Call for Applications: 2026 Graduate Anti-Racism Research Grants

Grants of up to $5,000 will be awarded during the 2026 spring term for the 1-year grant period.

Candidates must submit the online application form and include the following documents by Friday, March 13, at 11:59 p.m. ET:

• 100-word (or less) abstract of the project
• Project narrative (no more than five pages), including:
  • The objectives and scope of the proposed project, and how the project is important to the applicant’s research goals. If the proposed project is an extension of their faculty advisor’s research project, please describe how the student’s project uniquely contributes to (i.e., is distinct from) their faculty advisor’s project.
    • How does the project illuminate and address issues of racism, racial inequality, and racial justice? How does this work challenge or dismantle systemic racism?
    • How does the project align with the Bowman Center’s understanding of anti-racism scholarship (detailed below)?
      • The Bowman Center promotes the production of anti-racism scholarship that articulates how racism operates in the contemporary world (especially as that world reflects dimensions of identity fluidity unique to modern times). Central to this agenda is supporting the production of scholarship that embraces and fosters understanding of intersectionality as fundamental to how different people may experience and respond to racial phenomena.
      • This agenda also includes articulating strategies for social interventions that assist in the eradication of racism in contemporary life.
      • We understand anti-racism scholarship to explicitly:
        • Recognize how racism operates within and is reinforced by systems, institutions, policy, social forces, and throughout history
        • Highlight the connection between anti-racism scholarship and continued efforts to challenge or dismantle systemic racism
    • How might the research likely inform practice, public engagement, and action to advance anti-racist principles and organizing?
  • Note: The reference list of sources cited in the narrative is not included in the 5-page limit.
• Curriculum vitae (CV)
• U-M faculty advisor letter of support that addresses:
  • How the proposed project may forward the student’s progress toward a degree
  • Student’s prior experience, history, and/or propensity for anti-racist praxis (practice)
  • Contribution of the proposed project to the field, particularly as it relates to challenging and/or dismantling systemic racism
  • How the faculty advisor will support the student and/or project
• Proposed budget, including other sources of funding

See our FAQs sheet for additional information, including information on submitting team proposals.

Budget proposals may include:

• Expenses for research materials (i.e., laboratory supplies, transcription services, data analysis tools)
• Transportation and lodging at research or field sites
• Compensation for undergraduate research assistants, participants, and community partners

Budget proposals should NOT include:

• Travel expenses not directly related to research or scholarly activity
• Hosting expenses not directly related to research or scholarly activity
• Per diem

Projects awarded will include a clear description of how the project will:

• Address issues of racism, racial inequality, and racial justice in novel ways (e.g., theoretically and/or methodologically)
  • While the specific focus of the proposed research may focus on impacts, processes, and change at the individual or interpersonal level as it relates to racism, the project narrative should also articulate how this work is related to continued efforts to challenge or dismantle systemic racism.
• Advance anti-racism and anti-racist praxis in alignment with the Bowman Center’s definition of anti-racism scholarship:
  • We understand anti-racism scholarship to explicitly:
    • Recognize how racism operates within and is reinforced by systems, institutions, policy, social forces, and throughout history
    • Highlight the connection between anti-racism scholarship and continued efforts to challenge or dismantle systemic racism
• Inform practice, public engagement, policy, and/or action to advance anti-racist principles and organizing

Applicants will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

• Budget
• Feasibility of Project Plan
• Clarity & Alignment with Institutional Objectives of Anti-Racism
• Potential for Impact

Funding decisions will be made in April 2026, and funds will be disbursed in May 2026. Funds must be used within one year of receipt. Any funds that are unused by the end of the grant period must be returned to the Bowman Center within 90 days after the end of the grant period to allow time for financial reconciliation processes to be completed.

The recipient is responsible for coordinating with the Bowman Center’s staff and their home department to arrange for good stewardship of the funds. Funds will be transferred to a specified project grant within the student’s home department.

Recipients must adhere to any applicable policies and procedures established by their departments. All activities must be done in accordance with any COVID-related spending restrictions at the time of the project.

Any changes in budget items or project period must first be approved by the Bowman Center.

Applicants who receive funding must agree to submit a two-page final report within 30 days of the end of the funding period (report template will be provided), as well as return any unused grant funds to the Bowman Center within 90 days of the end of the funding period.

Grant recipients will be expected to participate in the Bowman Center’s organized activities focused on disseminating information on their funded research project (e.g., give a talk based on a project at an Bowman Center event, participate on a panel, lead an informal coffee discussion, contribute to an Bowman Center publication, etc.).

For additional information, please see the FAQs document or direct questions to ncidgrants@umich.edu.