Grants

Enrich Your Scholarly or Creative Practice

Gender Studies offers competitive grants to our graduate minor students to assist with expenses associated with research and creative work, including materials, fieldwork, and travel to conferences, workshops, or archives. A donation from Dr. Ann Biddlecom (’89) launched our graduate grants program in 2018, and her continued support, along with that from other alumni, enables our Program to offer these grants annually.

Apply for a Graduate Research Grant

We are eager to support proposals from our graduate minor students that have gender and/or sexuality as a key focus and that demonstrate the student’s ability to apply their Gender Studies education in original scholarship or creative work. These grants are awarded twice a year, and up to six grants of $400 each are awarded annually. The Director of Graduate Studies reviews grant applications and selects recipients based on the quality of individual proposals, as well as the quantity of applications for each application cycle. Recipients are encouraged to present their funded research or creative work at a Graduate Research Workshop, as well as to submit their work for the annual G. Margaret Porter Graduate Student Writing Awards.

To apply, complete and submit the Gender Studies Graduate Research Grant Application by noon on the first Friday in October, or by noon on the first Friday in February.  The following items must be uploaded with the application:

1. A 1-2-page summary of the research or creative project, including the title, topic, methodology/theory, projected scope of project, and rationale for a grant to advance the project.
2. A 1-page budget and explanation of other applications for funding.

For the fall grant cycle, students may apply retroactively for work completed as far back as July 1 and proactively for work completed as far forward as March 1. For the spring grant cycle, students may apply retroactively for work completed as far back as October 1 and retroactively for work completed as far forward as June 31.

Students may apply for more than one grant in a year; however, selection preference will be given to those students who have not received a grant previously.

Students who apply for these grants are expected to check with their home departments to ensure that their receipt of such funds would keep them within their maximum stipend limit.

Submit your grant application

Graduate Grant Recipients

About Dr. Biddlecom 

Dr. Ann Biddlecom is a member of the first class of Notre Dame undergraduate students who graduated with a Gender Studies Concentration in 1989. She later received a Ph.D. in sociology and population studies from Brown University. Dr. Biddlecom has worked on policy-relevant sexual and reproductive health research for the past twenty years. She previously directed a portfolio of international studies at the Guttmacher Institute. Her published research includes trends in contraceptive behaviors and fertility worldwide, adolescent HIV and pregnancy prevention, and sexual and reproductive decision-making. Previously, Dr. Biddlecom held research posts at the United Nations, the University of Michigan, and the Population Council.