Labor Research Grants for Graduate Students

Deadline for the 2024-2025 Academic Year: Tuesday, February 20, 2024

The Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies currently seeks applications from University of Washington graduate students for grants of up to $5,000 for research about work, workers, and workers’ organizations. Applicants must explain the significance of their proposed research to the interdisciplinary field of labor studies. Proposals must indicate how the research is likely to generate important new information, interpretations, scholarly resources, and contributions to the applicant's discipline and field. Research may focus on any dimension of labor in the United States or abroad, including but not limited to class relations, social conditions of work, labor processes, working-class culture and politics, work and gender, work and race/ethnicity, relationships between labor and the state, unions, or comparative international labor relations.

The purpose of these grants is to provide funding for research expenses, including travel costs and living expenses while traveling. Although not intended to cover everyday living expenses, applicants not requiring travel outside of the Puget Sound area may use the grant for local living expenses. Grants must be used within two years of receiving the grant and while the recipient is a registered student. Grant recipients will be requested to make a short presentation within this two-year period.

Graduate students whose research explores labor through an international, global or transnational lens are eligible for the Charles Bergquist Graduate Labor Research Grant. Recipients of the Bergquist Grant are chosen from the general application pool for the Labor Research Grants.

Who Should Apply

Any graduate student who is currently active and will be active the upcoming academic year (2024-2025). Graduate students at all branches of the University of Washington (Seattle, Bothell, or Tacoma)

Required Application Materials

Completing this application form
A proposal that should not exceed 1000 words or 4 double-spaced, typed pages (12 pt. font).
A brief cover letter.
A separate budget detailing how the requested funds would be spent and, if applicable, how this support would supplement other funds, fellowships, and grants.
A brief letter of faculty support to accompany each application. The letter should be emailed directly from the letter's author to the Bridges Center at rerstad@uw.edu by the application deadline.
Contact information, including email, mailing addresses, and phone number.

We also ask researchers to consider and address the following in their proposals, as appropriate:

Please address how your project will use ethical research methods, including identifying the relationships you have with the population(s) you’re proposing to study and your own positionality in relation to the research process and research project.
If applicable, will research participants and participating organizations provide input on your proposed methods before the study begins? Will they review the findings before they are publicly available?

Deadline to Apply for 2024-2025 Academic Year

Apply by Tuesday, February 20th, 2024

Where to Send Applications

Please submit applications electronically to Rachel Erstad, Research Coordinator of the Harry Bridges Center for Labor Studies, at rerstad@uw.edu