2026 Dissertation Research Grants
The Russell Sage Foundation and the W. E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research jointly support dissertation research on employment-related topics in any discipline, with particular interest in policy-relevant research pertaining to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities.
Eligibility
Applicants for Dissertation Research Grants must be enrolled doctoral students at an institution of higher education in the U.S. or a U.S. territory, who have completed all program requirements except the dissertation. To receive funding, an applicant whose proposal is selected for a grant must have their dissertation supervisor document that the dissertation research a) is the same research that was described in the DRG proposal and b) has been approved by the dissertation committee. In cases where a dissertation consists of several related papers, the proposal should focus on the most important paper. These grants will support all aspects of dissertation research (data collection, data preparation, data analysis and writing), but are not intended for students who have completed data collection and analysis and propose to spend the entire grant period writing the dissertation.
More details on the Dissertation Grants from RSF
Dissertation Grant Tips and Resources
Information on 2026 application process
See the 2025 Dissertation Grants winners
See the 2024 Dissertation Grants winners
See the 2023 Dissertation Grants winners
The deadline to apply for the 2026 Grants is February 3, 2026.