Spring Centennial Center Research Grants
The APSA Small Research Grant Program supports research in all fields of political science. The intent of these grants is to provide funding opportunities for research conducted by political scientists not employed at PhD-granting departments in the field, or who are in non-tenure track or contingent positions ineligible for departmental funding. Applications due April 15th of each year.


Summer Centennial Center Research Grants
The Centennial Center for Political Science and Public Affairs offers over $100,000 per year in research funding to APSA members. Centennial Center Research Grants assist with the costs of research, including travel, interviews, access to datasets, auxiliary devices or services necessary for scholars with disabilities to conduct their research, and access to archives. Applications due June 15th of each year.

Fund for Latino Scholarship
The primary purpose of the Fund for Latino Scholarship is to encourage and support the recruitment, retention and promotion of Latino/a political scientists. The fund also seeks to support research on Latino/a politics.

Special Projects Fund grants support collaborative, member-led projects aimed at advancing the political science discipline and/or a tackling a challenge facing the discipline. Projects must be evidence-based and provide wider benefits for the profession and the discipline. Projects must be collaborative and can be focused on any area of disciplinary work, inclusive of teaching, research, service, and public engagement. Proposals can work to contribute to or advance a research area but should not focus on traditional scholarly project (e.g. production of a single author book or journal article). For examples of past funded proposals see the above link.

Special Projects Fund calls for applications are not issued in pre-determined cycles but are scheduled based on availability of funding.

Research Partnerships on Critical Issues
APSA’s Research Partnerships on Critical Issues program provides grants to political scientists for collaborative, research-based projects aimed at advancing the public good. The Research Partnerships on Critical Issues program has two central goals:

1. To demonstrate the value of political science to the public to policymakers and to the broader community through publicly-engaged research.


2. To bring higher ed-based political scientists into conversation with practitioners and policy-oriented scholars across ideological and geographic lines.

Pedagogical Partnerships
Pedagogical Partnership grants support projects that will bring together political science faculty from different institutions in the same geographic area to share expertise and produce cutting-edge teaching resources. PI’s will lead the organization of a series of meetings that will bring a larger group of local faculty together, allow for the sharing of best practices and innovations, and produce new teaching materials and new ties between faculty in the area. All Pedagogical Partnerships proposals must include at least one PI from a community college and one organizer from a research-intensive institution.

Pedagogical partnership proposals are typically due in early January of each year.

Growing Democracy
Growing Democracy grants support community-based programming led by political scientists that aims to bridge the boundaries between academia and community and break down the barriers between residents and governing institutions. Growing Democracy grants provide funding for collaborations between political scientists and their local communities aimed at supporting informed, engaged, and effective citizens. Proposed work should be community-centered and developed with an awareness of community needs and recognize the expertise held by faculty and community members.

Growing democracy proposals are typically due in early January of each year.

Travel Grants


Standard Travel Grant:

APSA is pleased to provide travel grants to qualified applicants for attendance at association events, specifically the Teaching and Learning Conference and the APSA Annual Meeting. Qualified applicants include: U.S. graduate students, international graduate students studying in the U.S., unemployed members, international scholars, community college faculty, contingent faculty, unemployed faculty, APSA Status Committee members, and any faculty member who has been furloughed or experienced a reduction in available research funds from their college or university. Travel grants can cover costs such as mileage for attendees who travel to association events by car or plane tickets for attendees who arrive by air. Grants can also cover hotels, meals, and conference related cab fares. First time attendees and those on the job market or tenure track will receive priority consideration. All grant recipients will be reimbursed for expenses after the conclusion of the relevant association event.

The APSA Travel Grant Program is now accepting applications! The deadline to apply is May 24th, for more information visit the APSA Travel Grants page.

The APSA Committee on the Status of LGBT Individuals in the Profession is sponsoring travel and accessibility grants to support attendance at the 2023 APSA Annual Meeting & Exhibition. The grants are intended to support participation opportunities for historically excluded groups and those at institutions with limited resources. Travel grants will support individuals who will travel to Los Angeles, California for the Annual Meeting. Accessibility grants will be awarded to support indirect costs of participating in the meeting. Grants will not exceed $300 per awardee. Priority will be given to applicants with accepted poster and paper presentations, or individuals attending APSA to engage in service on LGBT-related committees/sections.

Learn more about the grant and submit your application! The application deadline is July 1, 2023.

The Lee Ann Fujii Travel Grant supports APSA Diversity Fellows’ (formerly Minority Fellows) participation in the APSA Annual Meeting to encourage engagement with research, professional development, mentoring, and collaboration. Among other factors, priority is given to individuals whose research, teaching, or mentoring focuses in the areas of political violence, ethnicity and race, African politics, racial violence in the US South, comparative politics, international relations, conflict processes, research ethics, or qualitative and interpretive methods. The APSA Lee Ann Fujii DFP Travel Grant is made possible by the generous contributions of the Fujii Family and Dr. Fujii's colleagues and friends. The grant is meant to support APSA Diversity Fellows' participation in the APSA annual meeting to engage in research, professional development, mentoring and collaboration. Applications for the 2023 Lee Ann Fujii DFP Travel Grant will open May 22, 2023. Recipients will be announced in July 2023. Click here for more information.

In 2015, the APSA Council approved a new standing Committee on First-Generation Higher Education Scholars in the Profession, parallel to the existing APSA status committees. The goal and mission of this committee is to bring focused attention to the ways that class, economic inequality, and mobility can affect political scientists’ ability to thrive educationally and professionally throughout their careers. The Committee is delighted to offer travel and accessibility grants up to the amount of $250 to support First Generation Higher Education Scholars in the Profession who attend the APSA Annual Meeting. We anticipate opening the 2024 cycle this year on September 18, 2023, with a deadline of October 3, 2023. Click here to read more about the program.