AAR Individual Research Grants

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About

Individual research grants provide support for important aspects of research, such as fieldwork or travel to archives and libraries.

Grants range from $500 to $5000 USD.

View past winners

Criteria

• Applicants must be current AAR members
• Applicants must have completed and received the doctorate
• Applicants who have received any AAR research grant award in the previous five (5) years will not be considered

AAR members who meet the eligibility requirements may submit more than one proposal and may apply to more than one grant program. However, the same grant proposal may not be submitted to more than one grant program. If selected, only one grant proposal will be funded to a member who submits multiple proposals or to multiple programs.

Ineligible Expenses

• Indirect or overhead costs
• Donations
• Research assistance or release time – unless directly related to the funded project
• Travel to attend the AAR November Annual Meeting including lodging, ground transportation, meals, or other related expenses.

How to Apply

Applicants must be AAR members in good standing at the time of application and throughout the grant period.

Applicants must submit their application form and required materials through the online AAR grant application submission system.

Late, emailed, or incomplete application or materials cannot be accepted.

Application Materials

Applicants should be prepared to upload the following required materials, all of which must be compiled into a single document in PDF or Word format:

• Cover page that includes

  • Applicant’s name
  • Applicant’s institutional affiliation (if applicable)
  • Project title
  • Grant type
  • Requested grant amount (USD)

• Abstract

• • 50 words or fewer describing the project

• Two-Page Focused Project Description

  • Description of the research project with details about the aims and significance, and explanation about how the award would be used

• Project Budget and Timeline

  • Completed budget template (use the template provided)
  • 1-2 page narrative description of the expected costs (USD) related to the research project. Budget should include other sources of support—e.g., funds granted by your institution, funds requested from outside agencies—and indicate the total award amount sought from the AAR
  • One page description of the project timeline

• Curriculum Vitae

  • No more than two pages

• Signed Consent

  • Signed consent for use of final project report by AAR within AAR publications/social media.  The signed consent should include the following: “AAR works to raise the visibility of religious studies scholarship. Project participants permit AAR to use portions of the final report, including documentation or illustrations, in AAR publicity (online communications and social media), with appropriate attribution.”
    The signed consent must be included as a separate document/page.

Additional materials cannot be accepted.

Selection Process

All eligible grant proposals will be reviewed and assessed by the AAR Research Grants Jury using the following criteria:

• Clarity and focus of the research to be pursued
• Contribution to scholarship in a field or subfield of religion and significance of the contribution for advancing the understanding of religion or for advancing interdisciplinary discussions between religion and other humanistic and social science disciplines
• Adequacy of the overall work plan, including goals, objectives, and time frame for the completion of the project

Application Status Notification

• Notification of the application status will typically be sent to the applicant in January.

Grant Award Period

• For awarded projects, research expenses can be undertaken anytime within the calendar year of the award year.
• The grant period starts on January 1 and ends on December 31. Successful applicants will have the entire calendar year to complete the grant funded activities.

Grant Winner Expectations

• Grant recipients must maintain their AAR membership throughout the grant period.
• For awarded projects, grant funds will be made payable to the grantee.
  Note: Grant funds cannot be remitted to a grantee’s institution or someone other than the individual grantee.
• The grant payment will be made in the form of an electronic funds transfer.
• For awarded projects, grant funds will be disbursed until June 30 of the award year.
  The required forms must be submitted to AAR Accounting by May 31.
• The AAR will issue the grant recipient a Form 1099 in the amount of the grant for income tax use. The grant recipient will be responsible for any applicable income taxes due on the grant revenue.
• A final report is due within 30 days of completion of the grant. By January 31 of the following calendar year, the grant recipient must submit the required grant reports.

Grant Reports

Grant recipients must submit the following reports by January 31 of the following calendar year:

• A narrative description of the research supported by the AAR grant and the project outcomes
• A financial report detailing expenses

Questions

Questions may be sent to grants@aarweb.org.

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