The Public Scholarship Advancement Fund

This fund is now accepting applications for 2024-25.

The CFDE offers the Public Scholarship Advancement (PSA) fund, a grant program designed to help faculty advance public scholarship-related activities.

These grants of up to $2500 are intended to support Emory faculty members interested in moving their research and writing into the realm of public influence. Examples of requests for which faculty may apply for funds include

  • Hiring a media coach
  • Hiring an editor to help you draft a crossover trade book proposal or to learn to write for lay audiences on a particular project
  • Developing a platform or profile for public scholarship
  • Attending a training opportunity (such as a media training program or the OpEd Project workshop on writing opinion pieces for major news outlets)
  • Engaging a communications professional or publicist to promote your work to new, non-academic audiences
  • Traveling to conduct or present research related to public scholarship
  • Subvention for artwork or a related digital endeavor for a book intended for broader readership
  • Bringing in a presenter or speaker to support an environment for public scholarship among Emory faculty.

Funds will not be awarded for activities for which there is support from other resources on campus (such as the Community Engaged Learning Grants or the Scholarly Writing and Publishing Fund).

Awards may not be made retroactively for work already completed. 

Eligibility

Eligible applicants include all full-time Emory faculty. This includes tenure-track and tenured faculty, as well as teaching track, clinical track, and other faculty with long-term appointments.

  • Excluded from eligibility are adjunct or visiting faculty members, as well as faculty members whose contracts will not be renewed for the following year and faculty members who plan to resign their appointments at the end of the current year.
  • No faculty member may receive support from this fund more than once in a three-year period. Unsuccessful applicants may reapply without prejudice.
  • The work may be pursued solely by the applying faculty member or as part of a collaborative work of which the faculty member is the primary leader. The work may be in any discipline or multi- or interdisciplinary. 

Uses of Grant

Faculty may apply for a grant to work on a scholarly project, including writing, training in new methods, and access to new venues or outlets (see above list of examples).

These grants are intended to help with the development and production of scholarship that engages audiences beyond the academy. They may not be used for summer salary or for hiring a research assistant.

Faculty are welcome and encouraged to schedule a consultation with the CFDE in advance of developing a fund proposal. For more information, please contact Allison Adams, aadam02@emory.edu.

Requirements

Recipients must submit a twelve-month report detailing their expenditures and progress on their project.

Recipients must also be available to mentor and share the impact of their funded activities with faculty colleagues at Emory.

Applications

Applications are accepted on an open basis until the fund is exhausted, or August 25, 2025, whichever comes first. Applicants will be notified of decisions within fifteen business days of submission.

A complete application, submitted via email, consists of the following:

  1. A completed application cover form.
  2. A letter describing your public scholarship activity, outlining your goals for the project for the next twelve months, and addressing the criteria described below (letter not to exceed two single-spaced, typed pages).
  3. A budget detailing how you would spend the award funds.
  4. If there are any third-party services involved in the proposal (such as a web designer, photographer, etc.), please include an estimate signed by the provider, detailing the scope and fees for project.
  5. Your curriculum vita.

Criteria

A competitive proposal must answer the following questions:

  • What is your proposed activity? (Propose a well-thought-out, feasible, and reasonable plan that explains how the grant will be used in as much detail as possible.)
  • How will the grant help you make a meaningful impact in the public sphere?
  • Will the project help your advancement in your academic goals? If so, in what ways?
  • How will you measure the impact of the proposed activity?

Please submit all application materials via email to Allison Adams.