IRP Dissertation Research Fellowship 2022–2023 – Call for Applications – Deadline: 11:59 p.m. CDT 3/7/ 2022

View/download full RFP in PDF format

About Fellowship

The Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison is pleased to announce that as part of its institutional match in conjunction with being named the National Research Center on Poverty and Economic Mobility by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (U.S. DHHS/ASPE), IRP anticipates supporting one dissertation research project for 12 months, including the summer of 2022 or 2023 and the academic year 2022–2023, through IRP’s Dissertation Research Fellowship program. IRP invites proposals in support of all poverty-related dissertation projects, but special consideration will be given to projects that inform policy, possibly by providing estimates of program effectiveness.

About IRP

IRP is a center for interdisciplinary research into the causes and consequences of poverty and inequality and the impact of related policies and programs. As the National Research Center on Poverty and Economic Mobility sponsored by DHHS/ASPE, IRP coordinates the U.S. Collaborative of Poverty Centers (CPC) in an integrated set of activities with the ultimate goal of improving the effectiveness of public policies to reduce poverty and inequality and their impacts on the well-being of the American people.

Terms

Eligibility

Only doctoral students at the University of Wisconsin–Madison who are pursuing a poverty-related degree and are sponsored by an on-campus IRP faculty Affiliate are eligible to apply. Applicants should expect to complete their required coursework by September 2022 and should reasonably expect to complete their Ph.D. in academic year 2023–2024 or 2024–2025. Preference will be given to students who have participated in the IRP Graduate Research Fellows program; however, any student with the sponsorship of an IRP faculty Affiliate may apply.

All fellowship applicants must show proof of application for outside funding support from another source in order to be considered for this award. Acknowledgement of receipt of a dissertation or related grant proposal from you by another funder can be demonstrated by a letter or e-mail from the other potential funder, acknowledging receipt of your application. No student will be allowed to receive both the IRP award and a similar award from another organization.

Funding

Fellowships provide up to 50% Graduate Research Assistant support for 12 months.

Commitment

Receipt of a dissertation fellowship from IRP implies a commitment to submit brief quarterly progress reports and a final summary of your dissertation progress. The final summary (e.g., copy of dissertation abstract, link to publication of dissertation section in a journal, etc.) will be due within 60 days of your project end date. This summary as well as the quarterly progress reports will be shared with the IRP Executive Committee.

Award Info

IRP anticipates supporting one dissertation research project for 12 months, either beginning the summer of 2022 and running through academic year 2022–2023, or starting in the fall of academic year 2022–2023 and running through summer 2023.

Application Instructions

Submit proposals via the online Application Form.

Have your sponsoring on-campus IRP faculty Affiliate submit a letter of sponsorship via the online Submission Form.

Applicants should provide the materials outlined below as one PDF file, in the order listed, by the application deadline. Applicants are responsible for providing the link above to their sponsoring on-campus faculty Affiliate and asking their sponsor to directly submit their letter of sponsorship by the application deadline. Both the applicant and the advisor will receive a confirmation e-mail when the letter is submitted. Note that the letter of sponsorship can be completed before or after the application is submitted but both the application and the sponsorship letter must be completed by the deadline for the application to be complete.

Your application should include:

1. Cover page listing the following:
   1. Student’s name, department, contact information, and history of participation in the IRP Graduate Research Fellows program;
   2. Faculty sponsor’s name; and
   3. Project title and abstract.
2. Description of proposed work, no more than 10 double-spaced pages, to include:
   1. Research question, original contribution to the literature, and to poverty research;
   2. Research design, methodology, and data sources; and
   3. Current status/preliminary work and expected dissertation completion date.
3. Current curriculum vitae.
4. Documentation that the proposal was entered in at least one outside dissertation competition.
5. Letter of sponsorship from an IRP sponsoring on-campus faculty Affiliate, which should be uploaded directly (separately from the rest of the proposal) to the link specified above. Note: Affiliates are asked to sponsor no more than one project per year. The letter of sponsorship should address:
   1. The merits of the dissertation project;
   2. The faculty Affiliate’s level of involvement (e.g., chair of dissertation committee, collaborator on related project, etc.); and
   3. Expected dissertation completion date.

Contact

Questions should be directed to: IRP Apply | irpapply@ssc.wisc.edu

Timeline