The Institute for Research on Labor and Employment (IRLE) at the University of California, Berkeley supports rigorous interdisciplinary research projects on topics aligned with our mission: to understand the dynamics and policies affecting workers, working life, and employment. To advance scholarship in these topics, we invite requests for funding applications from UC Berkeley faculty each year. The application period for 2022-2023 funding has ended. Selected recipients will be notified in late May 2022.
IRLE seeks to fund a broad and interdisciplinary range of research areas that intersect with our mission. In recent years, we have funded projects focused on education, public employment, criminal justice, labor markets, racial equity, gender discrimination, and immigration.
Faculty research awards provide flexible funds designed to support and advance faculty research projects. Awards requested can be up to $20,000.
In addition to funding, IRLE will provide grantees with collaborative meeting space, opportunities for publication and promotion of work products, and other research support appropriate to the project.
Eligible expenditures:
- Salary and/or fee remissions for Graduate student researcher(s) (GSR).
- Hourly wages for undergraduate project student assistant(s)
- Reimbursement for purchasing of data, GSR travel to conduct research, or other research expenses explained clearly in the application.
- Light refreshments for meetings, speaker honoraria etc. for working groups or research convenings.
- GSR travel (We are not able to cover faculty travel or faculty salary).
- Funds must be spent by May 30, 2023.
Applicant eligibility:
- Applicants must be in residence at UC Berkeley and not on leave during the grant period (Working remotely is fine).
- Both ladder-rank and adjunct faculty are eligible. Junior faculty members are encouraged to apply.
- Applications from non-senate faculty members will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Reporting requirements and expectations:
- Awardees are strongly encouraged to publish early versions of the work in IRLE’s working paper series. We also strongly encourage awardees to produce public-facing products such as issue briefs, op-eds, white papers, or legislative testimony related to the project. IRLE offers resources that can be helpful in producing these.
- When IRLE-supported work results in academic publications, we ask awardees to inform IRLE of those publications.
- We also encourage GSRs working on funded projects to submit their own relevant work to our working paper or policy brief series.
Application instructions:
To apply, complete this form to submit the following:
- A short description (1000 words or less) of your research question, methodological approach, and how IRLE funding will be used to advance the project.
- Short budget that specifies how the funds will be spent. You are free to use your own template, but if helpful, a template is provided.
Deadlines:
- The application period for 2022-2023 funding has ended. Selected recipients will be notified in late May 2022.
For questions regarding the faculty awards program, please send an email to IRLE@berkeley.edu.