Funding Opportunities for Political Science Students
Students in the Political Science department may look for additional funding sources to attend conferences, complement GC fellowships, undertake dissertation research or to support additional years after the 5-year fellowship ends. This page outlines the various funding opportunities and where to find additional information. It is not meant to be an exhaustive list, but a starting point to indicate the direction of where to look.
External Funding Opportunities for Ph.D. Students
Centennial Center for Political Science and Public Affairs
The Centennial Center for Political Science and Public Affairs assists APSA members with a wide selection of funds to assist with the costs of research, including travel, interviews, and access to archives. The Centennial Center also hosts a visiting scholar program.
Congressional Fellowship Program
The Congressional Fellowship Program is a 9-month fellowship that gives political scientists first-hand insights into U.S. Congress through placements in Senate and House offices.
Fund for Latino Scholarship
The primary purpose of the Fund for Latino Scholarship is to encourage and support the recruitment, retention and promotion of Latino/a political scientists. The fund also seeks to support research on Latino/a politics.
Minority Fellowship Program
The Minority Fellowship Program is for individuals from under-represented backgrounds applying to or in the early stages of doctoral programs in political science.
Ralph Bunche Summer Institute
The Ralph Bunche Summer Institute is an annual, intensive five-week program held at Duke University. It is designed to introduce to the world of doctoral study in political science those undergraduate students from under-represented racial and ethnic groups.
Small Research Grant Program
The APSA Small Research Grant Program supports research in all fields of political science. The intent of these grants is to provide funding opportunities for research conducted by political scientists not employed at PhD-granting departments in the field nor who are in non-tenure track or contingent positions ineligible for departmental funding.
APSA Travel Grants
APSA is pleased to provide travel grants to U.S. graduate students, international students in the U.S., international scholars, community college faculty, adjunct faculty, and unemployed members for attendance at the APSA Annual Meeting and Teaching and Learning Conference.
National Science Foundation (NSF)
The NSF funds a variety of grants related to research and professional development in the social sciences. These grants include the Faculty Early Career Development Program, the Graduate Research Fellowship Program, Political Science Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Program, and the NSF SBE Postdoctoral Research Fellowships.
National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
The NEH awards include projects in the social sciences that have a humanistic bent and use humanistic methods. Funding opportunities are available within divisions of research programs, education programs, public programs, preservation and access, and digital humanities. These grants include research fellowships, collaborative research grants, summer research stipends, and summer institutes for schoolteachers and college faculty. Organizations, colleges, and universities can also apply for a variety of grant programs aimed at strengthening humanities teaching and scholarship.
Social Science Research Council (SSRC)
The SSRC awards fellowships, grants and prizes to social science researchers and students in a range of disciplines. Programs engage themes ranging from global issues facing the United States and Japan to security in Africa and Latin America. Fellowships and grants include dissertation workshops, book manuscript completion grants, the Albert O. Hirschmann Prize, predoctoral research grants, and summer institutes.
Institute of International Education (IIE)
IIE offers a range of fellowships and programs for international study, teaching, and research at accredited academic institutions throughout the world. Programs include the Fulbright, the Ford Foundational International Fellowships Program, the Confucius China Studies Program, the Boren Fellowship, and the Benjamin Gilman International Studies program. IIE programs provide funding for scholars, graduate students, and undergraduate students.