Post-Ph.D. Research Grants
Post-Ph.D. Research Grants are awarded to individuals holding a Ph.D. or equivalent degree to support individual research projects. The program contributes to the Foundation's overall mission to support basic research in anthropology and to ensure that the discipline continues to be a source of vibrant and significant work that furthers our understanding of humanity's cultural and biological origins, development, and variation. The Foundation supports research that demonstrates a clear link to anthropological theory and debates, and promises to make a solid contribution to advancing these ideas. There is no preference for any methodology, research location, or subfield. The Foundation particularly welcomes proposals that employ a comparative perspective, can generate innovative approaches or ideas, and/or integrate two or more subfields.
The maximum amount of the Post-Ph.D. Research Grant is US $20,000. Please note: the Foundation has suspended the Osmundsen Initiative supplement.
Grants are for research expenses. Applicants can apply regardless of institutional affiliation, country of residence, or nationality. There is no time limit on the duration of the grant and funding may be requested to cover distinct research phases (for example, two summers) if this is part of the research design. Application deadlines are May 1 and November 1. Final decisions are made six months later.
Applicants must submit their applications using the Foundation's online application submission procedure as well as send printed copies to the Foundation by regular mail.
Eligibility
- Qualified scholars are eligible without regard to nationality, or institutional or departmental affiliation.
- Applications are accepted from scholars who are close to completing their doctorate or equivalent degree; however, the grant cannot be awarded until the degree is completed. Note that the Foundation expects the degree to have been completed before the start date for the proposed project given by the applicant on the application form.
- Current grantees must have completed all requirements of their existing grant, including submission of the final report, before an application for a new project can be accepted.
- Post-Ph.D. Research grant applications that were unsuccessful in a prior funding cycle may be resubmitted only if they are accompanied by a resubmission statement, explaining how the application is different from the prior application and how the referees' comments have been addressed.
- If a Post.Ph.D. Research grant is awarded, the applicant must agree to comply with the Requirements and Conditions of the Post-Ph.D. Research Grant.
General Criteria of Evaluation
- As with all Wenner-Gren awards, the main criteria of evaluation are the quality of the research and its potential contribution to anthropological knowledge, theory, and debate.
- There is no preference for particular geographic areas or topics.
- Proposals for the Post-Ph.D. Research Grant will be judged on the following four essential characteristics:
- A well-defined research question
- A detailed description of appropriate evidence to answer the research question
- A feasible plan for gathering and analyzing this evidence
- The significance of the research to important theoretical and methodological issues in anthropology
Those applicants with applied anthropological objectives should emphasize the theoretical and methodological impact of their research for the discipline as opposed to its applied value only.
- Proposals whose primary objective is to "fill in" knowledge about a culture, a region, a language, a site, or a primate species will not be competitive unless a further case can be made for the importance of this finding to broader issues in anthropology.
- Applicants whose research focuses on primatology should ensure that their proposals emphasize the specific ways in which their research relates to humanity's cultural and/or biological origins, development, and/or modern variation. The Foundation does not fund basic research in primatology or research that is primarily orientated towards primate conservation.
- Linguistic anthropologists should also be aware that the Foundation does not fund salvage work on endangered languages (e.g., preparation of dictionaries and/or grammars). It also does not fund other descriptive research on languages or work on language structure that is not grounded in anthropological concerns.
For more information please click "Further Official Information" below.
This opportunity has expired. It was originally published here:
http://www.wennergren.org/programs/post-phd-research-grants