The Pipeline Grants from the Russell Sage Foundation in collaboration with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation promote diversity in the social sciences broadly, including racial, ethnic, gender, disciplinary, institutional, and geographic diversity. The Grants support early-career scholars (anyone who is currently an Assistant Professor or Adjunct Assistant Professors, and Lecturers and promote diversity by prioritizing applications from scholars who are underrepresented in the social sciences.
Pipeline grantees are paired with mentors who offer advice on their projects and career development. The competition funds innovative research on economic mobility and access to opportunity in the United States. RSF is particularly interested in research focused on structural barriers to economic mobility and how individuals, communities and state entities understand, navigate and challenge systemic inequalities. Early-career faculty who have not previously received research support or a visiting fellowship from RSF are eligible to apply.
RSF priorities generally do not include analyses of health or mental health outcomes or health behaviors as these are priorities for other funders. For the same reason, RSF seldom supports studies focused on educational processes or curricular issues but does prioritize analyses of inequities in student achievement or educational attainment.
Grantees are expected to present their findings at a conference during summer 2025. Grantees, mentors, and other social scientists will participate. The conference will focus on providing feedback on the research ahead of publication and foster collaboration among researchers. RSF will reimburse1 participants for reasonable travel expenses to attend the conference.