Research@UIC > Funding Opportunities > Scholars Program

William T. Grant Foundation - Scholars Program

Internal Competition Completed

Principal Investigators Selected:

• Susan Phillips, Social Work

Program Summary

The Scholars Program is a professional development program for early-career researchers in the social, behavioral, or health sciences. The program differs from traditional research grants in that it supports career development. The foundation is particularly excited about applicants who already have a promising track record, but seek a qualitative shift in their trajectory as researchers. The foundation encourages Scholars to be ambitious in their research endeavors by tackling important questions that will advance theory, policy, and practice for youth and to do so with an expanded array of expertise that includes different methods, disciplinary perspectives, and content knowledge. Applicants identify areas in which they seek to expand their expertise, and propose five-year research plans to develop it. The foundation recognizes that early-career researchers often have few supports and incentives to take measured risks with their work, and we view mentors as providing important assistance. Applicants are asked to create mentoring plans that will aid them in acquiring new expertise and producing stronger work.

To be eligible for consideration, applicants must:

1. Be employed at a nonprofit institution, either in the United States or abroad. In most instances, these organizations will have 501(c)(3) tax exempt status, set up to receive and process grant awards. However, in rare cases, colleges or universities (such as Arizona State University) will not have 501(c)(3) tax exemption. If the institution fits into this category, the foundation can instead accept an IRS determination letter which states that it is classified as a school under sections 509a1 and 170b1Aii of the IRS Code
2. Submit a project that is consistent with the Foundation's Current Research Interests
3. Address issues that have compelling relevance for theory, and policies or practices, affecting the settings of youth ages 8 to 25 in the United States or a vulnerable subpopulation of those youth
4. Have received their terminal degree within seven years of submitting their application. In many scholarly disciplines this translates to a maximum of seven years following the award of the doctoral degree and includes time spent as a post-doctoral fellow. In medicine, the seven-year maximum is dated from the completion of the first residency. Please note, those applying in 2011 must have received their terminal degree in 2004 or later. The award may not be used as a post-doctoral fellowship.

UIC is restricted to one application per college.

Additional Information

Deadlines

Letter of Intent

OVCR may reserve submission slots for previously submitted but unfunded proposals that received highly competitive ratings from the external sponsor.    These will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis by the Vice Chancellor.  For consideration, scanned copies of your complete reviews (not just summary) must be included with LOI.

Depending upon the number of LOIs submitted, OVCR might be required to facilitate an internal peer review process to select UIC’s submission(s) to this program.  White paper instructions will be posted if necessary.

eLOI Form & Instructions – Adobe Acrobat Requirements

1. Download the file directly to your computer or to a disk, right click on the link, then select "save link as" or "save target as" from the dropdown options.
2. Open eLOI.
3. Position the hand pointer inside a form field and click.
• To accept the field change and go to the next field, press Tab or use your mouse to click on the next form field.
• To accept the field change and go to the previous field, press Shift + Tab or use your mouse to click on the previous form field.
4. Complete the form fields.
5. After completing the form, click “Save” then click “Submit to RDS@uic.edu”.

Letter of Intent (LOI): eLOI Form (Fillable PDF*)

*Please note:

• Fields highlighted in red are required to successfully submit the form.
• Do not print then submit scanned version of e-LOI via email.

Please contact Tony Halford at ahalford@uic.edu or 6-7036 with any questions.

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