Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant

The APSA Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant (DDRIG) is a nationally competitive funding opportunity administered by the American Political Science Association (APSA) that supports advanced doctoral research in the field of political science. Designed to enhance the theoretical and empirical quality of dissertation work, the DDRIG program encourages proposals that deepen understanding of citizenship, government, and politics. Since 2020, APSA has supported 139 doctoral candidates from 53 U.S. PhD-granting institutions, reinforcing its broad commitment to scholarly development and methodological rigor in political science research. Each year, the DDRIG program anticipates awarding 20 to 25 individual grants, each ranging from $10,000 to $20,000. These grants are intended solely for direct research costs that are not typically funded by a student’s home institution. Eligible uses of funding include travel to archives or field sites, data collection expenses such as surveys or interviews, purchasing datasets, transcription, specialized research equipment, and methodological training. Indirect costs, overhead, and general university charges are explicitly excluded from allowable expenditures. APSA also reserves the right to cap grant amounts at $10,000 if funding from the National Science Foundation is not secured for the cycle. For the 2026 cycle, the application window will open on April 1, 2026, and close on June 1, 2026. Applicants must prepare a comprehensive submission that includes a 500-word proposal summary, a 10-page single-spaced project description, and multiple supporting documents. These include a signed Adviser Support Form, Institutional Support Form, detailed budget and justification, data management plan, statement of professional development, and a declaration on research ethics. Applicants conducting research involving human subjects are required to submit IRB approval or documentation of pending IRB submission. Importantly, the application must be anonymized: names and institutional affiliations must not appear in the uploaded documents or filenames. The grant application process includes both intellectual merit and broader impact review criteria. Proposals should clearly articulate the central research question, theoretical grounding, empirical methods, and intended contributions to political science scholarship. Broader impact should be demonstrated by the project’s potential to benefit society or inform policy. APSA also values long-term academic development and asks applicants to explain how their research fits into future scholarly and public engagement goals. The program is recurring on an annual basis and supports research that may span one to two years, depending on the proposed budget and timeline. Evaluation emphasizes methodological clarity, the feasibility of the research plan, and the project’s alignment with the APSA’s mission to support high-quality, impactful research in political science. Applicants are strongly encouraged to consult APSA’s guidance on ethics and human subjects research when preparing their submission. Questions can be directed to the APSA DDRIG program team at [email protected]. All program materials, templates, and application instructions can be accessed at the APSA DDRIG program site. The full 2026 application guidelines are also available in PDF format at https://apsanet.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/APSA-DDRIG-Application-Information-2026.pdf