Highlights

• The Weatherhead Center supports faculty-directed conferences with grants of up to $25,000.
• The WCFIA Steering Committee evaluates the proposals.
• Within a three-year time frame, Faculty Associates are eligible for one medium grant of approximately $25,000 for either a conference or a research project.
• Faculty are encouraged to consider ways in which diversity in terms of international participation can enrich their scholarly conferences. To this end, faculty may include proposals for a “globalization supplement” of up to $3,000 that must be used to facilitate the participation of scholars from outside North America and Europe.
• Faculty are encouraged to utilize audio and video conferencing to control the cost of airfares and accommodations.

The Weatherhead Center encourages faculty-directed conferences, particularly those with expected research results. The Weatherhead Center provides logistical and organizational support for conferences, as well as financial assistance, to bring scholars and practitioners to Harvard from around the country and the world to participate with Harvard faculty in conferences and workshops designed to advance analytical research. The Center will consider support for approximately twenty to thirty participants to meet for a day or more to present and discuss current research. Typically, Center funds cover travel and hotel expenses for speakers, conference space, meals, materials, and a conference website for posting papers.

Proposals for conferences should relate to the core interests of the Center. This research focuses on international, transnational, global, and comparative national issues and may address contemporary or historical topics, including rigorous policy analysis, as well as the study of specific countries and regions outside the United States.

Who Is Eligible

Only Faculty Associates of the Weatherhead Center may apply for conference funding, but proposed research may include other scholars and practitioners from inside and outside of Harvard. Preference is given to proposals by faculty who have not previously been funded. The Center does not normally support projects with conferences that meet every year; in general, the expectation is that such endeavors will seek external funding.

How to Apply

Any Weatherhead Center Faculty Associate interested in applying for a medium grant for a faculty conference should submit:

• a three- to four-page narrative proposal describing the project and its scholarly significance;
• a list of primary and secondary participants and their affiliations;
• a draft agenda;
• a two-page curriculum vitae listing no more than five publications related to this research proposal;
• a discussion of the results achieved from prior Weatherhead Center funding;
• a list of other potential Harvard and non-Harvard funding sources; and
• a detailed budget.

Please direct all requests for substantive advice and all proposals to Steven B. Bloomfield.

Proposal Evaluation

The WCFIA Steering Committee evaluates these proposals and makes recommendations to the Center's director and executive director.

Deadlines

Proposals for conferences are considered three times a year by the WCFIA Steering Committee. The deadlines for 2012–2013 are October 1, 2012, February 1, 2013, and April 1, 2013. Only in exceptional circumstances will the WCFIA Steering Committee consider a request at other times.

Terms

It is essential to work out specific dates and staffing expectations with the Weatherhead Center so that conflicts with other Center events do not occur.

Faculty who receive support from the Center should acknowledge it in future publications of their research. All grant recipients must submit a one- to two-page memo at the end of the academic year reporting on the use of Weatherhead Center grant funds. This report should focus on the intellectual and scholarly results of the conference. Reporting memos are due June 30, 2013. Faculty may defer organizing a conference for only two years, after which they must reapply for funding.

Funding Available

Funding varies based on the type, size, and length of the conference and does not generally exceed $25,000, except for “globalization supplements.” In the case of conferences that require considerably more funding, faculty should seek collaborative support from additional institutions. Faculty should be aware of other sources for research funds including the Provost's Fund for Interfaculty Collaboration (PFIC).