Funding

Overview of Process, Eligibility, Requirements, and Deadlines

The Rockefeller Center Director, Rockefeller Center Associate Director, Rockefeller Center Executive Director, the Associate Dean for the Social Sciences, and the other members of the Rockefeller Center's Faculty Council review applications and select the most promising prospects for funding, based on assessments of proposal quality and likely impact. The Faculty Council includes members from each Social Science department, and applicants are encouraged to work with their department's Council member to ensure their proposal is well-written and meets the requirements outlined below.

Grant budgets typically range from $5,000 to $15,000. Rockefeller Center research funding is derived from various endowed funds. Grants may be designated as funded through specific endowments (e.g., Reiss Family Faculty Research Fund).

In all cases, published research emanating from Center grants must acknowledge the financial support of the Rockefeller Center, including specific endowments when appropriate.

For all grants, the Project Director (PD) must be a faculty member of a department reporting to the Associate Dean for the Social Sciences. Faculty from other departments or programs in the Arts & Sciences must obtain prior approval from the Rockefeller Center Director before applying. Funding awards will prioritize applications from tenured and tenure-track faculty members. Other faculty members with long term (greater than 6 years) appointments at Dartmouth (e.g. Lecturer-track and Research-track faculty) are eligible to apply, with awards subject to fund availability and tenured/tenure-track faculty prioritization. Collaborators may be Dartmouth faculty or scholars from other institutions. If collaborators reside at other institutions, evidence of cost sharing in the research project should be presented. Faculty with an active grant may not receive a second grant unless existing funds will be spent prior to the award period of the second grant.

Applications will be accepted through Sunday, October 5, 2025, for the 2025-2026 Academic Year. Funds will generally be available from the time of reward receipt (by November 1, 2025) through the end of the next Academic/Fiscal Year close date of June 10, 2027, unless another time frame is requested and granted.

 

Application Components Required

The application form includes the following sections:

1.  Project Overview, and Abstract (250 words max)

2.  Project Budget

3.  Project Proposal (approx. / max. 3,000 words)

Proposals should address an interdisciplinary audience, and must include the following:

  • Clear statement of the research question
  • Concise review of relevant literature
  • Clear articulation of methods to be employed
  • Implications of research
  • Timeline for completion

4.  CV of Project Director(s), and information on collaborators/consultants

Research involving human subjects must be reviewed by the Dartmouth's Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects (CPHS). CPHS guidelines are available at: http://www.dartmouth.edu/~cphs. You may also contact CPHS over email at cphs@dartmouth.edu or call 646-6482.

Note: Applications must be submitted through the Jotform application form via the link at the bottom of the page, and also included here: Application Submission Form.
 
For an overview of the Jotform application and the fields and format it will request, please review (but do not fill out and submit) the following: Application Overview/Preview.  

Evaluation Criteria

  • Quality of the proposal
  • Likelihood of a project leading to publication or product
  • Potential broader impacts
  • Importance of Center funding to the completion of the project
  • Evidence that the applicant is seeking funding outside of Dartmouth
  • Benefit to the Dartmouth community, particularly to student engagement in the research enterprise
  • We welcome submissions from junior faculty and first-time applicants
  • We welcome applications for seed funding and early stage work on larger projects

For more information about grant administration, funding administration, and logistics, please contact:

- Tesha Davis, Center Administrator, Tesha.M.Davis@dartmouth.edu

For more information about academic and research matters related to grants, substantive criteria, and review, please contact:

- Professor Herschel Nachlis, Associate Director and Senior Policy Fellow of the Rockefeller Center, Herschel.S.Nachlis@dartmouth.edu.

APPLICATION SUBMISSION

Applications will be accepted through Sunday, October 5, 2025, for the 2025-2026 Academic Year.

Funds will generally be available from the time of reward receipt (by November 1, 2025) through the end of the next Academic/Fiscal Year close date of June 10, 2027, unless another time frame is requested and granted.

Please submit your application here: Application Submission Form.

  • "The grant went towards field work in Nepal for a project related to understanding women’s reproductive health lives." Sienna Craig, Associate Professor of Anthropology.

  • Sociology Professors Kim Rogers and Emily Walton hosted the “Interacting Across Difference” Conference with support from the Rockefeller Center.