The Association for Institutional Research (AIR), with support from the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), the National Science Foundation (NSF), and the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative (NPEC), sponsors a grant program titled: Improving Institutional Research in Postsecondary Educational Institutions.

The goals of this program are to provide professional development opportunities to doctoral students, institutional researchers, educators, and administrators, and to foster the use of federal databases for institutional research in postsecondary education.

The online application system for 2010 Research and Dissertation Grants is now open.

Research Grants: Faculty and practitioners are eligible for funding of up to $40,000 for one year of independent research. These research grants are not available to students. All grant recipients must be affiliated with a U.S. postsecondary institution or relevant nonprofit higher education organization.

Dissertation Grants: Doctoral students are eligible for funding of up to $20,000 for one year to support dissertation research under the guidance of a faculty dissertation advisor.

The deadline for proposal submission is January 15, 2010. Please visit www.airweb.org/grants for full program descriptions and online applications.

Applicants will be notified of the funding decisions no later than the first week of April 2010. Funding will be available beginning May 1, 2010.

Assistance is available from the AIR grant staff at grants@airweb.org or 850-385-4155 x200.