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2025-2026 Research Applications

Call for 2025-26 Research Applications

Deadline: September 30, 2025

The +Policy Network solicits applications from Virginia Tech faculty who wish to pursue research projects with policy relevance. The overarching goal of the +PN is to integrate, connect, and expand policy knowledge—broadly defined—across disciplines. This call supports two initiatives: the +Policy Fellows program, now in its 7th year; and the Policy Scholars program, in its second iteration and designed to enable researchers without policy expertise to obtain tailored guidance by collaborating with a faculty expert. Please see the program information below. Researchers may submit only one application for either the +Policy Fellows Program or the Policy Scholar Professional Development Program but cannot submit to both.

1. +Policy Fellows Program

Click here to download the full RFP

+Policy Fellows Program. This Program is aimed at helping researchers with policy expertise (a) join or collaborate with an extant or newly forming interdisciplinary research team that otherwise lacks a member with policy knowledge; or (b) to extend a policy scholar’s expertise into a new area. Accordingly, the award will support either collaboration between a policy researcher (the Fellow) and members of a research team, or an individual policy scholar collaborating with a content expert to develop his/her expertise in that individual’s area. The selection committee will give priority to applications from interdisciplinary teams or, if a single scholar, interdisciplinary research, a collaboration plan and clear plans for future inquiry.

This year we have earmarked funding for one Fellows proposal focused on health policy (sponsored by the Center for Center for Community Empowering Pandemic Prediction and Prevention from Atoms to Societies (COMPASS)). We leave it to the aspiring Fellow to define health policy in relation to his or her application; many types of health policy research are of interest.

All +Policy Fellow proposals are expected to result in external funding proposals within three years post-award. Other deliverables may include team publication(s) or presentations, a policy brief and/or extensive or high-impact public dissemination of research findings. We ask that the Fellow provide the +PN with a brief written progress report at the end of the first year and -- by 2028 or project completion, whichever occurs first -- a 3-5 page policy brief or summary of the project with an outline of its policy implications, suitable for website posting.

2. Policy Scholar Professional Development Program 

Click here to download the full RFP

This initiative is designed to assist researchers who lack policy expertise, but who wish to address policy questions or develop a policy focus in their work. The Scholar will collaborate with a Virginia Tech faculty member who will serve as policy coach or mentor. Examples of possible activities and deliverables include:

  • Collaborating on a joint article or grant proposal that has policy relevance.
  • Collaborating on developing and disseminating a policy brief or research tool.
  • Engaging in regular coaching/mentoring sessions that lead to a Scholar-authored article or grant proposal.
  • Conducting policy-oriented research that goes beyond traditional text-based outputs by developing creative forms of dissemination, such as multimedia storytelling, interactive data visualizations, and design-driven prototypes. These formats may translate complex policy insights into accessible, engaging, and actionable resources for policymakers, practitioners, and the broader public.

The Virginia Tech faculty member serving as policy collaborator or mentor can be someone the Scholar has worked with before or may represent a new relationship. If the applicant does not have a policy colleague in mind, applicants may contact Isabel Bradburn, the +PN director (isbrad@vt.edu) for a list of faculty members who have agreed to mentor or for other suggestions. The +PN director and some of its members will be at the Institute for Society, Culture and Environment (ISCE) "Connections & Conversations" event September 10, 3-5 pm (registration on ISCE home page, isce.vt.edu), which will provide an opportunity to network with social science and policy-oriented colleagues and to discuss mentor opportunities.

The policy expert will provide guidance and otherwise assist the Scholar in developing his or her policy-related knowledge. For example, Scholars and mentors might fully collaborate on a policy study; Scholars might consult with their mentors as they develop their project research designs; mentors might help Scholars understand possible theoretical explanations or expectations in the policy context in which they will be working or consider different audiences and applications for their findings. Mentors may also serve as co-authors. As such, applications must include a brief expected mentorship/collaboration plan. The budget request should reflect an allocation of resources to both Scholar and mentor, with a larger sum assigned to the Scholar (see Application Guidelines, Budget, for details).

Deliverables may include one or more of the following, within 3 years of award: (1) external funding proposal that incorporates a significant policy dimension; (2) academic publication; (3) policy brief; or 4) creative scholarship formats (e.g. (storytelling, visualization, prototypes), as noted above. We also ask that Scholars provide the +PN with a brief written progress report at the end of the first year and - by 2028 or project completion, whichever occurs earlier - a policy brief OR summary of the project with a policy implications section, suitable for website posting.

A member of the +Policy Network Research Committee will check in with Scholar-mentor pairs at the start of the spring 2026 semester (unless an earlier conversation appears warranted) and we anticipate conducting exit interviews with the Scholar and mentor-collaborator approximately one-year post-award as a part of evaluating this initiative. Both Scholar and mentor-collaborator are encouraged to consult with members of the Research Committee throughout their grant period, as desired.

Summary of General Guidance and Expectations of Award Use

Participants selected for the +Policy Research Fellowship or Policy Scholars program are expected:

  • To devote time during AY 2025-26 and early summer 2026 to jointly determined activities.
  • To submit a progress and budget report by July 2026 to the +Policy Network, with follow-up progress reporting annually for the following two years so that the group can track its investments (3 progress reports total).
  • To submit a 3–5-page policy brief describing project outcomes upon project completion or by the end of 2028, whichever occurs earliest, for posting on the +Policy Network website (www.policy.isce.vt.edu).
  • To present a seminar concerning the funded work to the Science, Technology and Engineering in Policy (STEP) seminar series or another +PN forum as appropriate.

The selection committee will accord priority to initiatives that advance the aims of the +Policy Network. Those related to health policy will be considered separately and as noted, are particularly solicited this year. Other priority areas include research related to environmental or energy policy, technology policy (but other policy-related projects are welcome, too).

We will consider funding up to three competitive proposals (one specifically for health policy). The program is open to all faculty members at Virginia Tech with continuous or multi-year appointments (tenure-track/tenured, collegiate, research). We anticipate funding up to $10,000 per award.

Application Guidelines

Applications must include: (a) signed cover sheet, including approval of Fellow’s department head/chair regarding summer stipend or an internal buy-out for Spring semester 2026 if requested (attached); (b) title of project; (c) Fellow or Scholar applicant information together with that of team members and/or mentors; (d) A research narrative of 3-5 pages; and (e) budget and budget narrative. Policy Scholar and +Policy Fellow proposals for developing expertise in a new content area must also include a paragraph describing their expected mentoring or learning plan.

In addition, proposals for both programs should address:

  • Significance of the issue, problem, or situation under study;
  • Goal(s) of the research and an explanation of how the +Policy Fellowship or the Policy Scholar award will strengthen or enhance an extant research project or a scholar’s ability to become competitive in a new area of inquiry;
  • Brief justification for each item of the proposed budget (separate page).

For +Policy Fellows only, proposals should also include:

  • Plans for securing external funds in support of research with a policy dimension.

For all Scholar and mentored +Policy Fellow proposals only, please also include:

  • How the applicant will gain experience with or learn about policy research (Scholar), or develop knowledge in a new content area (Fellow), e.g. expected mentoring plan.

Applications will be evaluated on the following criteria:

  • Clearly described, reasonable and attainable (aims) and approach
  • Distinctive policy content
  • Potential impact of deliverables
  • Potential for securing external funds (for +Policy Fellow proposals)
  • Expected mentoring plan (for Scholar proposals and +Policy Fellows addressing a new content area)
  • The +PN reserves the right not to consider proposals that are unresponsive to the particulars of this call.

Budget Guidelines: Maximum grant award is $10,000

Funds can be used for:

  • Summer stipend or stipends not to exceed $8,000 inclusive of fringe benefits; https://policies.vt.edu/4296.pdf. Any summer stipend for mentors or research team members cannot exceed that provided the Fellow or Scholar.
  • Spring 2026 course release up to $8,000 for Fellows or Scholars, with amount determined by home department buy-out rates and up to $2,500 for collaborating research team or mentor(s);
  • Wage support for undergraduate or graduate student research assistant;
  • Collaborating research team activities that promote the team and + Policy Fellow collaboration are acceptable, such as coordination expenses, research assistant support, consultation with funding agencies, external consultants/speakers, and so on.
  • If two faculty members plan to collaborate on proposed research, the applicant for +Policy Fellow and the partnering content expert, or the Policy Scholar and partnering mentor, should submit a budget appropriate for the proposed project.

Submission Requirements and Deadline

Applications should be prepared using 1-inch margins and Arial 11 font or larger. Submit an ecopy of the complete application and signed cover sheet to Isabel Bradburn (isbrad@vt.edu) by September 30, 2025 at 5:00 p.m. Acknowledgement of receipt of applications will be acknowledged within 48 hours and funding decisions communicated in early October.

Notification of Award/Availability of Funds

Funds will be dispersed upon approval of a +Policy Fellow or Policy Scholar project. Any unencumbered funds as of June 1, 2026 must be returned to the +PN. Any change in budget allocation requires approval by the Research Committee Chair or the +Policy Network Director.

Questions?

We encourage questions or discussion about ideas, tracks and any aspect of this call. Please contact the +PN Director Isabel Bradburn (isbrad@vt.edu) or +PN Research Committee Chairperson Max Stephenson (mstephen@vt.edu).