Awardees will be allocated a budget of approximately $5,000 to host 3-4 senior scholars on campus (or remotely during COVID restrictions) for a full day discussion of their manuscript. The expectation will be that at least one senior UCSC scholar from the awardee’s department or field serve as moderator of the workshop. The remaining 2-3 slots can be filled with anyone the awardee deems best positioned to comment on the work, with a view towards inviting scholars who may be able to serve as external letter writers during the tenure or promotion review process. It is expected that the UCSC moderator support the awardee in selecting invited scholars. Approximately 1-2 graduate students in the author’s field of study could also be invited to attend the workshop. The workshop should also include the Faculty Director of the Institute for Social Transformation and/or one of the members of the Executive Board.  All participants are expected to read the full monograph in advance and come prepared to engage in thoughtful and constructive critique of the manuscript.

Within the allocated budget, the institute award will cover travel, lodging, and meals/expenses for invited senior scholars. The award will also cover the cost for event meeting space and catering. The institute will provide administrative support in planning the accelerator event.

It is expected that any senior scholar hosted through this program will also contribute to other aspects of the institute’s priority programming. For example, invited senior scholars could also be asked to give a talk on campus during their visit, including through any institute seminar series. Senior scholars could also be asked to host office hours with PhD students and/or discuss their work in relevant PhD seminars. Proposals should include a suggestion of how invited senior scholars will contribute to the intellectual life of the institute and UCSC campus in any of these ways.

Priority will be given to Assistant Professors working on a book that, when completed, is intended to be part of their tenure package. Associate Professors working on books are also encouraged to apply if they can clearly demonstrate how the funds would be instrumental in catapulting their national or international reputation.

Eligibility:

• Applicant must be an Assistant or Associate faculty member from a UCSC Social Sciences Division department or program.
• Applicant must have a complete draft monograph by the proposed time of the workshop.
• Applicants may apply to one grant opportunity per year.

Selection Criteria:

• Relevance to the goals of the Institute for Social Transformation
• Quality and fit of proposed invited senior scholars
• Strength of proposal

Submission Requirements for manuscript accelerator:

• Manuscript information including: manuscript description, significance, status, summary of feedback and expected impact of accelerator. How will this accelerator help the trajectory of your career? (5,000 character limit)
• Relevance to the goals of the institute. How will the invited scholars add to the diversity of thought or subject expertise at UCSC? (1,000 character limit)
• Applicant must include email (PDF) indicating support from a UCSC colleague willing to moderator/chair the accelerator workshop.
• Abbreviated CV of applicant  (5 pages maximum each) (PDF)
• CV of senior scholars to be invited if readily available or link to the scholars’ web-sites

Application process:

• To submit a proposal for the manuscript accelerator program, please complete the application by January 31, 2025. 
• Proposals will be reviewed by members of the Institute for Social Transformation’s Executive Board.

Emerging scholars in some fields of social sciences typically disseminate their work in professional journals. Each article may focus on a specific aspect of a broader research question being addressed by the scholar. As a whole, the articles demonstrate the scholar’s research specialty and the arc of an emerging research program. It is crucial to the advancement of the emerging scholar’s career to (1) demonstrate a productive record of publications and (2) ensure the program to progress in a transformative arc.

The Emerging Scholars research-building award is intended to accelerate and enhance the publication of journal articles and foster the building of a transformative research program. Awardees will be allocated a budget of approximately $5,000 to host 3-4 senior scholars on campus (or remotely during COVID restrictions) for a full day discussion of their research program. The expectation will be that at least one senior UCSC scholar from the awardee’s department or field serve as moderator of the workshop. The remaining 2-3 slots can be filled with anyone the awardee deems best positioned to comment on the work, with a view towards inviting scholars who may be able to serve as external letter writers during the tenure review process. It is expected that the UCSC moderator support the awardee in selecting invited scholars. This advisory group will read a set of articles by the scholar (including published work and work in progress) to gain an understanding of the scholar’s research and the arc it is forming. During the visit, the advisory group will provide expert opinions of how the scholar may develop a coherent and diverse research agenda, how the scholar may position the work to be more successful (e.g. published in higher impact journals, more frequently cited), and how the research arc may be steered in a direction for stronger intellectual merit and broader impact.  

Within the allocated budget, the institute award will cover travel, lodging, and meals/expenses for invited senior scholars. The award will also cover the cost for event meeting space and catering. The institute will provide administrative support in planning the program-building event.

It is expected that any senior scholar hosted through this program will also contribute to other aspects of the institute’s priority programming. For example, invited senior scholars could also be asked to give a talk on campus during their visit, including through any Institute for Social Transformation seminar series. Senior scholars could also be asked to host office hours with PhD students and/or discuss their work in relevant PhD seminars. Proposals should include a clear explanation of how invited senior scholars will contribute to the intellectual life of the Institute for Social Transformation and UCSC campus in any of these ways.

Priority will be given to Assistant Professors working on a body of work that, when completed, is intended to be part of their tenure package.  Associate Professors working on manuscripts intended to be part of their promotion package to full professor are also encouraged to apply.

Eligibility:

• Applicant must be an Assistant or Associate faculty member from a UCSC Social Sciences Division department or program.
• Applicant must have near complete drafts of a number of articles in preparation for publication.
• Applicants may apply to one grant opportunity per year.

Selection Criteria:

• Relevance to the goals of the goals of the institute.
• Quality and fit of proposed invited senior scholars
• Strength of proposal

Submission Requirements for publication and research-building program:

• Article information including: description of journal articles in preparation, significance, status of articles, summary of feedback and expected impact of program for faculty member (5,000 character limit)
• Relevance to the goals of the institute. How will the invited scholars add to the diversity of thought or subject expertise at UCSC? (1,000 character limit)
• Applicant must include email (PDF) indicating support from a UCSC colleague willing to moderator/chair the accelerator workshop.
• Abbreviated CV of applicant  (5 pages maximum each) (PDF)
• CV of senior scholars to be invited if readily available or link to the scholars’ websites

Application process:

• To submit a proposal for the publication and research-building program, please complete the application by January 31, 2025.
• Proposals will be reviewed by members of the Institute for Social Transformation’s Executive Board.