The Office Foundations Relations is pleased to share this open call for funding from the Spencer Foundation. Please forward the call to interested faculty in your departments and divisions.
UCSC Contact: Caroline Rodriguez | caroline@ucsc.eduFunder: Spencer FoundationOpportunity: Large Research Grants on Education
Pre-Proposal Deadline: February 24, 2026, 10am PTFull Proposal Deadline: June 23, 2026, 10am PT
Overview
- The Spencer Foundation’s goal for this program is to support rigorous, intellectually ambitious and technically sound research that is relevant to the most pressing questions and compelling opportunities in education. They seek to support scholarship that develops new foundational knowledge that may have a lasting impact on educational discourse. They recognize that learning occurs across the life course as well as across settings—from the classroom to the workplace, to family and community contexts and even onto the playing field—any of which may, in the right circumstance, provide the basis for rewarding study that makes significant contributions to the field. Spencer expects and welcomes methodological diversity in answering pressing questions and welcomes proposals submitted by multidisciplinary and multigenerational teams. Spencer encourages teams to thoughtfully consider and describe plans regarding the trajectories of their project’s findings, implications, and potential effects. Please review the opportunity’s website for more details.
- Please see here for further details on grant guidelines.
Funding Level
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Large Research Grant budget totals should be between $125,000 and $500,000, including up to 15% indirect charges on the total direct cost
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Proposals will be funded in the following funding tiers: $125,000 to 250,000; $250,001 to $375,000; and $375,001 to $500,000. Spencer strongly encourages applicants to carefully consider these tiers when constructing their project budgets
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Projects proposed may not be longer than 5 years in duration
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Applications accepted once a year
Eligibility
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Principal Investigators (PIs) and Co-PIs must have an earned doctorate in an academic discipline or professional field, or appropriate experience in an education research-related profession
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While graduate students may be part of the research team, they may not be named the PI or Co-PI on the proposal
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PIs and Co-PIs may only hold one active research grant from the Spencer Foundation at a time
Timeline
February 24, 2026 10am PT: Pre-Proposal Deadline
June 23, 2026 10am PT: Full Proposal Deadline (by invitation)
Special Requirements:
Please notify the Office of Foundation Relations if you are interested in applying to this opportunity (fr@ucsc.edu). For support developing your proposal, please contact the Research Development Specialist or send a request to resdev@ucsc.edu. Within the Division of Social Sciences, please contact Ashlee Tews (ashleeac@ucsc.edu), and within the Arts, please contact Hannah Jasper (hannahjasper@ucsc.edu) to initiate notification and proposal support.
Call Sent: January 8, 2026
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The Office of Foundation Relations is a unit of University Advancement. The FR team creates and maintains mutually beneficial, long-term relationships with private organizations, matching grant initiatives with educational and research programs and centers. FR supports faculty and staff to identify and approach these and other private foundations for funding, to assist in strategic positioning of the grant application, and to facilitate funder campus visits. For a list of recent funding opportunities, please visit the FR website: FR Calls for Funding.