Waters Research Grant

Accepting 2027 Waters Grant Applications

The research grant is for promising graduate students in Ph.D. programs who have not yet completed their dissertation, those holding post-doctoral positions, and for new faculty members who have not yet been granted tenure or who are tenured but have not yet achieved the rank of Associate Professor (or its equivalent outside the US). The current amount of the annual grant is up to $5000.

To apply for the current round of grant funding, the following materials listed below need to be submitted by 5pm Eastern Standard Time on Friday, October 30^th, 2026.  Unfortunately because of time constraints, extensions cannot be allowed and ALL materials must be in by the deadline. 

1. A completed cover sheet.
2. A 4 to 5 page narrative (in 12 pt Times New Roman font single-spaced) explaining the following:
3. The purpose of the project: What will be learned from the research to be undertaken, and what will be its contribution to knowledge? What are the expected outputs from the work?
4. A description of the research project to be undertaken, including the issues to be examined, the research methods to be employed (this needs to be sufficiently detailed), and why this constitutes innovative work in comparison to the available evidence in the field.
5. The relationship of the project to social economics: What conceptual frameworks, topical concerns, and/or empirical methodologies drawn from social economics will be used in the present project? How is the project expected to contribute to social economics?
6. The plan of work: Include a timetable for the project, resources to be used, travel plans, etc.
7. The estimated budget: Indicate all costs that would be covered by the grant (e.g., travel expenses, research costs, summer stipend, etc.)
8. An up-to-date curriculum vitae.
9. Two letters of recommendation: For students, one letter should be from their dissertation advisor.

The winner of the Waters grant will be announced at the ASE Presidential Breakfast at the ASSA Meetings in January 2027.

All application materials including letters of recommendation (when possible) should be submitted in the form of one PDF file to with the subject line “WATERS GRANT-[LAST NAME]”. If letter writers request to submit separately, candidates should advise them to use the subject line “WATERS GRANT-[CANDIDATE LAST NAME]-RECOMMENDATION” If there are any questions, please write to the committee chair, ASE Vice President, Thomas Lambert at .