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Faculty Awards & Grants

Grant Opportunities

BYU faculty members can apply for research support on specific projects via the university Emmeline B. Wells Grant or the Women’s Research Initiative Grants, which are administered through the Office of the Associate Academic Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies. Each year a small group of Global Women’s Studies faculty affiliates participates in the review committee for these grants. Recipients of these grants may be invited to present their findings at the Global Women’s Studies colloquium as they work on and complete their research.

1) Scholarly and Creative Work Grants: Emmeline B. Wells Grant

The Emmeline B. Wells Grant offers support for research and creative work with a focus on contexts and issues related to women's lives.

This grant is intended to encourage and support scholarly and creative work by full-time BYU faculty in a CFS-track position. They are not intended as awards and will not be recognized at the Annual University Conference. These grants will be awarded based on review by a faculty panel for each area of interest. These funds may not be used for faculty salaries.

The Emmeline B. Wells Grant will be given to work in the following area of particular interest to the University and to the Church: research and creative work with a focus on contexts and issues related to women’s lives. The maximum amount of the Emmeline B. Wells Grant will be $25,000 and funds will carry over one additional year. Applicants may also be considered for a Women’s Research Initiative (WRI) grant, but must indicate their desire to do so on the application and submit an additional/different (i.e.- smaller) budget for up to $5,000. Only one of the two grants may be awarded.

If you received a previous Emmeline B. Wells grant, you are eligible to apply again if you submitted a final report to the AAVP-Research Office.

Applications must include:
  • Cover page
  • Description of the project (no more than 3 pages)
  • Detailed budget (less than 1 page) in the areas of supplies, travel, and/or student wages. (Must submit an additional (i.e.- smaller) budget if a Wells grant application is to also be considered for a WRI as only one award may be granted.)
  • References (no page limit)
  • Curriculum Vitae (no more than 5 pages)
Deadline for Application: October 31, 2023

Submit the completed application by email to Lynn Patten (lynn_patten@byu.edu) in the Office of Associate Academic Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies.

Notifications of awards will be made in December 2023. Funding will be available in February 2024.

A final report will be required at the end of the project period no later than April 30, 2026. Submit to lynn_patten@byu.edu. It should report on the accomplishments during the term of the grant, the current status of the project, and how the budget was expended. A final report is required before submitting another WRI or Scholarly grant proposal.

Evaluations of proposals will be based on the following areas:
1. Adherence to proposal guidelines.
2. Strength of focus on contexts and issues related to the specific grant applied for.
3. Strength of proposal’s research, creative plan, and/or reasonable methodologies.
4. Potential for quality publications or creative products in the investigator's field.
5. Consistency of proposed budget to meet overall objectives.

If you apply for the Emmeline B. Wells grant and would also like to be considered for the Women’s Research Initiative grant, there is a box you will need to check on the cover page you downloaded. We recommend doing this so if you are not awarded the Emmeline B Wells grant, you will still be in the applicant pool for the WRI grant (info below).

2) Scholarly and Creative Work Grants: Women's Research Initiative Grants (WRI Grants)

June 04, 2019 01:40 PM
The WRI grants are intended to support research and creative work focusing on women by full-time BYU Faculty in a CFS-track position. The maximum amount of each award will be $5000 and the money must be spent during the calendar year in which the award is received. Funds may not be used for faculty salary. If you received a previous Women’s Research Initiative grant, you are eligible to apply again if you submitted a final report to the AAVP-Research Office.

Eligibility


The following are required to be eligible to apply for a grant:
  • Full-time BYU faculty in CFS-track position
  • All reports due from previous WRI or Scholarly grants must be on file in the AAVP office

Proposal


Grant proposals should include the following elements in the order listed below:
  • Cover page
  • Approval signatures from department chair and dean or associate dean (on coversheet)
  • Project description (up to 3 pages)
  • Budget and budget narrative (less than 1 page)
  • References (no page limit)
  • Curriculum Vitae (up to 5 pages)
Proposals should be submitted as a PDF to Lynn Patten (lynn_patten@byu.edu) in the Office of Associate Academic Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies.

Deadline


October 31, 2023

Budget


Project budgets should follow the guidelines below:

  • Up to $5,000
  • Eligible expenses include supplies, travel, and student wages (faculty salary is not an eligible expense)
  • Funds must be expended in the 2024 calendar year

Selection


Recipients are selected by reviewers selected by the University Research Council. Awards are based on:

  • Adherence to proposal guidelines
  • Strength of focus on contexts and issues related to women
  • Strength of proposal’s research, creative plan, and/or reasonable methodologies
  • Potential for quality publications or creative products in investigator’s field
  • Consistency of proposed budget to meet overall objectives
The number of applications exceeds the number of proposals, and the number of awards depends on the funds available and the strength of the proposals.


Reporting


Final reports

  • Due by April 30, 2025
  • Submit reports as a PDF to Lynn Patten (lynn_patten@byu.edu) in the Office of Associate Academic Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies
  • Reports should describe accomplishments during the term of the grant, the current status of the project, how the budget was expended, and list publications or creative works submitted for review or planned for future submission
  • A final report is required before submitting another WRI proposal

3) Kennedy Center Research Grants

GWS faculty affiliates are eligible to apply for the Kennedy Center Faculty Research Grants.

The Kennedy Center encourages high-quality research with an explicit global focus and recognizes that seed monies are often important in incubating such research. Consequently, a limited number of research grants are made available each year to full-time BYU faculty to help them jump-start international-focused research. The committee may support such activities as archival research, surveys, field study, archaeological digs, or small meetings to help faculty collaborate with experts in other countries.

Priority will be given to faculty who participate in Kennedy Center programs. Faculty who have received Kennedy Center research grants in the past will not be considered for additional funding for the same research project unless they demonstrate they have made significant progress on their research. This will be measured by, but not limited to, the following criteria:

  1. Evidence of seeking other funding for continuation and/or expansion of the research.
  2. Evidence of outcomes, including articles submitted for publications, research presentations at professional meetings, student mentoring, etc.

Grants are capped at $5,000 per proposal but may vary in actual amount. Faculty may not be awarded more than two grants on the same or related topic over a period of three years.

Funding is not available for part-time, retired, or adjunct professors. Applications must be for future research; requests for reimbursement for research already completed will not be considered. Requests for travel to countries on the State Department’s Travel Warning List must have prior approval from the international vice president.

Faculty who receive research grants are expected to contribute to the intellectual life of the Kennedy Center. Future publications should acknowledge support of the center, and faculty should be willing to report their research as part of the Kennedy Center lecture series. All grant recipients are required to submit a one-page memo at the end of the year reporting on the use of Kennedy Center funds. Funds are available for use in the year awarded.

Proposals will be evaluated on the following criteria:

  1. The significance/innovation of the research; its potential to significantly add to the intellectual dialogue, including but not limited to, how it might refine, improve, or apply new applications, theoretical concepts, methods, or interventions to that dialogue.
  2. The approach. The merits of the design for accomplishing the specific aims of the project. The appropriateness and feasibility of the method, including, where applicable, measurement and data analysis plans.
  3. The ability of the investigator to carry out the project in the specified time period.
  4. The research environment. Are all the tools necessary to fulfill the research available to the applicant?

Applications for Faculty Research Grants will be considered twice a year: after the 1 April deadline and then again after the 1 November deadline. Out-of-cycle applications will not be considered.

To apply:
https://byu.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_8BAtrbsItpAvSi9

4) WomanStats Data Project Grants

WomanStats Data Project

The Kennedy Center invites applications for a new BYU faculty grant for research on the status
of women worldwide in conjunction with the WomanStats data project. Full-time BYU faculty
are eligible to apply for a grant of up to $5,000 in 2019 to support research relevant to the
WomanStats project. Relevant research may include projects that analyze information (both
qualitative and quantitative) already available in the WomanStats database and/or research
that aims to create and contribute additional cross-national data on the status of women to the
WomanStats database.

The WomanStats data project was founded at BYU in 2001 with the aim of investigating the
link between the security and behavior of states and the situation and security of the women
within them. Since that time, it has grown to include principal investigators at universities across
five countries, representing six fields of study: international relations, geography, psychology,
sustainable development, statistics, and sociology. The dataset tracks over 350 variables in 175
countries, including issues such as rape, sex trafficking, maternal and child mortality, family law,
women in government and the military, and many others.

For more information about the WomanStats project or to consult the codebook and existing
database, please consult the web site (www.womanstats.org). For additional questions about the
project, contact the BYU faculty co-PIs on the project Celeste Beesley (political science; celeste_beesley@byu.edu) or Chad Emmett (geography; chad_emmett@byu.edu).

Grant recipients will be asked to meet with and present their project to the on-campus
WomanStats working group. If desired, grant recipients may use some of the funding to access
student research assistants with rigorous prior training in WomanStats data collection.

To apply: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfz7an9alnFGUzmf1pFuFKPRokHz5Fis7voP0yF6WLd2y8HDw/viewform
Previous Grant Winners
2020
2019
2018
2017
2016
2015
2014
2013
2012
2011
2010
Emmeline B. Wells Grants:
  • Paul Adams (Photography), “Vanishing Voice”
  • Adam A. Rogers (Family Life), “Advancing Health and Education for Adolescent Development”
  • Elizabeth Gibbons Bailey (Biology), “Gender Gaps in Utah County K-12 Math and Science Classes”
Women's Research Initiative Grants:
  • Heather Belnap (Art History), “Women and the Making of the Utah Art Scene, 1880-1950”
  • Samuel Payne (Bioinformatics), “Understanding Differences in the Effect of Cancer Driver Mutations between Breast and Uterine Cancer”
  • Olga Stoddard, Chris Karpowitz and Jessica Preece (Political Science), “Group Gender Composition, Leadership Structure, and Women’s Authority in Work Teams: A Field Experiment”
  • Marc-Aurel Martial (Nursing), “Critical Factors that Affect the Delivery of an Anemia Prevention and Treatment Program for Pregnant and Lactating Women in a Rural Community in Haiti”
  • Stephanie Plamondon Bair (Law), “Gender Norms and Innovation”
  • Niwako Yamawaki (Psychology), “The Effects of Relationship Quality with Confidants and Health Outcomes for Domestic Violence Victims”
  • Celeste Beesley (Political Science), Measuring Women’s Economic and Political Power

Emmeline B. Wells Grant:No Award Granted in 2019
Women's Research Initiative Grants:
  • Samuel Payne (Bioinformatics), “The Impact of Genetic Mutations on Protein Structure and Function in Endometrial Cancer”
  • Claudine Bigelow (Music), “Skandinavisk Porträtt: Women of Wonder”
  • Mary Eyring (English), “Saltwater: Globalizing Early American Grief”
  • Melissa Jones (Psychology), “Changes in Attitudes Towards Sexual Assault at BYU”
  • Hayley Pierce (School of Family Life), “Drug and Pregnancy Related Deaths: Levels, Trends, and Geographic Differentials during the Recent Drug Epidemic”
  • Keely Song Glenn (Dance), “Claim”
  • Jeffrey Tessem (Microbiology), “How do Beta Cells Change during Gestational Diabetes Mellitus?”
  • Eric Wilson (Microbiology, Molecular Biology), “Novel Approaches to Identifying Bacterial Factors Causing Mastitis in Nursing Mothers”
Emmeline B. Wells Grant:
  • Chelom E. Leavitt (School of Family Life) “Women's Sexual Mindfulness Project”
Women's Research Initiative Grants:
  • Celeste Beesley (Political Science) “Crisis and Sexism”
  • Laura Bridgewater (Microbiology) “A Personalized Treatment for Stress- and Diet-Related Deterioration of the Gut Microbiota in Female Mice”
  • Martha Moffit Peacock (Art History) “Heroines, Harpies, and Housewives: Women of Consequence in the Dutch Golden Age”
  • James Dee Higley (Psychology) “Genetic and Experiential Effects on Mother-Infant Attachment and Infant Outcome”
  • Marc Hansen (Biology) “Precision Treatment of Ovarian Cancer with a Novel Therapeutic Background/Readiness”
  • Stacey Shaw (Social Work) “Developing a Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) Tool to Promote Mental Wellbeing among Refugee Women in Malaysia”
  • Jenny Hale Pulsipher (American Studies, History) “Shadow Sacagawea: A Family Story of Race and Religion in the American West”
  • Katya Jordan (Russian) “In Their Own Words: Women’s Literary Magazines in 19th-Century Russia”
Emmeline B. Wells Grant:
  • Charlotte Stanford “Women and the Building Trades in Henry VIII's England"
Women's Research Initiative Grants:
  • Michael Taylor “Witnessing Wounded Knee with "Bright Eyes”: Suzette La Flesche and the Invisible Archive of Indigeneous Women"
  • Rachel Cope “Searching for Sanctification: The Spiritual Biography of Catherine Livingston Garrettson”
  • Heather Jensen and Daryl Lee “Representations of Mormon Women in Nineteenth-Century French Culture”
  • Julie Allen “Triangulating New Nordic Identities: African Christian Women in Danish Disporia”
  • Dale Pratt “Iberian Women Science Fiction Writers”
  • Anna-Lisa Halling “Soror Maria do Ceu's Aves illustradas: An Article and an Annotated Edition”
  • Donna Lee Bowen “Household Formation Systems and Societal Stability and Resiliance: Year 3”
  • Craig Harline (History) “Inseperable: A Story of Conversion, Migration, and Family”
  • Kristin Matthews “Black Feminism 2.0”
  • Evan Ward “Matron of the Modern: The Life of Blanchette Rockefeller”
Emmeline B. Wells Grants:
  • Eric Wilson (Micro & Molecular Biology) “Elucidating the Source of IL-17A in Mastitis”
  • Daniel L. Nielson (Political Science) “Please Hold the Phone: A Field Experiment on Mobile Technology and Women’s Welfare in Tanzania”
Women's Research Initiative Grants:
  • Olga Stoddard, Chris Karpowitz, & Jessica Preece (Political Science) “The Effects of Group Composition on Long-Term Group Dynamics”
  • Michael J. Larson (Psychology) “Error Monitoring Across the Menstrual Cycle: The Role of Dopamine and Association with Mental Health”
  • Donna Lee Bowen (Political Science) “Household Labor and Family Satisfaction”
  • Celeste Beesley & Natalie Wright Romeri-Lewis (Political Science) “Thresholds of Female Legislative Power, Women’s Experiences, and Countrywide Outcomes”
  • Brianna Magnusson & Ali Crandall “The Moderating Effect of Cognitive Control on the Relationship of Early Age at Sexual Intercourse and Risky Sexual Behavior in Adult Women”
Emmeline B. Wells Grant:
  • Mary Jane Woodger "The Innovations, Inspiration, and Implementations of Elaine Anderson Cannon on LDS Church Organizations"
Women's Research Initiative Grants:
  • Juan Arroyo "Molecular Mechanisms of Secondhand Smoke-Induced Intrauterine Growth Restriction (IUGR)"
  • Donna Lee Bowen "Household Formation Systems and Societal Stability and Resilience"
  • Eric Dursteler "Redemption and Honor: Women Slaves in the Early Modern Mediterranean"
  • Amy B. Harris "Who was Harriet Browett? Finding Married and Childless Women's Origins in Nineteenth-Century England and America" and "The Strange Case of the Browett Women: Childlessness on the Mormon Frontier"
  • Brian Poole "Epitope Spreading in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus"
  • Brandie Siegfried "Unveiling Enigma: Queen Elizabeth I, Shakespeare, and the Sackville Pedigree"
  • Niwako Yamawaki "Weight-Based Discrimination on Alleged Sexual Violence"
Nan Osmond Grass Professorship:
  • Dr. Brandie Siegfried (BYU English)
Emmeline B. Wells Grant:
  • Spencer James and Brian Willoughby (School of Family Life) "The Marital Paradigm Study: Wave 3"
  • Jamie Jensen (Biology) "Gender Bias in Lesson Contextual Factors for Life Science Education"
Women's Research Initiative Grants:
  • Celeste Beesley “Economic Globalization and Women’s Political Participation”
  • Donna Lee Bowen, Lynne Nielsen and Valerie Hudson “Clan Governance, Female Subordination, and State Stability”
  • Eric Dursteler “Redemption and Honor: Women Slaves in the Early Modern Mediterranean”
  • Joshua Gubler and Jessica Preece “Media Coverage and Implicit Biases about Gender and Politics”
  • Benjamin Gibbs (Sociology) “Major Decisions: The Role of Gender in the Selection of a College Major”
  • Tim Heaton (Sociology) “Gender and Political Participation in Africa”
  • Heather Belnap Jensen (Art History) “Mormon Women Artists Abroad, 1880-1945”
  • Blake D. Hansen (Teacher Education) “Supporting Mothers with Children with Autism with Functional Behavioral Assessment and Behavioral Activation”
Nan Osmond Grass Professorship:
  • Dr. Bandie Siegfried (BYU English)
Emmeline B. Wells Grant:
  • Jessica Preece (Political Science) "Gender and Political Ambition"
  • Joseph Price (Economics) "Assessing the Effects of Common Social Identity on Individual Effort, Cooperation, and Coordination in Cross-gender Teams: Experimental Study"
Women's Research Initiative Grants:
  • Rachel Cope (Religion) "Drops of Grace and Mercy: How 19th Century Women Cultivated Personal Change through Conversion"
  • Jennifer Haraguchi (Italian) "Eleonora Ramirez di Montalvo and Women's Education"
  • Robert Hudson (French) "Royal Plumes, Redemptive Verse: The Devotional Poetry of Queens and Regents in Reformation France, an Analysis"
  • Niwako Yamawaki (Psychology) "Perception of Violence Against Women among College Students in the US, Japan and India"
  • Mikaela Dufur (Sociology) "Acquisition of and Returns to Social Capital: Potential Differences between Boys and Girls"
  • Nicholas Mason (English) "Caroline Bowles and Women's Satire in Romantic-era Britain"
  • David Nelson (Family Life) "Normative Perceptions of Aggression among Ukrainian, Turkish, and Taiwanese Adolescents"
  • Donna Lee Bowan (Political Science) "Clan Governance, Female Subordination, and State Stability"

Nan Osmond Grass Professorship:
  • Dr. Brandie Siegfried (BYU English)
Emmeline B. Wells Grant:
  • Brent Nielsen (Micro & Molecular Biology) “Identification and Association of Mitochondrial DNA Mutations with Fibromyalgia”
  • Carol Ward (Sociology) “Women Veterans Health Care Focus Group Study—Utah and Montana”
Women's Research Initiative Grants:
  • Neal Bangerter (Neuroscience) “Quantitative Sodium MRI for Improved Detection and Characterization of Breast Cancer”
  • Sarah Coyne (Family Life) ’All Girls are Princesses’: Associations between Exposure to Disney Princess-Related Media and Gender Stereotypical Behavior in Girls”
  • Eric Dursteler (History) “Redemption and Honor: Women Slaves in the Early Modern Mediterranean”
  • Tina Dyches (Teacher Education) “Perceptions of Single Mothers Raising a Child with an Autism Spectrum Disorder”
  • Leslie Hadfield (History) “On the Frontlines of Health: African Nurses in the Rural Eastern Cape, S. Africa, 1960’s-1980’s”
  • Marc Hansen (Biology) “Identifying Novel Biomarkers for Early Detection of Breast Cancer Metastasis”
  • Amy Harris (Family History) “On Their Own? Single Women & Kinship in Early Modern England and New England”
  • George Ryskamp (Family History) “Weavers, Washerwomen and Wenches: Women, Families and Community in a Rural Spanish Village of the 1700s”
Emmeline B. Wells Grant:
  • Dr. Valerie Hudson (Political Science)
Women's Research Initiative Grants:
  • Julie Bevan (Music)
  • Ralph Brown (Sociology)
  • Sarah Coyne & Laura Stockdale (Family Life) "Pretty as a Princess? Appearance based and personality features of Disney Princesses"
  • Cynthia Finlayson (Anthropology)
  • John Hawkins (Anthropology)
  • Valerie Hegstrom (Spanish) "An Edition of the Soledades de Buçaco and other poems"
  • Heather Belnap Jensen (Art History)
  • Michael Larson & Julianne Holt-Lunstad (Psychology)
  • Brian Poole (Micro-Biology) "Interferon Regulatory Factor 5 in Systemic Lupus Erythematosus"
  • Jessica Preece (Political Science) "The Impact of Party Candidate Selection Procedures on Women's Parliamentary Representation"
  • Carl Sederholm (Humanities) "Lydia Marie Child and the Progress of Religious Ideas"
  • Carol Ward (Sociology)
  • Niwako Yamawaki (Psychology) "Others Attitudes Toward Domestic Violence Victims: When the Victims Decide to Return to their Abuser"
Emmeline B. Wells Grant:Diane Spangler
Women's Research Initiative Grants:
  • Richard Butler (Economics)
  • Barbara Culatta et al. (Communication Disorders)
  • Michael Findley (Political Science)
  • Valerie Hudson (Political Science)
  • Larry Nelson (School of Family Life)
  • Anca Sprenger (French and Italian)
  • Scott Steffensen (Psychology)
  • Pat Vehrs (Exercise Science)
  • Mary Jane Woodger (Church History and Doctrine)