Funding Opportunities

Call for Exploratory Workshop Proposals for the 2027 calendar year.

Current HCPDS faculty members who hold full-time Harvard appointments are eligible to apply.

Overview

We consider “exploratory workshops” to be small, interactive meetings organized around a specific theme or line of research. The aim of the gathering should be to disseminate new research and/or explore emerging population study fields, especially those with potential high impact. Proposed attendees should include senior scientists as well as junior, independent researchers with leadership potential. The relatively small scale provides an ideal platform to focus on a specific topic, and for all participants to contribute to discussions and plan follow-up collaborative work and/or a grant submission.

Parameters

The HCPDS will award funding up to $12,000 per workshop to cover food and beverage, participant travel, and materials. Workshops will be required to take place at the Pop Center, 9 Bow St, Cambridge, between March and December 2027. Most workshops involve between 12 and 20 participants and take place over the course of one day. Smaller half-day workshops with lower budgets will also be considered. The HCPDS is able to provide administrative and logistical support (logistics, travel arrangements, catering, etc). Export Control will be discussed if you are awarded funding.

We will consider workshop topics that fall broadly under “population sciences,” and encourage submissions whose themes correspond with the HCPDS’s primary research areas:

  • Aging Societies
  • Work, Policy, and Well-Being
  • Youth, Families, and Social Mobility
  • Inequality, Health Disparity, and Social Policy

Application Procedure

All proposals should contain the information listed below and be submitted by noon on Friday, October 16, 2026, to Kory Powell at kpowell@hsph.harvard.edu. This is a competitive process so proposals may not be funded or may be funded at a lower budget level than requested.

Please complete the following information on your proposal:

  • Applicant name, title, dept and school, and email address
  • Theme or title of proposed workshop
  • Brief description of the goals of the proposed workshop
  • Brief description of the workshop theme/topic, including potential speakers and participants
  • Time period to host the workshop (e.g. spring or fall 2027)
  • Budget (up to $12,000)
  • Any other information that would be useful for us to know
  • Whether proposal needs to be reviewed by Export Controls (if yes, please explain)

Proposals, including the budget, should be 3 pages maximum (single or double-spaced).

If you have questions, please contact Kory Powell, program coordinator, at kpowell@hsph.harvard.edu.

Call for Applications for Seed Grant Funding

Current HCPDS faculty members who hold full-time Harvard appointments are eligible to apply.

Overview and Eligibility

This is a competitive grant program with a limited amount of funding available. Seed grant awards between $10,000 and $30,000 will be considered. Funding can be used to cover research assistance, survey development & collection, dataset acquisition, and travel (with prior approval). Both domestic and international research will be considered.

The seed grants are intended to:

  • Support pioneering research, typically at early stages of development, that would fall under one or more of our primary research areas: Aging Societies; Work, Policy, and Well-Being; Youth, Families, and Social Mobility, Inequality, Health Disparity, and Social Policy.
  • Explicitly connect faculty and scholars across disciplines, departments, and/or schools
  • Fund projects that involve high potential for payoff in terms of opening new areas of inquiry, or that provide crucial preliminary data for preparing larger grant proposals [NIH or private foundations]

Selection Process and Criteria

The following criteria will be used in evaluating the proposals:

  • The overall quality of the proposed research;
  • The potential of the proposed research to be expanded into an externally funded grant application, or to significantly enhance the research capabilities of Center researchers to secure external funding;
  • Proposed research that crosses disciplines and solidifies ties between Harvard schools and departments.

As a result of work completed though the seed grants, we anticipate examples of deliverable products to include:

  • Presentation of findings at internal and/or national meetings;
  • Organizing research workshops or poster presentations related to this work;
  • Submission and publication of manuscripts emanating from the research in peer reviewed journals; or (4) preparation of larger grant proposals for external funding.

To Apply

Please submit a proposal of no more than 3 pages that addresses the following:

  • Title of the Project
  • Name of Principal Investigator(s), degrees, and position title
  • Department/School
  • Telephone/Email
  • Statement on Human Subjects/IRB
  • All research involving human subjects must have approval from the applicable institutional IRB. All investigators must be trained and certified in the responsible conduct of research involving human subjects. Please provide us with the appropriate approvals related to IRB (if applicable)

Project Proposal Narrative

  • What do you intend to do? Proposals must identify an end product such as a grant proposal, conference presentation, or other specific deliverable(s).
  • Why is the work important?
  • What has already been done?
  • How are you going to do the work?
  • What are the proposed start and end dates?
  • Do any parts of the proposal need to be vetted by Export Controls? If yes, please explain.

Appendices

Please include the following sections (outside 3-page limit)

  • Key Personnel/Collaborators. List and provide CVs. (4-page limit on CV)
  • Literature Cited (Complete citations, including titles and all authors)
  • Proposed Line-item Budget with justification. Please include:
  1. Salary Requested (*Salary not available for faculty members. Salary MAY be used toward supporting research staff or research assistants.)
  2. Fringe Benefits
  3. Equipment
  4. Materials/Supplies
  5. Travel
  6. Other Expenses

Deadline

Friday, October 16, 2026, by noon. Notifications of awards will be made within 3 weeks. If awarded, PIs are welcome to start their projects as soon as accounts are set up internally and Export Control has been cleared (if required). Each funded PI will need to submit a final project report within 30 days after the end of the grant period.

Please submit applications in Word format to: Laura Price, HCPDS Deputy Director: lprice@hsph.harvard.edu.