Funding Opportunity for Dissertation and Postdoctoral Research on Gun Violence Prevention

The National Collaborative on Gun Violence Research has issued a new request for proposals (RFP) for research that will provide the public and policymakers with evidence to support development of fair and effective gun policies.

Funding is available for one-year dissertation awards and postdoctoral fellowships. Postdoctoral awards are open to individuals or existing research groups that wish to offer funding to a post-doctoral fellow, even if that person has not yet been hired.

The collaborative is seeking proposals that will produce scientific knowledge that will help save lives and reduce injuries from gun violence, while minimizing harms to gun owners. Candidates can propose applied or descriptive research projects on

• urban gun violence
• suicide
• mass shootings
• officer-involved shootings
• firearm-related domestic violence
• firearm violence prevention
• gun policy.

The collaborative expects to make eight to 10 awards, totalling about $500,000 in funding. Dissertation awards are funded at $25,000 and postdoctoral fellowships at $50,000.

Proposals should have direct relevance to firearm violence reduction in the United States and pursue a rigorous scientific research protocol.

Applicants have until February 7, 2022 to submit a short letter of interest describing the proposed research. Letters will be reviewed by the Collaborative’s Research Advisory Committee before selected applicants will be invited to submit full proposals.

Since being established in 2018, the collaborative has invested more than $21 million across 44 research projects addressing a wide range of gun violence prevention topics.

The collaborative is funded through philanthropic donations and was established in 2018 with seed funding from Arnold Ventures to help broaden research on gun violence and injuries. It is administered by the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation.

Download the RFP