Originally posted on the HUB.
Johns Hopkins University’s 21st Century Cities Initiative is accepting applications for its Spring 2017 Applied Research Seed Grant Program. The grants, expected to average $35,000, will support the development of new, cross-disciplinary research that meaningfully engages policymakers and/or practitioners in cities.
Brief letters of intent are due by Feb. 10. For those invited to submit a full proposal, the due date is March 24. Awards will be announced by May 1. The full request for applications is on the initiative’s website.
The 21st Century Cities Initiative is one of the university’s Signature Initiatives and supports cross-disciplinary teams conducting applied research that helps cities become dynamic hubs of opportunity, inclusion, and innovation.
Recently, the initiative has been focusing its work around the theme of neighborhood transformation. It hosted a series of community conversations called Redlining Baltimore that brought together academics, activists, and residents to discuss the legacies of discrimination in Baltimore. It also hosted a national symposium titled 21st Century Neighborhoods: Research. Leadership. Transformation. The 2017 seed grants are intended to support research that aligns with the policy areas explored at that symposium, including mixed-income neighborhood development, safe and healthy neighborhoods, and economic opportunity, inclusion, and growth.
21CC anticipates awarding up to seven grants to support projects for up to 12 months. Applications must be led by a Johns Hopkins faculty member, combine two or more academic disciplines, and have an applied partner such as a local government entity, nonprofit organization, or private sector business or corporation. Applicants may include research partners from universities or research institutions outside Johns Hopkins and are welcome to focus their research on one or more cities (with appropriate applied local partners).
21CC will host a bidders’ conference and networking event from 5 to 7 p.m. on Jan. 24 at Open Works, located at 1400 Greenmount Ave. in Baltimore.
Summaries of the seven projects that received seed grants in the 2015–16 academic year are on the initiative’s website. Anyone with questions can email 21CC program coordinator Mac McComas at [email protected].