William T. Grant Foundation Scholars Program

The William T. Grant Foundation has announced its annual Scholars Program, which supports promising early-career researchers from any discipline whose research contributes to a society that values young people and helps them reach their potential in the face of inequality by race, ethnicity, economic standing, and immigrant origin status. The Foundation will support four to six awards of $425,000 over five years.

The Foundation is particularly interested in interdisciplinary research that increases understanding of young people, ages 5 to 25 in the United States. Proposed research must address questions that align with one of these two areas:

1) programs, policies, and practices that reduce inequality in youth outcomes;

2) strategies to improve the use of research evidence in ways that benefit youth.

The Foundation encourages investigations into various youth-serving systems, including justice, housing, child welfare, mental health, and education.

Eligibility

The applicant should:

• demonstrate potential to become an influential researcher
• conduct and communicate creative, sophisticated research (proven through prior training and publications)
• have a promising track record of first-authored, high-quality empirical publications in peer-reviewed outlets. The quality of publications is more important than the quantity.

Applicants must be:

• employed in a career-ladder position
• within seven years of receipt of their terminal degree at the time of application
  • In medicine, the seven-year maximum is dated from the completion of the first residency.
  • The award may not be used as a postdoctoral fellowship.

At least one mentor, who commits significant time and assistance to the researcher, must be identified. Two is preferable. The school/unit must commit sufficient resources to carry out the five-year research plan. At least half of the Scholar’s paid time must be spent conducting research.

Internal Application Process

Interested applicants should submit an LOI by March 16th via InfoReady that addresses the following:

Research Plan (one page): Summarize your five-year research plan and describe:

• the rationale for the research
• its contribution to understanding WT Grant’s research interests
• its significance for informing policy and/or practice
• ways it will expand your expertise.

Mentoring Plan (1/2 page): Summarize your mentoring plan describing:

• the expertise to be acquired
• one or two proposed mentors
• the rationale for choosing each mentor
• mentoring activities
• new expertise that you will gain

Please note that the William T. Grant Foundation requires a “Letter of Independence of Multiple Applicants” which states that the UCI applicants represent distinct academic units. The Office of Research will provide this; selected nominees should request the letter by Tuesday, March 31 via email to OR@research.uci.edu. NOTE: The mentor and reference letter deadline is June 10, several weeks before the sponsor application deadline of June 30, 2026.

More detailed information about the William T. Grant Scholars program is available at the WIlliam T. Grant website. Questions about this announcement may be directed to Michael Gallo in the Office of Research, or to either Carley Fox or Heather Fessler in Corporate and Foundation Relations.