Early Career Scholars Application

Deadline Extended! All submissions are due by Wednesday, December 19, 2018 at 5pm EST

October 2, 2018

The New York City Early Childhood Research Network (the Research Network) was established in 2015 to bring researchers and policymakers together to investigate and improve early childhood program quality in New York City. The Research Network is committed to generating actionable research and timely data to help City officials with the implementation of New York City's early care and education system. In our work, we have three objectives: identify and promote research opportunities, disseminate research to inform policy and practice, and build the community and capacity of researchers in New York City dedicated to rigorous applied research to inform policy and practice.

The New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute, which facilitates the Research Network, is launching a new initiative to offer Early Career Scholars Awards to support individuals who are engaged in applied research that has implications for improving early childhood policy and practice. Eligible applicants include doctoral candidates who have developed their dissertation proposals as well as post-doc researchers within 3 years of completing their doctoral degrees.

With this opportunity, we intend to make five awards in the amount of $5,000 each to be used during the 2019 calendar year. In addition to offering this awards, we will facilitate a learning community that will include bi-monthly meetings for scholars to come together to share their work and also meet with the policymakers and researchers who are working together as part of the NYC Early Childhood Research Network. Recipients of the awards will be expected to support one another and actively participate in the learning community.

The Research Network has several principles that will inform our selection process. First, we are committed to rigorous research that has implications for early childhood policy and practice. Second, we believe that various forms of inquiry are needed to understand and improve the implementation of policy and we welcome qualitative, quantitative and mixed methods research proposals. Third, we strive to increase diversity within the research community and encourage applications from candidates who are from historically disadvantaged and underrepresented groups. Finally, we are committed to collaboration and therefore recipients will be invited to participate in the Research Network Early Career Scholars learning community.

Successful applicants will show they are pursuing a research proposal related to early care and education that can include a dissertation or post-doctoral research. The application asks scholars to describe their research agenda including (a) the research topics and rationale, (b) anticipated research design, (c) the policy and practical implications of the work, and (d) how the award will be used. Applicants are also asked to demonstrate the endorsement from their supervisor or advisor to engage in this work by including a letter of support that will accompany the application. Award recipients will be expected to participate in the early career scholars learning community and produce a policy memo for City agency officials pertaining to their research topic.