Participatory Sciences Microgrants
The Global One Health Academy is proud to partner with Citizen Science Campus to offer Participatory Sciences Microgrants. These microgrants advance graduate research that utilizes participatory science approaches and/or advances the field of participatory sciences.
Now Accepting Proposals for the 2025-26 Participatory Sciences Microgrants
Deadline: September 14, 11:59 p.m.
About the Participatory Sciences Microgrants
Offered by the Citizen Science Campus and the Global One Health Academy, the Participatory Sciences Microgrants are designed to jump-start research projects led by students in the Participatory Sciences Graduate Certificate at NC State. Research supported by these awards could include projects that use participatory approaches in the research process, or research about participatory sciences as a discipline. Award amounts are available up to $1,000 for projects occurring now through June 2027. Up to three microgrants will be awarded.
Award Information
These microgrants support research projects that use participatory approaches or advance understanding of participatory sciences. We welcome research proposals stemming from all disciplines. Generally allowable expenses include:
- Research supplies for data collection and/or analysis
- Fees from laboratories or other diagnostic services used for data analysis
- Travel expenses necessary for research
- Hourly pay for undergraduate student(s) to assist in the research
- Venue fees for space needs related to participant training, focus groups, or other group interactions critical to the research
- Other direct research expenses
Please note that the following are generally NOT allowable expenses for this award: stipends, food, participant gifts and/or incentives. Up to $100 can be budgeted for these categories, but the remaining $900 in the project must reflect direct research expenses as delineated in the bulleted list above.
The total requested budget must not exceed $1,000. All awarded funds must be spent by June 30, 2027.
Eligibility
To be eligible for this award, the applicant must be a graduate or professional student at NC State and enrolled in or completed the Participatory Sciences Graduate Certificate. Interested students may enroll in the certificate at any point up through the application deadline. Students from all disciplinary backgrounds are encouraged to apply. There are no requirements for the topical focus of the research project, but interdisciplinary questions are encouraged. Projects must either use a participatory research approach or advance the study of participatory sciences as a discipline to be eligible for this funding.
Note that this call is intended to fund research-related efforts. Generally, conference and workshop attendance is not supported, although an exceptional conference/workshop experience that directly contributes to research (e.g., data collection, participant recruitment, etc.) may be considered.
Proposal Content
Proposals will be reviewed by faculty members from diverse disciplinary backgrounds, so should be written for a broad audience spanning the natural sciences, social sciences, engineering, and humanities. Proposals must include:
- Cover page. Include project title, applicant name and departmental affiliation, and a short abstract written for a public audience (max 250 words).
- Project description. Up to 2 pages describing the project, including:
- Introduction/background
- Specific objectives/hypotheses
- Methods (including clear description of the participatory approach, if applicable, from recruitment through communication of results)
- Anticipated outcomes (including any expected research products [e.g., publications, presentations], plans for public dissemination of findings, and any other future plans resulting from the project)
- (optional/if applicable) The interdisciplinary perspectives of the proposed work and/or any new interdisciplinary partnerships that would be enabled by this funding
- Itemized budget. Up to 1 page detailing the project budget and justifying the requested funds. This award will fund at most $1,000, but budgets should list all anticipated expenses. If expenses exceed the award amounts, please list anticipated sources for additional funding that can cover any necessary overages.
All components should be combined into a single PDF for submission. Proposals exceeding page limitations for any component will be returned without review.
Submission Instructions & Deadline
Applications for the Participatory Science Microgrants will be accepted here through 11:59pm on Monday, September 14, 2026. Funding decisions are anticipated by early October.
Please contact Meredith Spence Beaulieu (spencebeaulieu@ncsu.edu) with any questions.