are available to PhD students to help support empirical work (including activities such as survey research, acquiring data sets, field research, and experiments) and to provide funding to hire undergraduate students to assist PhD students with empirical research. Preference will be given to projects that are directly related to dissertation work. Please submit applications by email to the director of graduate studies by October 15.

To apply, please submit the following information:

  • A title and brief description of the proposed research project, including how the funding will be used to support the research (roughly 500 words)
  • The name(s) of the graduate students applying for the funds
  • A detailed budget for the funds requested
  • A brief letter or email of support for the project proposal from the student’s advisor or committee chair

Fenno Travel Grants

In honor of Professor Richard F. Fenno, the department offers PhD students grants of up to $3,000 to cover short-term travel research expenses related to gathering data or conducting interviews for dissertation projects or other research intended to produce peer-reviewed scholarship. Please submit applications by email to the director of graduate studies, David Primo at david.primo@rochester.edu. Proposals will be reviewed three times per year: October 15, February 1, and May 1.

To apply, please submit the following information:

  • A title and brief description of the proposed research project, including how the funding will be used to support the research (roughly 500 words)
  • The name(s) of the graduate students applying for the funds
  • A detailed budget for the funds requested
  • A brief letter or email of support for the project proposal from the student’s advisor or committee chair

Peter D. Watson Center Grants

funds are available for research on “international conflict and cooperation,” broadly construed. The research should be intended to produce peer-reviewed scholarship. Students may be in any year of the program and in any subfield. Grants of up to $2,500 can be used for research expenses, including fieldwork. The research need not be related to the student’s dissertation. There is no cap on the number of individual grants or the total amount of money a student can receive through the Peter D. Watson Center while they are matriculated at the 91×ÔÅÄÂÛ̳. Please submit applications by email to the director of the Watson Center, Hein Goemans at henk.goemans@rochester.edu. Proposals will be reviewed three times per year: October 15, February 1, and May 1.

To apply, please submit the following information:

  • A title and brief description of the proposed research project, including how the funding will be used to support the research (roughly 500 words)
  • The name(s) of the graduate students applying for the funds
  • A detailed budget for the funds requested
  • A brief letter or email of support for the project proposal from the student’s advisor or committee chair

Skalny Center Grants

The Skalny Center provides travel grants of up to $5,000 for research conducted in Central and Eastern Europe. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and should be submitted to the director of the Skalny Center, Randy Stone randall.stone@rochester.edu.

To apply, please submit the following information:

  • A title and abstract of the proposed research project (maximum of 200 words) and the purpose of the travel
  • The name of the graduate student applying for the funds
  • A detailed budget for the funds requested
  • A brief letter or email of support for the project proposal from the student’s advisor or committee chair

Lanni Summer Grants

PhD students and tenure-track faculty are eligible for summer research support through the political science department’s Lanni Fund. Average awards are between $2,000-$3,000 for each project (or roughly 100-150 hours). Calls for applications will be sent via email in spring and will request the following information:

  • PhD student name
  • Faculty name
  • Description of the work that will be performed by the student, including the nature and objectives of the work/project(s)
  • Maximum hours (at $20/hour)

Note: Students who entered the program in 2021 or earlier are eligible to apply for Lanni support after their first year in the program. However, students receiving summer support to work on their second-year paper will be limited to working no more than 15 hours total per week for faculty members.

Students who enter the program in 2022 or later are eligible to apply for Lanni support after completing four years in the PhD program, as they have separate summer support in the summers immediately following their first three years in the program.

PEPR Grants

The provides funding for graduate students to undertake joint empirical research with faculty through its Program in Empirical Policy Research (PEPR). Applications are submitted by the supervising faculty to the program coordinator, and they should specify the project’s goals, what the students' responsibilities would be, and what pedagogical benefits the proposed research would have for the students. The purpose of the program is to encourage graduate students to develop empirical research skills, so proposals are evaluated primarily with pedagogical criteria in mind. The scientific merit of the project in question is of secondary importance. Junior faculty and faculty who have not recently received support are given first priority.

The number and size of PEPR research assistance grants depends on funding availability, with most awards being between $1,000 and $2,000. Applications will be solicited by the Wallis Institute via email, and funds must be used before May 15 of the academic year in which they are awarded. Proposals should include an estimate of the number of hours the student will be working on the project as well as the pay rate (the standard is $20 per hour). Note that graduate students can work at most 20 hours per week during the academic year and 40 hours per week over the summer.