Grants & Fellowships

The Social Sciences Division provides faculty and graduate students with information about grant funding services, resources for graduate students and first-time grant seekers, as well as training and workshop updates. Please contact Ashlee Tews if you are searching for something specific and cannot locate it on these pages.

Ashlee Ann Tews

• Title
  • Director of Research Development
• Phone
  • 831-459-1644
• Campus Email
  • ashleeac@ucsc.edu

Orlena M Yee

• Campus Email
  • omyee@ucsc.edu

Federal and private funding searches

• Pivot: Pivot is a searchable funding opportunity and expertise database. Select UCSC from the Institutional Credentials pull-down menu, then use your ucsc.edu email. A guide to using Pivot can be found here. 
• GRAPES: Search for graduate student funding opportunities from among 625 scholarships, grants, fellowships, and awards.

UC systemwide funding searches

• University of California Office of the President (UCOP) Funding: This website lists UC systemwide research funding opportunities available to UC faculty, researchers, and graduate students.

Private foundation funding searches

• Philanthropy News Digest: Search for private foundation funding opportunities. You can create a free account with your email to access active RFPs.

Email list funding resources

• Grants.gov Email Notifications
• NSF Email Updates
• NIH Weekly Email
• US Department of Education Email Updates

Federal funding searches

• Grants.gov: The single access point for over 1,000 grant programs offered by the 26 federal grant-making agencies. 
• National Science Foundation: This is by far the most common federal agency from which Social Sciences Division faculty request funding. Most social sciences grants fall under the Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences directorate or the Education and Human Resources directorate.
• National Institutes of Health: The most common NIH agencies the Social Sciences Divisions has received funding from are the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development.
• Ed.gov: The Guide to U.S. Department of Education Programs and Resources, commonly referred to as the Guide to ED Programs, provides an overview of all Department of Education programs authorized and funded under federal law.
• Federal Grants Wire: A free resource that includes current information on federal grants and loans. Opportunities can be searched by applicant type, subject, government agency, or assistance type.

UCSC resources for funding

• Institute for Social Transformation Funding Opportunities
• Development and Fundraising for Faculty

Pre-dissertation fellowships

NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program – The purpose of the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP) is to ensure the quality, vitality, and diversity of the scientific and engineering workforce of the United States. GRFP seeks to broaden participation in science and engineering of underrepresented groups, including women, minorities, persons with disabilities, and veterans. The five-year fellowship provides three years of financial support inclusive of an annual stipend of $37,000.

Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship – This competition year the program will award approximately 75 predoctoral fellowships. These fellowships provide three years of support for individuals engaged in graduate study leading to a Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) or Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) degree. Predoctoral fellowships will be awarded in a national competition administered by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine on behalf of the Ford Foundation. The awards will be made to individuals who, in the judgment of the review panels, have demonstrated superior academic achievement, are committed to a career in teaching and research at the college or university level in the U.S., show promise of future achievement as scholars and teachers, and are well prepared to use diversity as a resource for enriching the education of all students.  

ISI Graduate Fellowship Program – Each year Intercollegiate Studies Institute provides fellowships to outstanding graduate students who are committed to teach.

Paul and Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans – The Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans program honors the contributions of immigrants and children of immigrants to the United States. Each year, supports thirty New Americans– immigrants or the children of immigrants–who are poised to make significant contributions to US society, culture, or their academic field. Each Fellowship supports one to two years of graduate study in any field and in any advanced degree-granting program in the United States. Each award is for up to a total of $90,000. Here is the financial break down: Each Fellow receives $25,000 in stipend support a year (all stipend awards are capped at $50,000 per year), as well as 50 percent of required tuition and fees, up to $20,000 per year, for one to two years. The first year of Fellowship funding cannot be deferred.

Dissertation thesis funding

American Association of University Women American Dissertation Fellowship – The purpose of the American Dissertation Fellowship is to offset a scholar’s living expenses while they complete their dissertation. Fellows must use the award for the final year of writing the dissertation.

Ford Foundation Dissertation Fellowships – Dissertation Fellowships provide one year of support for individuals working to complete a research-based, dissertation-required Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) or Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) degree that will prepare them for the pursuit of a career in academic teaching or research. The fellowship is intended to support the final year of writing and defense of the dissertation.

Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowships – The Mellon/ACLS Dissertation Completion Fellowships support advanced graduate students in the last year of PhD dissertation writing to help them complete projects in the humanities and interpretive social sciences that will form the foundations of their scholarly careers. 

NSF Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grants – Some of NSF’s programs offer grants to doctoral students, allowing them to undertake significant data-gathering projects and conduct field research in settings away from their campus.

Russell Sage Foundation Dissertation Research Grants – The Russell Sage Foundation (RSF) has established a dissertation research grants (DRG) program to support innovative and high-quality dissertation research projects that address questions relevant to RSF’s priority areas: Behavioral Science and Decision Making in Context; Future of Work; Race, Ethnicity and Immigration; Immigration and Immigrant Integration; and Social, Political, and Economic Inequality.

• Sample Research Proposals and Research Proposal Checklist
• Research Methodology and Design/Data Management
• Free Proposal Writing Guide by the Social Sciences Research Council
• NSF Guide to Proposal Writing
• NIH Proposal Writing Resources – Grant Basics 
• Proposal Writing Timeline

• David G. Bauer, The “How To” Grants Manual: Successful Grantseeking Techniques for Obtaining Public and Private Grants. American Council on Education, Series on Higher Education. Phoenix: Oryx Press, 1993.
• William Gerin, Writing the NIH Grant Proposal: a step by step guide. Sage Publications, Inc., 2006.
• Phale D. Hale, Jr., Writing Grant Proposals That Win. Aspen Publishers, Inc., 2000.
• Jeremy T. Miner, Models of Proposal Planning & Writing. Praeger Publishers, 2005.