Dissertation Grants are intended to support one year of research conducted as part of the doctoral dissertation requirement and conducted under the guidance of a faculty dissertation advisor. The major portion of the research should be completed between May 1, 2010, and April 30, 2011. At the time of application, the dissertation should be in the early stage of development.

Note: A separate grant program is available to fund independent research by faculty and practitioners. See www.airweb.org/researchgrantoverview for details.

Doctoral students enrolled at a U.S. postsecondary institution may initiate proposals. A signed letter of support from the student's faculty dissertation advisor is required. Applicants may be U.S. citizens, U.S. permanent residents, or non-U.S. citizens. Applicants should be advanced doctoral students at the dissertation writing stage.

The deadline for proposals is January 15, 2010. Applicants will be notified of the funding decision no later than the first week of April 2010, and grants will commence May 1, 2010. AIR funding cannot duplicate or replace dissertation funding from another source.

A complete application is comprised of eight major components. The application components are outlined below. For detailed information, see Dissertation Grant Guidelines (PDF):

1. Contact information: Name, physical address, e-mail address, institutional affiliation, name and information of faculty dissertation advisor, and name and information of the official financial representative of the institution
2. Project description: Detailed description of the proposed research
3. Statement of Institutional Review Board approval or exemption
4. Statement of use of restricted datasets (if applicable)
5. Biographical sketch
6. Budget
7. Statement of the applicant's prior, current or pending funding
8. Letter of support from faculty dissertation advisor

Applications must be submitted online. Assistance is available from the AIR Grants Team at grants@airweb.org or 850-385-4155 x200.

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STEP 1
Individuals are encouraged to begin the application process as soon as possible by providing initial contact information as the first step: name, e-mail address, physical address, and institutional affiliation. Providing this information assures that updates and deadline reminders will be sent to individuals via the e-mail address provided. Providing contact information does not commit an individual to submit a proposal.

STEP 2
Complete the online application by following the Dissertation Grant Guidelines (PDF). The application contains seven components. It is recommended that applicants write each section using word processing software and, when finalized, cut and paste the text into the online application.

*Note: Applicants can save their application and return later to add and/or edit their information until either they finalize their application or the application process closes on January 15, 2010.

STEP 3
Submit the online proposal by following the directions at the end of the online application. When a proposal is successfully submitted, a confirmation message will be sent to the applicant. It is the applicant's responsibility to submit the final proposal and store the confirmation notice as receipt of a successful submission.

The application process for 2010 is now closed.

For questions and assistance please contact the AIR Grants Team at grants@airweb.org or 850-385-4155 x200.

An application may be withdrawn at any time before the final funding decision is made. A request for withdrawal must be sent to grants@airweb.org. Confirmation of the withdrawal request will be sent to the applicant.

Applications are reviewed by a panel of national experts. A minimum of three panel members will read and evaluate each application. The panel will provide comments to each author along with the final funding decision. The panel may recommend funding pending revisions to the research plan. If so requested, a revised research plan must be submitted.

If any significant change in the research plan develops after the proposal application is submitted, the author is responsible for notifying AIR staff as soon as possible. AIR may allow a revision of the proposal after the application deadline or the new information may be presented to the review panel as an addendum to the original submission.

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Applicants will be notified of the status of the proposed project during the first week of April 2010. Faculty advisors and institutional financial representatives will be copied on notices of funded projects. Grant recipient names, project titles, and institutional affiliations are part of the public record which is provided to NCES, NSF, and NPEC and listed on the AIR Web site.

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Withdrawal
Withdrawal of funded research projects must be coordinated with the AIR office. Requests should be sent to grants@airweb.org. Confirmations will be sent to the applicant, faculty dissertation advisor, and the institutional financial representative.

Disbursement of Funds
Dissertation grants are paid in two installments (May 1, 2010, and January 4, 2011). Checks are jointly issued to the applicant and authorized institutional financial representative and mailed to the institution for disbursement.

Mid-Year and Final Report
A mid-year progress report is due by December 18, 2010; the January 2011 payment will not be processed until the report is received. The progress report must be submitted to grants@airweb.org. Applicants should briefly describe their progress to date on each deliverable and likelihood of successful completion of the dissertation by the close of grant period.

A Final Report is due June 30, 2011, 60 days after the end of the grant period. The final report is submitted online. Applicants should briefly report the achievement of each of the deliverables, including dissemination of the research findings. If a final report is not possible within 60 days of the end of the grant cycle, applicants should apply for a "No-Cost Extension" until the project is complete.

No-Cost Extension
Grantees may receive a one-time extension on the expiration date of the grant for up to 12 months with no additional funding. Additional time beyond the established expiration date is available to assure adequate completion of the original scope of work within the original budget. Request for a no-cost extension should be made to grants@airweb.org and should contain a revised completion date.

Acknowledgement of Support and Disclaimer
An acknowledgment of support must appear in publications of any material, whether copyrighted or not, resulting from an AIR funded project similar to the language below:

This material is based upon work supported by the Association for Institutional Research, the National Center for Education Statistics, the National Science Foundation, and the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative, under Association for Institutional Research Grant Number________ (grantee should enter AIR grant number.)

Except for articles or papers published in scientific, technical, or professional journals, the following disclaimer must be included:

Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Association for Institutional Research, the National Center for Education Statistics, the National Science Foundation, or the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative.

Legal Rights to Intellectual Property
Authors retain legal rights to the intellectual property developed during grant funding. This policy provides incentive for development and dissemination of deliverables, but does not reduce the responsibility to make results available to the research community.

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