The NSF-Census Research Network (NCRN)

The National Science Foundation and the U.S. Census Bureau invite teams of researchers to submit proposals for the conduct of long-term interdisciplinary research and educational activities on methodological questions of interest and significance to the broader research community and the Federal Statistical System, particularly the U.S. Census Bureau. The activities will be expected to advance both fundamental and applied knowledge, and contribute to the training of the next generation of researchers in research skills of relevance to the measurement of economic units, households, and persons.

With these awards, NSF and the U.S. Census Bureau will create a Network of Nodes (NoN) with complementary research foci. The research program will be defined to include the major measurement challenges of the social, behavioral, and economic sciences relevant to the U.S. Census Bureau. When appropriate, research may be conducted in collaboration with scientists at the U.S. Census Bureau or other federal statistical agencies. Nodes may conduct independent research activities and/or partner with existing Census Research Data Centers (RDCs).

Date due: February 16, 2011

Amount: Varies

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Institute for New Economic Thinking inaugural grants

The Institute for New Economic Thinking, launched in 2009 with a $50 million pledge from George Soros to promote changes in economic theory and practice through conferences, grants, and education initiatives, has announced that it is accepting proposals for its inaugural research grant program.

The program, one of the institute's major initiatives , will award grants to individuals and institutions pursuing ground-breaking, high-impact research in the field of economics.

The institute plans to award approximately fifty grants a year ranging between $30,000 and $250,000 each. The grants are primarily intended to fund individuals or organizations affiliated with academic institutions, think tanks, and critical research centers. The institute is especially interested in funding early stage research and research scholars of the next generation, and also recognizes that related disciplines such as history, political science, psychology, and adaptations from the physical sciences may offer much value for the institute's program.

The institute is currently accepting proposals for the inaugural grant program, with particular emphasis on the following areas of study: political economy(the state, economy, and their interaction); theories of finance, radical uncertainty, asset price swings, and the interaction between financial and real economic cystems; new approaches to empirical macroeconomics; network and systems theory; economic history; history of economic thought; human capital and growth; and development and economic inequality.

Date due: July 31, 2010 (Initial proposal)

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Enterprise Solutions to Poverty

The SEVEN Fund is a virtual nonprofit entity run by entrepreneurs whose strategy is to markedly increase the rate of innovation and diffusion of enterprise-based solutions to poverty. SEVEN believes that such solutions already exist but are not sufficiently studied, analyzed, and exhibited as examples.

The SEVEN Fund has published its annual open "Enterprise-based Solutions to Poverty" Request for Proposals. The competition will award up to two research grants of up to $100,000 each to support innovative original research in enterprise solutions to poverty.

The RFP has four goals: 1) to expand scientific inquiry to include disciplines fundamental to a deep understanding of entrepreneurship and economic development currently unsupported by conventional grant sources; 2) to forge and maintain useful collaborations between researchers and on-the-ground actors of enterprise-based solutions to poverty; 3) to provide the public with a deeper understanding of this area and its potential implications; and 4) to find, research, and analyze role-model entrepreneurs and companies whose lesson may inspire others.

Amount: $100,000

Date due: October 15, 2010

For more information, click here.