Grant Descriptions

Dissertation Fellowships

The Center’s Dissertation Fellowships support outstanding doctoral students from any discipline at the University of Washington whose dissertations address poverty, poverty-related issues, and anti-poverty policy in the U.S. Recipients receive one quarter of support at the doctoral Graduate Research Assistant level and a tuition waiver.

Click here for a sample RFP [ PDF ].
Word Version
Click here to view past recipients.

Poverty & Policy Small Grants

The Center will award grants of up to $15,000 for research on topics relating to the causes, consequences and effective responses to poverty in the U.S. The Center supports research on a broad range of poverty-related topics and on the role of public, nonprofit, private market and community institutions. Quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-method approaches are all encouraged as are submissions from scholars in any discipline. Proposals may address any aspect of the causes, consequences and/or policy responses to poverty.Of special interest are proposals that address:

• Changing labor markets and their consequences for economic security and social well-being


• Changing patterns of work and family life, and the consequences of transformations in family formation, employment, and caregiving arrangements for the economic security of parents and children


• Changing demographics and their implications for poverty and public policy, including issues of race, ethnicity, gender and immigration


• The performance of the safety net in the current recession


• Regionally-focused research examining poverty and poverty-related policy in the west coast states of Washington, Oregon, and California (i.e., studies based in one or more west coast states or communities within those states AND/OR studies that compare the region (or states or communities within the region) with other parts of the country)