Russell Sage Foundation, in collaboration with Arnold Ventures

Award: up to $100,000
Deadline: April 1, 2026
Interested? Notify [email protected] for more details and an LOI worksheet. All LOI documents will be due to our office no later than March 25th.

Full Request for Proposal
Overview

For early career scholars, funder seeks to support causal research on the criminal justice system. Criminal justice policies and practices include the work of 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.

Important Information

Proposal is limited to early career researchers.
There is a Mentorship and Research Conference where grantees will present findings, in Fall '27 or Winter '28, for which costs are reimbursable.

Process

This is a two-step application process.

The Letter of Intent (LOI/step 1) is managed by the Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations.
If you would like to apply, email [email protected] for more details and an LOI worksheet.
Submit the completed LOI worksheet by March 25, 2026.
If invited to submit a full proposal (step 2), it will be managed by the Sponsored Programs Administration (SPA).