The Engaged Research Grant is run by the Wenner-Gren Foundation, a long-standing New York funder of anthropological research. It supports lasting partnerships that give real authority to the people who have historically been the subjects of anthropological study rather than the researchers. Projects are expected to tackle inequality and support community flourishing through genuinely collaborative work. Each applicant team must include people with lived experience in the research location, and the applicant of record must hold or be studying toward a doctorate in anthropology or a related field. The grant funds the research itself, not institutional overhead.
Benefits & funding
- Award of up to US$25,000 per grant.
- Funds research costs only — no institutional overhead or administrative fees are covered.
- Non-renewable, but a single award may fund several distinct phases if that is part of the project design.
- No fixed spending window: teams may request support across different time periods.
Eligibility
- The applicant of record must hold a PhD in anthropology or a related field, or be enrolled in a doctoral program in anthropology.
- Independent scholars are eligible; faculty and postdoctoral fellows may join as team members.
- Teams must include individuals with lived experience in the research location.
- Open to teams regardless of nationality or institutional or departmental affiliation.
- You may not apply for the Dissertation Fieldwork Grant or Post-PhD Research Grant in the same calendar year, and may not have more than one application under review at once.
Can you apply?
Worth a closer look
Sign in and add your profile to check this against your nationality, residency, and studies.
Education required
PhD Enrolled · PhD
Not in your profile yet
We only check the criteria we have data for. Always confirm full eligibility on the official page before applying.
Application process
- 1Confirm the applicant of record and the team meet the eligibility and lived-experience requirements.
- 2Access the online application portal, which opens about two months before the deadline.
- 3Prepare the required materials in English: general information, a lay-audience abstract, six project-description responses, a detailed budget, a CV, evidence of community commitment (letters, permits, or meeting minutes), and a bibliography.
- 4Submit online by the deadline. Decisions follow roughly six months of review.
Program timeline
application portal opens (about two months before the deadline).
Around June 1
August 1
application deadline, for projects beginning no earlier than April 1 of the following year.
Roughly six months later
final funding decisions.