Strategic Initiatives

Submission Guidelines for Small Grant proposals in the Areas of Inquiry.

The guidelines below are meant to clarify questions about the Spencer Foundation’s online application and provide details about what will be requested. We recommend referencing these guidelines as you complete your application.

Step 1: Determine within which Spencer Foundation Area of Inquiry your project best falls.

Step 2 - Registration: PIs are required to register and create an account. By clicking on the link at the bottom of this page and then clicking the “Register Here” button, you will be able to create an account within the online system. After you have received your temporary password via email, you will be able to log in to your new account. If you do not receive your temporary password within 5 to 10 minutes, check your Junk and Spam folders in case the automated email has been flagged as such.

Step 3 - My Profile: After logging in, complete the information requested on the My Profile page (upper right corner of the screen) and upload your current CV. If you have interacted with the Spencer Foundation in the past, you will find that some of the fields are already completed within your profile; update as needed. The following information will be requested on the My Profile page:

General Information: Name, title, organization, email address, mailing address(es), phone number
Education: Highest degree earned, year earned, university where degree was earned, discipline of degree
Profile Data: You will be asked to check off the appropriate selections in the following categories: disciplinary perspective, topics, methodologies, as well as some demographic information about yourself.
CV: You will be asked to upload a current copy of your CV in PDF format (see Tip #2 below).

Note: Co-PIs must also register and complete their profile information in order to be added to the application.

Step 4 - New Proposal: Click the New Proposal tab and choose the Small Grant button for the appropriate Area of Inquiry. Before starting your application, please consider these three tips:

Tip #1: Remember to frequently click the “Save Draft” button at the bottom of the application page. Changes you make will not be recorded until you click the “Save Draft” button; click it often.

Tip #2: You will be required to upload PDF files during this process. If your file name has special characters within it (e.g. period, dash, etc), the file will not upload. Remove all special characters from your file names before attempting to upload them.

Tip #3: Your submission is required to have a signature from an authorized representative of the administering organization; consider the processing time for this as you prepare your application for the upcoming deadline.

The following information will be requested within the application:

Project Personnel

This section reminds you to complete your My Profile page (as in Step 3) and contains instructions on how to add a Co-PI to the grant application.

Proposal Details

Project Title - headline style formatting is preferred
Requested Amount – auto-populated after the budget form is completed
Research Area – auto-populated based on your application choice
Secondary Research Area(s) – if your work falls across more than one of the Areas of Inquiry, here you are able to select the additional areas
Start Date – should be at least 4 months after the proposal deadline and start on the first day of the starting month
End Date – should fall on the last day of the ending month
Number of months of the project – auto-populated based on the start and end date

Proposal Narrative

You are asked to attach a PDF document that contains the proposal narrative (1800 word limit) and reference/citation list (not counted toward the word limit). The narrative should include the elements listed below:

a description of the project and the central research question(s) and its significance;
a brief summary of the relevant literature, the relationship of the proposed research to that literature, and the new knowledge expected to result from the proposed research;
a summary of the conceptual framework, research methods, data collection instruments, and modes of analysis that the project will employ;
a brief explanation of (a) how the proposed work fits within one or more of the Spencer Areas of Inquiry, or, (b) the unique contribution of the work if it does not fit within one of the Spencer areas; and
a clear identification of the Principal Investigator(s) and a clear definition of the role(s) he/she and any supporting researcher(s) will play.

Formatting guidelines: The narrative text should be double-spaced and in a standard, readable font and font size.

Budget

Note: Before clicking the “Edit Budget” button to add your proposed expenses, click the “Save Draft” button at the bottom of the page. This will create a budget form that has the appropriate number of years based on the start and end dates entered in the Proposal Details section.

Small Grant budgets may not exceed $50,000 and may not include indirect cost charges.
If your project will have a sub-contract(s), the instructions for providing that information are available within the application.

Project Data

Check off the appropriate selections with regard to your research project in the following categories: topics, methodologies, disciplinary perspective, subjects/informants, and geographic scope.

Appendices

If you have additional documents that you would like to attach to your small grant proposal submission, you are able to upload them as PDF files in this section. Examples of accepted Appendices include survey instruments, interview protocols, letters of agreement, etc.

Signature from Authorized Representative of the Administering Organization

After you have completed the above sections, you should click the “Save Draft” button, then follow the instructions for complying with this requirement and uploading the signed proposal. This is expected to be done by the submission deadline; please allow enough time to complete this task.

Contacts

This section lists the project personnel currently associated with the proposal. (You may also update your My Profile page using the Edit Profile link available in this section.)

Once you have completed all of the required information within the application and uploaded the signature document, you should click “Submit” at the bottom of the page. The PI will receive an email acknowledgement once the proposal has been accepted for review.

Upcoming Deadlines

The next deadline for Small Grant proposals is 4:00pm CST, Thursday, May 16, 2013. Subsequent deadlines in 2013 will be July 23rd and October 15th. Additional deadlines will be posted as they are scheduled.

The review of complete proposal applications submitted by the deadline will take approximately 3 to 4 months. We recommend that your proposed start date be no sooner than 4 months following the deadline.

Eligibility and Restrictions:

Principal Investigators (PIs) and Co-PIs applying for a Research Grant must have an earned doctorate in an academic discipline or professional field, or appropriate experience in an education research-related profession.
The PI must be affiliated with a college, university, research facility, school district, or cultural institution that is willing to serve as the fiscal agent if the grant is awarded. Research Grant proposals from individuals are not eligible.
Proposals are accepted from the U.S. and internationally, however all proposals must be submitted in English and budgets must be proposed in U.S. Dollars.
PIs and Co-PIs may only hold one active research grant from the Spencer Foundation at a time. Simultaneous submissions to Spencer from PIs and Co-PIs are discouraged due to this policy.