How can I fund a master's thesis research project?

December 1, 2007 1:19 PM

Where to start looking for funding- grant or otherwise- for master's thesis research work?

My soon-to-be wife is embarking on her first large scale academic research work: Her master's thesis. As it concerns some global locations (In short, the topic itself concerns spatial recontextualization during the memorialization process, i.e. What we did with the space, why we did it and what it says about us. Particularly concerning the Berlin Wall and the WTC site) we were looking into folding her research work into our honeymoon. When she mentioned it to a professor he insinuated that she might be able to find a small amount of funding to cover living costs abroad.

Where should we start the search for something like that? She has grant writing experience, so the process isn't completely foreign. We're not looking to get a vacation on someone else's dime, but we generally make do on a small budget and even a hundred bucks would be incredibly helpful. Are there websites for this sort of thing? I've been swimming in Google results without much headway, hopefully someone more familar with the process can give us a heads up. Thanks!

posted by GilloD to education (10 comments total)

Try her department first. My department gives out several grants and scholarships annually, mostly to master's students. They will know about them in the department office if they exist.
posted by agentofselection at 1:33 PM on December 1, 2007

Your wife should talk to other, more senior, grad students in her program. Most grants tend to be very focussed towards particular fields so unless someone here does similar research, it would be very hard to offer her any concrete leads.

I say this because I am in a rather specialized field and I have applied for grants ranging from $250 to 500,000. I heard about these through my advisor, peers and from my department which sends out grant announcements.

If none of those leads pan out, she should go to the library and look at completed Master's theses, particularly the acknowledgments sections and see how those were funded. Then google those agencies and look for deadlines, application info etc.

Here is an online source that I used when I (once a very long time ago) worked for a non-profit.
posted by special-k at 1:33 PM on December 1, 2007

Talk to the department grad assistant, then look at the university's grad division webpage (they are certain to have e-mail lists of funding opps, if not a funding advisor). Also get onto the e-mail lists for her specialty.
posted by k8t at 1:48 PM on December 1, 2007

She should ask (and should ask several people, in case the first person doesn't know the real story) what is the process for applying for departmental support. Similarly, funding may be available from other university sources, including interdisciplinary programs, area studies programs, offices of international studies, offices of the Dean and President, and programs that overlap with her areas of specialization (eg womens' studies, etc). Then there are the various foundations and governmental sources -- there are too many to list here, and they tend to be quite focused in who they support, so the ones I know about may not be of use to her.

Her university should have an office that maintains a list of research grants; if not, through the magic of the internet she can use another university's list. A Google search for "university fellowship database" produces a bunch of results; here are George Washington University's, Yale's, and Cornell University's (I didn't check if any were password protected; all you need is one to be open and you are good to go). Really, rather than searching for key words, the best is just to devote a day or two and look through every single fellowship they list -- think of it as a needle-in-haystack problem, with a really nice reward if you can find a couple to apply for.
posted by Forktine at 2:06 PM on December 1, 2007

PS Since your profile says you are in NYC, here is Columbia's database for external fellowships. That may not be your wife's school, but at least it is a local resource.
posted by Forktine at 2:09 PM on December 1, 2007

I should add that fellowships from schools are typically limited to stipend + tuition. So many of Forktine's suggestions may not apply. Departments do however offer small grants (typically $2500 or less) which she should have heard about by now (if not ask around the dept.). Her best bet, especially for international travel + living expenses will be an external grant.
posted by special-k at 2:13 PM on December 1, 2007

Sorry Forktine, didn't see that you also suggested external fellowships. cheers.
posted by special-k at 2:17 PM on December 1, 2007

She should start inside her department (probably talking to her advisor first, or the graduate program director -- if the professor you mention is not her advisor, he may be perfectly willing to do more than insinuate if she is his student), and then look at grants within her department's division (probably humanities), and graduate division. Also, she should look into her school's graduate student's organization or whatever it is called, they often will provide some small travel grants. There is also probably some person at her school who knows about external grants in general.

Finally, my experience is that the smaller the grant, the more likely it is you would actually apply for it after the fact. I've gotten a bunch of travel grants (for conferences) from my dept. and my grad student organization and I always apply for them after the event. But her graduate program director and/or other graduate students will probably know about all this...
posted by advil at 3:25 PM on December 1, 2007

She might want to look at relevant societies or organizations within her field. A lot of academic and professional societies have annual conferences and meetings and like to have grad students present their work. In my field, there are a couple of these groups that offer small travel grants and fellowships. If you get one, you have to agree to present your research findings at the next conference. Even if the award amounts are small, they can be used to supplement other funding.
posted by pluckysparrow at 5:27 PM on December 1, 2007

You can try www.grantselect.com for a trial period of 7 days. It has filtering options, but be prepared to spend a large amount of time. Be sure to go through each category that may even be remotely related to what you want funded. And before your wife starts writing, be sure to call or email each potential funder to make sure that they are still funding that category. (Contacting goes for anything that you find online - places will change their goals based on current events and you don't want to waste your time with something that has no chance of being funded.)

wife of 445supermag
posted by 445supermag at 5:50 PM on December 1, 2007