About us

We invite proposals for the 2025–2026 Qualitative Research Group Micro-Grant Competition. The Qualitative Research Group will fund two student-led qualitative research projects, with $500 awarded to each project to support research-related expenses such as data collection, software licensing, recruitment, travel, or archival access.

We welcome proposals from graduate students across the department and from all qualitative traditions, including but not limited to (digital) ethnography, interviews, content analysis, archival research, and arts-based methods. Cross-disciplinary and methodologically innovative projects are strongly encouraged.

For this micro-grant competition, we would like to encourage proposals that involve collaboration. For example, projects developed by small teams, or research designs that bring together complementary methodological or theoretical strengths. We see this micro-grant as an opportunity not only to support individual research agendas but also to foster shared learning and collective qualitative inquiry within the department.

For the submission, a complete proposal should include:

• A 500-word abstract outlining the research question, methods, and anticipated scholarly contribution
• A brief budget table (approximately $500) explaining the intended use of funds

Please submit your materials by January 25, 2026. Funding decisions will be announced in mid-February, following a department-wide vote.

Proposals should be emailed to both:

JD Duncan (jfduncan2@wisc.edu)

Chenjie Zheng (czheng93@wisc.edu)

We look forward to reading your work.