"Search Institute is excited to launch its 2025 Summer Scholars Fellowship! The Fellowship is a virtual, three-month paid opportunity for doctoral students to engage in applied research. The goal of this fellowship is to broaden the pathway into applied research, especially for scholars historically under-represented in research. Scholars will receive mentorship from Search Institute researchers, engage in applied research focused on positive youth development, and translate research into relevant tools, resources, or other public facing products. Search Institute will fund up to four scholars in 2025."

Final submissions are due by 11:59 pm PST on March 28th, 2025.

The Russell Sage Foundation (RSF), in collaboration with the Criminal Justice program at Arnold Ventures (AV), is pleased to announce its first annual grants competition for early-career scholars. The goal is to cultivate a pipeline of researchers conducting causal research on the criminal justice system. Criminal justice policies and practices include the work of the police, courts, jails, prisons, probation and parole, and immigration detention. Proposals must include causal research designs that can reliably isolate the treatment effects of a policy, practice, or intervention. Examples include difference-in-differences, regression discontinuity, instrumental variables, and randomized controlled trials. Mixed methods projects will be considered if a causal research design is central to the proposal.

To be eligible, applicants must be tenure-track assistant professors at a college or university in the U.S. at the start of the grant period. They encourage applicants who have not previously received RSF support. The program prioritizes disciplinary diversity and welcomes applications from scholars who are underrepresented in the social sciences, and/or employed at under-resourced universities. The maximum grant is $100,000.

The proposal deadline is April 3, 2025, for funding starting October 1, 2025.

RSF staff will discuss the Causal Research on Criminal Justice System Grants competition application process at a webinar on March 4, 2025, at 2PM ET.

Read more about the Causal Research on the Criminal Justice System Grants competition here.

The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is seeking a Research Director for its Center for Science and Democracy (CSD) to manage a team of researchers that are working to ensure that government decisions are informed by the best possible science and evidence, free from political interference, responsive to diverse community voices. CSD also puts science and scientists into action to strengthen US democracy by working for fair and inclusive elections and processes of governance.

See the complete position announcement online.

"The Religion and Social Change Lab (RaSCL) at Duke University is seeking a postdoctoral research associate. You will join a team of researchers studying religious leaders, with a particular emphasis on seminary training.

"The position will entail writing original research articles and stakeholder reports broadly on clergy formation, the dynamics of politics and polarization in Mainline Protestant churches, clergy health, and the religious trends impacting churches and those who lead them. In addition, the successful candidate can devote a small portion of their time to publishing research from their dissertation. We expect the successful candidate to publish in peer-reviewed journals and contribute to stakeholder reports."

Applicants must have completed a PhD in sociology or psychology prior to the start date. The initial appointment will be for one year. A second year will be offered to candidates showing high levels of productivity. Review of candidates will begin immediately until the position is filled. The anticipated start date is July 1, 2025. The position will require relocation to the Raleigh/Durham area. (Posted 2/6/25.)

The NOMIS & Science Young Explorer Award recognizes and rewards early-career M.D., Ph.D., or M.D./Ph.D. scientists that perform research at the intersection of the social and life sciences. Essays written by these bold researchers on their recent work are judged for clarity, scientific quality, creativity, and demonstration of cross-disciplinary approaches to address fundamental questions.  

A cash prize of up to US $15,000 will be awarded to essay winners, and their engaging essays will be published in Science. Winners will also be invited to share their work and forward-looking perspective with leading scientists in their respective fields at an award ceremony.
   
Apply by May 15, 2025

The Arnold Ventures Criminal Justice Innovation Fellowships support post-doctoral fellows who are pursuing policy-relevant causal research designed to innovate and evaluate cost-effective and scalable policy solutions that advance the efficacy and equity of criminal justice practices.

We invite applications for a fellowship to begin in September 2025, for a period of up to two years. The Fellow will be expected to conduct research relevant to criminal justice practices in the United States, and will be required to devote up to 25% of their time to work on Arnold Ventures research projects.

The Fellow will need to have received a Ph.D. no earlier than September 2020 and no later than September 2025. The Fellow may reside in a location of their choosing and will receive a stipend of $120,000 with an additional supplement of $30,000 for benefits, research expenses, and travel. 

The Social Science Research Council seeks a postdoctoral fellow to join a research team aimed at producing estimates of the Marginal Value of Public Funds (MVPF) for a set of programs related to criminal justice policy. The team will be led by researchers at the University of Chicago and the University of Oregon and will have access to analyst support. The research team will work with the Policy Impacts initiative at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to apply the MVPF approach and codebase to estimates of the effects of a group of policies and programs. The policies and programs of interest include summer youth employment, programs providing cognitive behavioral therapy to high-risk individuals, and potentially other policies and programs.

The responsibilities of the postdoctoral fellow will include working closely with the research team to apply the MVPF framework and codebase to the relevant effect estimates, and producing both an academic paper based on this work and accessible summaries for practitioner audiences. The fellow should have received a PhD by August 2025. The fellowship is for one year, to begin in the summer of 2025, and may be renewable. The annual salary is $125,000, with full SSRC benefits during the fellowship term. Location is flexible within the U.S.

See full details on the SSRC website.

"The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program offers over 400 awards in more than 135 countries for U.S. citizens to teach, conduct research and carry out professional projects around the world.  College and university faculty, as well as artists and professionals from a wide range of fields can join over 400,000 Fulbrighters who have come away with enhanced skills, new connections, and greater mutual understanding."

The Fulbright Scholar Program's 2026-2027 competition launches on February 18, 2025. Register here to receive more information about webinars and other details.

The post-doctoral research fellow will work with Daniel Laurison, Associate Professor of Sociology, to manage Swarthmore College’s Healthy, Equitable and Responsive Democracy (HEARD) Initiative.

The mission of the Healthy Equitable and Responsive Democracy (HEARD) Initiative is to:

• Connect faculty within and beyond Swarthmore whose research has the potential to improve the health, equity, and responsiveness of US democracy.
• Support student-faculty research collaborations and student research on topics related to US democracy.
• Communicate the results of HEARD-affiliated research to broader publics.

Position Length: 3 years. Salary starts at: $65,000/year. Priority will be given to candidates who submit their materials on or before February 23rd. 

More details and application via the Swarthmore website.

The American Educational Research Association (AERA) is currently accepting applications for its Congressional Fellowship Program. This fellowship provides an exciting opportunity for AERA members to come to Washington, DC and use research, outside of an academic setting, to inform public policy while working on Capitol Hill.

AERA Congressional Fellows benefit from a comprehensive two-week orientation as well as professional development and networking opportunities throughout the year. AERA partners with the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) that administers these professional development activities to AERA fellows and fellows of other research societies. AERA also provides additional professional development and networking opportunities targeted specifically to education researchers.

Awarded fellows will receive fellowship support including a 12-month stipend (up to $80,000) as well as funds to attend the AERA Annual Meeting. Doctorate-level researchers at all career stages are encouraged to apply.

The application deadline is Monday, March 10, 2025 (11:59 PM Pacific Time). For more information, see the Call and guidelines.