Skip to main content
more options

Seed Grants to Support Faculty Research

Program Description
One of the Institute's central goals is to enhance the visibility and impact of development scholarship being conducted by faculty members in the Field of Development Sociology and in the Department of Development Sociology. While encouraging a higher level of collaboration through the research working group program (RWG) contributes to this goal, and is an important goal in and of itself, our research profile and impact will also be raised by enhanced productivity of the Field's individual scholars, and particularly by their ability to secure extramural funding for needed research. Seed grants are an effective mechanism for encouraging scholars to initiate innovative and risky research directions, and/or prepare proposals for extramural funding. Seed grants enable faculty to complete pilot projects, test new methodologies on small populations, collect preliminary data, prepare theoretical and/or substantive syntheses that identify gaps in knowledge, unresolved scholarly debates, and opportunities for replication. These types of accomplishments demonstrate capabilities that are not necessarily apparent on a grant applicant's CV, and hence can be effective in convincing foundations and government agencies of the applicant's ability to perform the proposed research.

Application/Selection Process
Two research seed grants ($6,000 each) will be awarded each year. Faculty in the graduate field of Development Sociology and senior associates in the Department of Development Sociology are eligible to apply for this grant. Proposals are requested at the beginning of November. Awards will be made soon after proposals are approved. Proposals will be evaluated by a committee of Cornell faculty members selected from outside of the Field of Development Sociology. Funds must be expended within two years. After that all unspent (or uncommitted) funds will be recovered by the Institute. Recipients are required to prepare a brief termination report that will be published on the Institute's web site. They are also encouraged to present a public seminar on research supported by the Institute.

Proposals should be submitted to Mary Wright (PIGD@cornell.edu) by November 1. Proposals should not exceed 8 double spaced pages (not including references, tables, graphs, etc.), and should include the following:

  • Specific goals and objectives of the proposed study: Indicate how the proposed research will advance knowledge by resolving a scholarly debate, extending existing knowledge on a particular issue, or replicating research on a particular topic in a different population and/or at a different time; Indicate how this research will contribute to informing development policy and/or practice.
  • Contribution to Polson Institute Research Theme(s): Describe the overall research area to which the proposed study contributes, and briefly explain how this area of research contributes to advancing knowledge on one or more of the Polson Institute's substantive themes.
  • Data and Methodology: Describe the methodological approach to be used in the study, and explain why this approach is the most appropriate for the substantive question(s) being examined. Identify data set(s) to be used (if a secondary data analysis), or if primary data collection is envisioned explain data collection strategy.
  • Connection to a Larger Program of Research: Explain how this pilot study will position the investigator(s) to obtain funding for a larger program of research. Identify the foundation, government agency, and or other outside funding organization to which a proposal for funding will be submitted. Explain how this seed grant will enhance your competitiveness in obtaining funding from this organization or agency.

 

Seed Grants Awarded 2002-2006:
» Charles Geisler—Land Use Planning as a Response to 9/11
» Linda Williams—Exploratory Study of Attitudes Toward Marriage in Southeast Asia
» Max Pfeffer/Pilar Parra—Immigration and Forms of Social Capital: Impacts in Sending and Receiving Areas
» Joe Francis/Max Pfeffer—The Local Spatial Effects of Macro Policy Change: Commodity Price Supports and Farmland Change in the U.S.
» Parfait Eloundou-Enyegue—Culture or Structure: The Formation of Educational Inequalities in Developing Countries
» Nina Glasgow—Social Well-Being Among Older In-Migrants to Non-Metro Retirement Counties
» David Brown—The Road to 'Europe': Examining the Social Impacts of Romania's First Modern Motorway
» Douglas Gurak/Mary Kritz—Immigrant Churning and New Destinations in the USA
» Philip McMichael—Updating Food Regime Analysis for the Early 21st Century