Funding, Grants & Awards

U Michigan Wins $4 Million To Train Education Researchers

• By Joshua Bolkan
• 06/08/15

The University of Michigan (U-M) has landed a $4 million grant to launch a predoctoral research program in education sciences.

Awarded by the Department of Education's Institute of Education Sciences, the grant will bring together the university's schools of education and public policy and the department of economics in a joint effort to train doctoral students in conducting research.

"Through research apprenticeships, fellows will be trained to estimate the causal effects of educational policies and practices on student outcomes across a broad array of research topics," according to a news release. "Fellows will develop skills in grant writing and management and will enter the program at different points in their doctoral studies, with fellowships ranging from three to four years. Fellows will receive an annual $30,000 stipend plus full tuition and fringe benefits."

"This grant will enable us to train nearly 20 doctoral students, developing their technical expertise and practical experience in causal inference in education research, over the five-year grant period," said Susan Dynarski, an education, economics and public policy professor and co-director of the Education Policy Initiative at the Ford School of Public Policy, in a prepared statement.

Dynarski added that, though the fellowship is open to students in any social science, the program will initially draw from those focused on education, public policy and economics.