Congressional Research Grants

DEADLINE: All proposals must be received no later than March 1, 2015.

The Dirksen Congressional Center invites applications for grants to fund research on congressional leadership and the U.S. Congress. The Center, named for the late Senate Minority Leader Everett M. Dirksen, is a private, nonpartisan, nonprofit research and educational organization devoted to the study of Congress. Since 1978, the Congressional Research Grants program has invested more than $944,208 to support over 436 projects. Applications are accepted at any time, but the deadline is March 1 for the annual selections, which are announced in April.

The Center has allocated $50,000 in 2015 for grants (an increase of $15,000 over 2014) with individual awards capped at $3,500. Stay tuned for news on the application and selection process.

The competition is open to individuals with a serious interest in studying Congress. Political scientists, historians, biographers, scholars of public administration or American studies, and journalists are among those eligible. The Center encourages graduate students who have successfully defended their dissertation prospectus to apply and awards a significant portion of the funds for dissertation research. Applicants must be U.S. citizens who reside in the United States.

The grants program does not fund undergraduate or pre-Ph.D. study. Organizations are not eligible. Research teams of two or more individuals are eligible. No institutional overhead or indirect costs may be claimed against a Congressional Research Grant.

Download the Word document -- Congressional Research Grant Application -- and complete the required entries. You may send the application as a Word or pdf attachment to an e-mail directed to Frank Mackaman at fmackaman@dirksencenter.org. Please insert the following in the Subject Line: "CRG Application [insert your surname]." Thank you.

The Congressional Research Award Application contains the following elements: Applicant Information, Congressional Research Award Project Description, Budget, Curriculum Vita, Reference Letter, and Overhead Waiver Letter.

The entire application when printed must NOT exceed ten pages. Applications may be single-spaced. Please use fonts no smaller than 10-point. This total does NOT include the reference letter (one additional page) or the Overhead Waiver Letter (one additional page).

All application materials must be received on or before March 1, 2015. Awards will be announced in April 2015.

Complete information about what kind of research projects are eligible for consideration, what could a Congressional Research Award pay for, application procedures, and how recipients are selected may be found at The Center's Website: http://www.dirksencenter.org/print_grants_CRGs.htm.