Graduate Dissertation and Pre-Dissertation Grant

Description

The Bobst Center provides limited research support for Princeton University Politics Department Ph.D. candidates working in the areas of peace and justice. The size of these grants varies, but will not exceed $6,000. The executive committee expects that applicants will be able to show that they have solicited funds from other sources within the University, as well as from national or international sources, and that Bobst monies will top up other support in most cases. Small requests for exploratory research need not show evidence of effort to secure outside support, but larger requests should be accompanied by a list of applications pending. Center support is limited to two grants per student over the course of a student’s career. The Fall 2023 deadline is October 28, 2023. The Spring 2024 deadline is March 20, 2024.

The executive committee asks applicants to send regular research proposals, five pages in length (see below note for details regarding length). Please provide a short project summary that states the question the research tries to answer and its relationship to peace or justice, the significance of the question for policy or for the development of general insight into important aspects of peace and justice, the tentative answers under consideration, a sketch of the research design, the kinds of activities required to complete the project, the amount of money requested, and other applications pending. The Bobst Executive Committee also requires a letter of support from an adviser. This letter should explain how the proposal pertains to your research and to your progress in the program. The proposal and letter of reference should be uploaded to the Bobst Dissertation and Pre-dissertation Research Grant funding opportunity on the SAFE website. Our general guidelines may prove helpful.

Those who win Bobst support will be asked to provide a statement about how they used the resources. The Bobst Center reserves the right to rescind any award after six months in cases where the awardee has failed to accept the award or provide information needed for the dispersal of the grant money.

Examples of projects partly funded in past years include assistance for the acquisition and analysis of data on American public opinion about terrorism and foreign policy and research on the effects of political and civil rights movements. Other subjects that fall within the mission include studies of conflict and conflict resolution, religious and ethnic tolerance, and inequality. Dissertation research on international development falls into a gray area that is not clearly part of the center’s mission and the executive committee will consider applications cautiously. Grants to continue dissertation write-up beyond the University deadline are strongly discouraged.

Guidelines for Proposal

A good proposal provides a blueprint for research. Most successful applications for Bobst Center support provide the following information in roughly the order set forth:

  1. Clear statement of the question the project will try to answer. Devising a clear and feasible research question is often the toughest part of the job. Remember that a question ends with a question mark; it is not an allusion to a broad topic area. “I want to understand why some people decide to vote while others do not” is a question, while “voting behavior” or “turnout” are both topics.
  2. A paragraph on the significance of the project. Social resources are scarce. Why is it important to find an answer to the question you have posed? Does the question have policy significance? Will it produce insight important to a lot of people? To whom does your answer potentially matter? Have others pointed to the importance of the subject?
  3. A paragraph that shows the link between the question and the center’s focus on “peace and justice.” Be explicit.
  4. Two or three paragraphs on the answers others have offered to this question or to related questions and a note about why you consider these answers inadequate. In a short proposal, we do not ask you to go into great detail, but no one should offer a proposal without having done some investigation first. In a few rare instances we may accept proposals that simply state your thoughts about the likely answer to the question, but in almost all instances reviewers want to see that you have done some homework.
  5. Your own tentative answer, hunch, or hypothesis and why you think it holds promise.
  6. A short description of your research design or methods for answering your question. What information must you obtain to determine whether your favored answer is wrong or whether alternative plausible answers are wrong? How will you secure this information? Through case histories? Small surveys? Examination of patterns in client records?
  7. Remember that interviews and surveys usually require university human subjects clearance, under federal law. Please consult the university websites on this subject (OPR). If you are using historical materials or other people’s survey data, you generally won’t need this clearance. You should be familiar with the rules and prepare your project for review. If you do not have clearance by the time the committee makes its decisions, the Center may make an award pending receipt of the IRB waiver or approval.
  8. If you propose to carry out work abroad, you are required to register in accordance with University regulations before your departure.
  9. A working bibliography and/or footnotes that clearly show you know the scholarship related to your topic even if you have not read everything on the subject.
  10. A budget which offers a reasonable overview of expenses related to your research (transportation, survey costs, accommodation and meals, visa costs, etc.)

Note to Graduate Students:

  • Please make sure you discuss the proposal with at least one adviser who can provide a letter of reference.
  • There is a five-page limit for your proposal submission, including your budget page.
    • ​​​​The 5-page proposal should include all the relevant information. Details about the research design or other important information should be included in the proposal itself and not in linked documents or lengthy appendices. While you may include links and appendices, reviewers should be able to locate all the relevant information in the proposal itself.