Greetings,

We are excited to share an overview of funding opportunities from the Russell Sage Foundation (RSF) with deadlines in 2026. RSF funds social science research that extends the methods, data, and theories of the social sciences as a means of better documenting and understanding the nation’s most pressing social, political, and economic problems. More information about these funding programs can be found in the synopsis and links below. For a full list of currently open opportunities that have been announced through our office, please visit our new Current Opportunities web page. As a reminder, our Research Development team is available to provide proposal development support to FAS ladder faculty.

Russell Sage Foundation Overview

The Russell Sage Foundation (RSF) funds social science research that extends the methods, data, and theories of the social sciences as a means of better documenting and understanding the nation’s most pressing social, political, and economic problems. RSF supports high-quality innovative research under four core research priorities:

In addition, RSF supports research under the following time-limited co-funded research priorities:

RSF funds projects through a variety of grant mechanisms detailed below.

Core Research Grants

Award Amount:
- Trustee-approved grants: Up to $200,000
- Presidential-authority grants: Up to $75,000
- Including 15% indirect costs
Eligibility: All applicants must have a doctorate
July Deadline for Letters of Inquiry (LOIs): July 15, 2026 at 2:00 PM ET
- Research priority programs accepting LOIs:
  - Behavioral Science and Decision Making in Context (BSDMC)
  - Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration (REI)
  - Immigration and Immigrant Integration (III)
  - Implications of the 2023 Supreme Court Decision to Ban Race-Conscious Admissions at Colleges and Universities for Educational Attainment and Economic Mobility (SCD23)
- Invited Proposal Deadline: October 26, 2026 at 2:00 PM ET
- Funding Decision: March 2027
- Funding Start Date: May 1, 2027
October Deadline for Letters of Inquiry (LOIs): October 28, 2026 at 2:00 PM ET
- Research priority programs accepting LOIs:
  - Social, Political and Economic Inequality (SPEI)
  - Future of Work (FOW)
  - Implications of the 2023 Supreme Court Decision to Ban Race-Conscious Admissions at Colleges and Universities for Educational Attainment and Economic Mobility (SCD23)
- Invited Proposal Deadline: February 22, 2027 at 2:00 PM ET
- Funding Decision: June 2027
- Funding Start Date: September 1, 2027
RSF has 3 funding cycles per year (March, July, and October LOI deadlines) and only considers proposals that are invited following review of an initial letter of inquiry. After peer review, about 15% of those who submit an LOI will receive an invitation to submit a full proposal. The final funding rate for core research grants is approximately 6-10% of submitted LOIs.

Sheldon Danziger Pipeline Grants

Award Amount:
- Up to up to $50,000 for individuals over one year
- Up to $65,000 for teams of two or more eligible applicants over one year
- Indirect Costs are not allowed on Sheldon Danziger Pipeline Grants; because these are early-career awards, FAS recognizes this indirect costs limit and does not require further action, such as a waiver or direct charge of other costs.
Eligibility: Early-career assistant professors
Deadline: October 21, 2026 at 2:00 PM ET
The Sheldon Danziger Pipeline Grants Competition seeks to support early-career scholars and promote diversity by prioritizing applications from scholars who are underrepresented in the social sciences and/or employed at under-resourced colleges and universities.
RSF will pair grantees with mentors conducting research on related issues and provide an honorarium for the mentors. RSF expects to fund 12-15 one-year projects.
Applicants are encouraged to look at the RFP’s for RSF’s existing program areas for other examples of questions/topics the Foundation is interested in: Future of Work; Race, Ethnicity, and Immigration; Social, Political, and Economic Inequality; and Behavioral Science and Decision Making in Context.
Application Materials:
- Proposals are limited to seven single-spaced pages (12-point font), including a brief literature review (no more than one page), and detailed information on the research question, hypotheses (where applicable), research methods and data, analytic plan, and project timeline.
- Abbreviated CV (5 pages maximum).
- Brief description of the budgeted items. A detailed budget, budget justification, and other relevant due diligence requirements such as IRB approval or pre-registration will only be expected from those whose proposals are funded.
Sheldon Danziger Pipeline Grants RFP (information is from 2025 and is subject to change).

Visiting Scholars

Award Amount: Salary support of up to 50 percent of academic year salary – up to a maximum of $150,000 for the full year, or $75,000 for half of the year
Eligibility: Applicants must be at least two years beyond the Ph.D. when applying, and if selected, typically work on projects related to the foundation’s core programs and special initiatives.
Deadline: June 25, 2026 at 2:00 PM ET
- Funding Decision: December 2026
- Year in Residence: September 2027-June 2028. The Foundation also welcomes applications for half-year visits to occur during the 5-month period from either September through January, or February through June.
The Russell Sage Foundation’s Visiting Scholars Program provides a unique opportunity for select scholars in the social, economic, political and behavioral sciences to pursue their data analysis and writing while in residence at the foundation’s headquarters in New York City. The foundation annually awards 15 to 17 Visiting Scholar fellowships.
Learn more about the Visiting Scholar Program and view previous Visiting Scholars.

Additional Information and Resources

Please review the upcoming applications deadlines across all RSF grant programs. Applicants may wish to review FAQs, information about the grant application process, the grant database, and the Foundation's tips for research grant writing success. All LOIs and applications must be submitted via the RSF Fluxx Portal.

Questions from FAS faculty about Russell Sage funding opportunities may be directed to research_development@fas.harvard.edu.

MAILING LISTS

Sign up to join the mailing list for FAS Funding Focus, a resource series tailored to help FAS faculty and staff navigate the ever-evolving landscape of grants and funding. Previous editions of FAS Funding Focus (FFF) are accessible in the FFF archive. To receive additional announcements from FORA, including the monthly On Your RADAR (Research Administration Developments & Announcements Rundown) newsletter and invitations to the FORA Forum, a monthly meeting for Harvard research administrators, please sign up for the FORA listserv here.

RESOURCES

Research Development maintains a Sample Proposal Library of successful proposals from recent award recipients that are available to FAS and SEAS faculty by request; please email Research Development to request to view a proposal. For more information on Research Development's resources—including lists of internal funding programs, early career funding programs, and sabbatical fellowships—please visit the Funding Opportunities web page.

SEARCH FOR OPPORTUNITIES WITH PIVOT

All Harvard affiliates can search for opportunities and set up alerts using Pivot, a searchable database of federal and private funding opportunities. Information on Pivot, including a one-page user guide, and other funding opportunity databases available to the Harvard community can be found on the Funding Databases web page.

PIVOT CURATED SEARCHES

Curated funding opportunity lists are funding search topics of broad interest. The following curated lists can be further refined in Pivot based on your funding needs. To view the results you must be on a Harvard network or logged in to your Pivot account. Information on setting up a Pivot account can be found in our one-page user guide.

Humanities

Social Sciences

Additional curated lists are available on the Funding Databases web page. We continue to add to and refine these lists based on feedback. Please feel free to reach out to us at research_development@fas.harvard.edu with any suggestions you may have.