Job Description

The Center for the Study of Ethnicity, Race, and Immigration (CSERI) will award a number of Turner Schulman graduate fellowships for research expenses and travel undertaken during the 2026-2027 academic year. Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis until April 30.

Students may receive grants of up to $3,000 for research expenses over the course of the academic year. The funding can be split among more than one proposal, and CSERI research support may be combined with funding from other programs.

Examples of research-related activities that may be funded include, but are not limited to:

• · Costs associated with field research and/or experimental research.
• · Travel to libraries, archives, special collections, or other research sites.
• · Purchase of data, research materials, research-related software, and/or specialized equipment.
• · Subject incentives and interview transcription.

CSERI does not support incidental expenses such as meals or per diems.

Qualifications

All full-time Penn graduate students enrolled in any school whose research focuses on social science approaches to race, ethnicity, or immigration in the United States or in other countries are eligible to apply.

Application Instructions

The application must include:

1. A 3-page proposal describing the proposed research, its relation to the dissertation, the methods for conducting the research (i.e. archival, quantitative, surveys, participant observer, secondary and published primary sources, interviews, experimental, etc.), and a timeline.
2. An itemized budget and brief budget narrative describing how the funds will be used, as well as a list of all pending and accepted funding for the proposal. Students requesting funds for software should verify they are not eligible for access under the license of their department or other research centers (such as the Population Research Center).
3. The applicant's CV.
4. A reference letter from the applicant's dissertation advisor indicating their approval of and support for the applicant's research plans. Please follow the directions in Interfolio for submitting letters confidentially.

All grant recipients must be prepared to present their research at a poster exposition hosted by CSERI at the end of the 2027 Fall semester.

Students conducting projects in the social sciences on race, ethnicity, and immigration in Latin America and/or Latinx politics in the United States can also apply and receive additional advisory support from the Center for Latin American and Latinx Studies. For specific information contact the CLALS program at clals-upenn@sas.upenn.edu.

Students are also encouraged to seek funding in conjunction with Africana Studies, Political Science, Sociology, and other social science units at Penn.

For further information or questions, contact CSERI Administrator Anne Kalbach, akalbach@sas.upenn.edu.

Equal Employment Opportunity Statement

The University of Pennsylvania is an equal opportunity employer. Candidates are considered for employment without regard to race, color, sex, sexual orientation, religion, creed, national origin (including shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics), citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status or any class protected under applicable federal, state or local law.