The Spencer Foundation

The Spencer Foundation seeks to encourage a new generation of scholars from a wide range of disciplines and professional fields to undertake research relevant to the improvement of education.  In this vein, it supports the following programs:

• Dissertation Fellowship for Research Related to Education:  provides dissertation-writing support for those completing dissertations relevant to the improvement of education.  Approximately thirty fellowships of $25,000 are available to support individuals whose dissertations show potential for bringing fresh and constructive perspectives to the history, theory, or practice of formal or informal education anywhere in the world.  Although the dissertation topic must concern education, graduate study may be in any academic discipline or professional field.  In the past, fellowships have been awarded to candidates in anthropology, architecture, art history, economics, education, history, linguistics, literature, philosophy, political science, public health, psychology, religion, and sociology, but eligibility is not restricted to these academic areas. Candidates should be interested in pursuing further research in education once the doctorate is attained.  
  
  Applicants must be candidates for the doctoral degree at a graduate school in the U.S.  These fellowships are not intended to finance data collection or the completion of doctoral coursework, but rather to support the final analysis of the research topic and the writing of the dissertation.  For this reason, all applicants must document that they will have completed all pre-dissertation requirements by June 1 of the year in which the fellowship is awarded, and must provide a clear and specific plan for completing the dissertation within a one or two-year time frame.  Further information regarding the award may be found on the Foundation's web site.   Deadline:  application and materials due by November 4, 2008
  
  
• NAE/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowships:  jointly supported by the National Academy of Education at NYU and The Spencer Foundation, the NAE/Spencer Postdoctoral Fellowship Program promotes scholarship in the United States and abroad on matters relevant to the improvement of education in all its forms. Scholars anywhere in the world who have completed their doctorates within the last five years, and who wish to conduct research related to education, are eligible to apply. 
  

  Inquiries should be addressed to:

  The National Academy of Education
  500 Fifth Street, NW, #1049
  Washington, DC 20001
  202-334-2341
  E-mail:  info@naeducation.org

Spencer also provides research grants for investigations that promise to yield new knowledge about education in the U.S. or abroad.  The Foundation funds research grants that range in size from smaller grants that can be completed within a year, to larger, multi-year grants.  The research grant programs are organized around specific areas of inquiry. 

Lastly, Spencer also supports training programs through its Institutional Initiatives that seek to support innovative ways to address the systematic and creative training of education researchers and to promote a deeper understanding of educational practices. 

For more information on the above, please visit the Foundation's web page on Grant Programs.