The Center for Computational Insights on Inequality and Society at Rice (CIISR) is pleased to announce a groundbreaking funding opportunity for faculty, undergraduate and graduate students, and postdoctoral fellows in the School of Social Sciences. Funding will support researchers at all levels in acquiring data, accessing secure or restricted-use data, or using research computing services to support, enhance, and advance research projects.
Purpose
Funding will be competitively awarded to facilitate innovative social science research that relies on specialized data resources, secure or restricted-access data, and advanced computational analysis.
Award Information
Estimated Number of Awards: approximately 10 awards will be available
Anticipated Funding Amount per Award: up to $5,000, higher amounts may be proposed and must be justified
Submission Deadline
Proposals are due by April 18, 2025.
Eligibility
Proposals are welcomed from:
- Full-time faculty at all ranks from a School of Social Sciences department
- Postdoctoral fellows affiliated with a Social Sciences department or research center whose position will continue beyond July 1, 2025
- Graduate students actively enrolled in a Social Sciences graduate program, not graduating before July 1, 2025
- Undergraduate students with a declared Social Sciences major or minor, not graduating before July 1, 2025
Eligible Expenses
- Dataset acquisition or licensing fees
- Secure or restricted-use data access or related administrative fees
- Fees for computing resources, such as cloud computing and high-performance computing
- Fees for specialized software directly related to computational analysis needs
- Please contact us to inquire about expenses not listed here
- Costs must be incurred during FY25
- No support will be provided for computer hardware
Proposal Requirements
- Project title
- Investigator name(s), department affiliation or major(s)/minor(s), and e-mail address
- Abstract (maximum 250 words)
- Project description (maximum 2 pages, single-spaced) detailing:
- Research question(s) and their scientific and social significance
- Detailed description of the required data or computing resources
- Justification for how the requested resources will directly benefit the project
- Expected products and impact of the work
- For students: include a description of how this research project will impact your educational experience
- Budget and justification (itemized, maximum 1 page)
- Timeline for the proposed research activities
- For students and postdoctoral fellows, provide the name and e-mail address of your faculty mentor/advisor. The mentor/advisor must sign the proposal to affirm their support for the proposed research and funding.
Evaluation Criteria
Proposals will be evaluated by a review committee on the basis of the four components of the project description.
Requirements and Expectations
Those who receive an award are required to:
- Provide a report (maximum 2 pages) summarizing the research outcomes to be submitted by May 1, 2026.
- Acknowledge the award in future presentations and publications on the proposed research project.
Award Notification
Applicants will be notified of funding decisions by April 30, 2025.
Submission Instructions
Please submit your proposals online in PDF format at https://tinyurl.com/CIISR-Funding-S25
Questions?
Questions about proposal preparation and eligibility can be directed to Celeste Rogers at cr101@rice.edu.
Submit Your CIISR Funding Proposal
