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How to apply for LI Grants and Fellowships Step 1: Create an Account You can explore whether or not you …

How to apply for LI Grants and Fellowships

Step 1: Create an Account

You can explore whether or not you meet the eligibility criteria for our programs by taking this brief quiz. It will help you identify the program you are most likely to be qualified for.

Before you can apply for any of our programs, you must first create an account in our system. Click ‘Log In’ (located at the top left of the website, above the Louisville Institute logo) to create your account and fill out your profile. Once you have logged in and completed this step of the process you will be able to follow the ‘apply’ links for the program of your choice.

Application Process

Once you have created an account and chosen a program, you can begin the online application process. There is a brief form to complete with questions pertaining to your program of choice. Once the application is submitted, you will have a list of required deliverables to submit as well. You can track your progress towards completed application in your account dashboard, also found at the top left of the website, in the same location as your log-in. Once you have begun the process, you’ll see a check list of items required for your program. Once you have submitted all the required documentation Louisville Institute will be in contact with you about your project.

Our Grant Programs

Annual Grant Programs and Application Deadlines:

You can learn more about each of these programs and see links to content outlining previous awards in each of these areas from the links above.

Crafting a Research Grant Proposal

Louisville Institute awards grants to applicants who submit well-written, persuasive project proposals. An effective proposal identifies a significant challenge, advances a compelling approach for addressing it, and indicates how findings will be shared with a well-defined audience. Applicants must effectively communicate why they are applying, what they will do during the grant period, and how the project will benefit North American Christianity.

In crafting a research proposal, applicants should clearly articulate the core question they hope to investigate. How do they see this concern manifest? What resources are available for investigating this reality? Recognizing that others have studied the issue, what new insights does the applicant hope to contribute to the conversation?

Louisville Institute seeks to fund innovative projects that will contribute to new learning within both church and academy. Consequently the Institute does not award grants for basic institutional operating support (including the normal operation of existing programs), construction expenses, endowments, publication subventions, routine conference support, or educational expenses for persons enrolled in degree programs and Doctor of Ministry projects.

Two books applicants may wish to consult in designing and evaluating a grant project and writing a persuasive grant proposal are: Kathleen Cahalan, Projects that Matter: Successful Planning and Evaluation for Religious Organizations (Alban Institute: 2003) and Wayne C. Booth, Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams, The Craft of Research (3rd edition, University of Chicago Press, 2008), especially chapters 3 and 4.

Discernment Process

Review the website overview page for the particular grant program that interests you. Louisville Institute is glad to provide brief initial consultation to help you determine if your project ideas fit our funding criteria. If you would like to pursue that conversation, please feel free to contact us.

Note that feasibility feedback is optional and not required to submit an application.

 

Our Fellowship Programs

Our three fellowship programs support the formation of ecclesiastically engaged academics for teaching and scholarship that serves the church and its ministries. Each fellowship awards stipends and links junior scholars into dynamic peer cohorts.

Applying for a Louisville Institute Fellowship

Please review the Theological Education Fellowships page as well as the section on the particular fellowship program in which you are interested in order to assess your eligibility.

Annual Fellowship Application Deadlines:

You can learn more about each of these programs and see links to content outlining previous awards in each of these areas from the links above.