CALL FOR PROPOSALS FOR FUNDED RESEARCH - now closed for 2023

We are calling for proposals from researchers across the social science disciplines for the Association for Politics and Life Sciences (APLS) research grants. With these grants, we seek cutting-edge research contributions on the relationship between biological mechanisms, broadly construed, and political behaviour and institutions. APLS will fund up to $4,000 USD of data collection expenses for up to three proposals. Proposals and funded projects will be double-blind peer reviewed, and funded manuscripts that successfully complete the full peer-review process will be published in the association’s journal, Politics and the Life Sciences (PLS).

Our aim is to publish novel research ideas that are executed with strict adherence to principles of reproducible research. As such, all funded projects will be Registered Reports. Following best practices for peer review, the final publication decisions will be independent of the awarded grant. Funded projects must be pre-registered and all study materials, including data, must be made public upon publication of the manuscript.

Topics must fall within the scope of the journal: the relationship between biological mechanisms, broadly construed, and political behaviour and institutions. For more details on scope, see the current and past issues of PLS. Within that broad scope, though, we include pertinent research on health and politics; criminal justice and the criminal justice system; new methods for the study of life sciences-related phenomena including political differences, public policy, and opinion regarding climate change; evolutionary and life science approaches to political phenomena; and political and social consequences of digital technology.

Interested scholars should submit 2,000-word BLIND proposals by October 1, 2023, that include: 

• a brief literature review identifying research question(s) and hypotheses (where applicable);
• research design, complete with how the data would be collected, sampling method, sample size with statistical power tests, based upon extant studies where applicable; 
• timeline for the research collection and analysis;
• a proposed budget (including any matching funds); and
• a separately attached unblinded title and author page. 

Submit your proposal here.

After the initial application stage, the three successful contributors will be required to submit a complete Registered Report, which will be anonymously reviewed to determine final funding decisions. Funded Registered Reports must be pre-registered at the Open Science Framework to receive funding. By accepting funding, the researchers are obligating themselves to carry out the proposed research, deliver a publishable manuscript to PLS based on the funded research and following the pre-registration, and make the data and research materials (i.e., all survey materials, lab materials, statistical application code) publicly available. The data and duplication code will be made public upon publication of the manuscript. 

Award winners will be invited to present their designs at the “Life in a Digital World” workshop at McMaster University, Ontario, Canada, in June 2024. Funding to bring one representative from winning teams will be arranged pending the outcome of a grant application for the workshop submitted to the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Authors have the option of participating virtually.

Timeline

• July 1, 2023 – Call for proposals.
• October 1, 2023 – 2,000-word proposals due; anonymized editorial review commences.
• November 15, 2021 – Review process concludes; Acceptance/rejection letters issued.
• February 15, 2024 – Full registered reports are due; anonymized peer review begins.
• May 2024 – Accepted registered report authors will receive $4,000 USD; data collection commences.
• June 2024 – Winners present project designs at the Life in a Digital World:  Mapping the Personal, Political, and Social Consequences of Digital Technology workshop, Hamilton, ON, or virtually.
• October 31, 2024 – Final manuscripts and results are due to PLS Editor. 

Proposal Review Committee:

Gregg Murray (Committee Chair, Editor of PLS), Augusta University

Erik Bucy, Texas Tech University

Kevin Smith, University of Nebraska Lincoln

Kevin Arceneaux, Science Po Paris

Kristin Lunz Trujillo, Harvard University

Matthew E. Walsh, John Hopkins University

Seyoung Jung, L'Université du Québec à Montréal

Questions about the APLS small grants should be directed to Gregg Murray at pls@cambridge.org.