For over two decades, ISR has provided “Next Generation” research awards to emerging scholars. Since 2001, ISR’s 35 Next Generation funds have supported more than 600 early career researchers, providing up to $300,000 each year in support of University of Michigan graduate students, postdoctoral scholars, and pre-tenure faculty.
The awards for the 2025-2026 academic year will open for application in December, 2024. To apply, please visit our InfoReady page for more details.
2024 Awardees & Projects
A. Regula Herzog Young Investigators Fund
Kimson Johnson
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Institute for Social Research
Explorations of the educational exposome on cognitive aging and health over the life course
Angus Campbell Scholars Fund
Deaweh Benson
Doctoral Candidate, Psychology
Development in the Context of Racism: An Exploration of Health Risk and Resilience Among Black Adolescents and Young Adults
Charles Cannell Fund in Survey Methodology
Briana Scott
Doctoral Candidate, Combined Program in Education and Psychology
“Social Justice Rules!” Survey Validation to Assess Youth Empowerment and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Beliefs and Actions
Yongchao Ma
Doctoral Candidate, Institute for Social Research
Leveraging Survey Variables to Estimate Response Propensity in Bayesian Adaptive Survey Design: A Simulation Study
CID Emerging Inequality Scholar Award
So’Phelia Morrow
Doctoral Candidate, Sociology and Social Work
(In)visible Violence: Exploring Black Women’s Lived Experiences of Hidden Abuse
Chalem Bolton
Doctoral Candidate, Sociology
How do American States Shape Economic Inequality
Daniel Katz Dissertation Fellowship in Psychology and Survey Methodology
Deji Suolang
Doctoral Candidate, Institute for Social Research
Leveraging Wearable Sensor Data to Improve Self-Reports in Survey Research
Elizabeth “Libby” Douvan Junior Scholars Fund in Life Course Development
Sarah Day Dayon
Doctoral Candidate, Educational Studies
An Exploration of What Allows Teachers of Color to Stay, Thrive, and Sustain Themselves in Educational Spaces
F. Thomas Juster Economic Behavior Research Fund
Asher Dvir-Djerassi
Doctoral Candidate, Sociology and Public Policy
Garth Taylor Dissertation Award in Public Opinion
Hilary Zedlitz
Doctoral Candidate, Political Science
From Reason Rally to Political Reality: Understanding Nonreligious Identity, Political Behavior, and Public Opinion
Shayla Olson
Doctoral Candidate, Political Science
Racialized Religion and the Politics of White American Christians
Hanes Walton Jr. Endowment for Graduate Study in Racial and Ethnic Politics
Francy Luna Diaz
Doctoral Student, Political Science
Rumors Across Borders: The Impact of Transnational Ties on Latino Information Environments and Political Attitudes
Maya Khuzam
Doctoral Student, Political Science
Beyond Targets: Mapping the Wider Impacts of Political Discrimination on Group Identities
James S. Jackson Emerging Scholars Fund
Katrina Ellis
Assistant Professor, Social Work
Assistant Professor, Public Health
Faculty Associate, Institute for Social Research
Jerald and Virginia Bachman Research Fellowship on Change in American Youth
Janet Wang
Doctoral Candidate, Sociology
Changing youth attitudes towards division of labor
Marshall Weinberg Population, Development, and Climate Change Fellows Program
Emma Banchoff
Doctoral Candidate, Sociology
Community and Environmental Change in Nepal: Implications for Livelihoods and Family Formation
Nabin Pradhan
Doctoral Candidate, School for Environment and Sustainability
Nature-based climate action through employment-based social assistance program: Evidence from India
Marshall Weinberg Population Studies Center (PSC) Training Program Fund
Angubeen Khan
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Population Studies Center
“A Mixed-Method Study of Breast Cancer Screening and Diagnosis among Middle Eastern and South Asian Women in the U.S.”
Shane Burns
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Population Studies Center
Disability Among Older Adults in North America: Findings from Canada, Mexico, and the United States
Tammy Lee
Doctoral Candidate, Economics
The Role of Expected Career Costs of Childbearing in Shaping Fertility and Marriage Decisions: A Survey Experiment in South Korea
Philip Converse and Warren Miller Fellowship in American Political Behavior
Adam Rauh
Doctoral Candidate, Political Science
Chronic Political Stressors and the Development of an Apocalyptic Mindset
Avery Goods
Doctoral Candidate, Political Science
Chronic Political Stressors and the Development of an Apocalyptic Mindset
Robert and Judy Marans/Kan and Lillian Chen Dissertation Award in Sustainability and Survey Methodology
Amelia Zuckerwise
Doctoral Candidate, School for Environment and Sustainability
Enhancing social resilience to human-wildlife conflict risk
Robert Kahn Fellowship for the Scientific Study of Social Issues
Erin Ice
Doctoral Candidate, Sociology
Becoming Mom’s Nurse: Making the American Family Caregiver
Ronald F. Inglehart Scholarship Fund
Charlotte Boucher
Doctoral Candidate, Political Science
Negotiated Citizenship: Managed Relationships with a Violent State
Roy Pierce Scholars Fund
Esmeralda López
Doctoral Candidate, Political Science
Measuring Conflict-Related Sexual Violence
Hood Ahmed
Doctoral Candidate, Political Science
Social Change by Decree: Autocratic Reforms and Social Norms
Jun Fang
Doctoral Candidate, Political Science
Going Green while Decoupling from China: Fragmented Responses to Green Foreign Investments in the United States
Sarri Family Fellowship for Research on Educational Attainment of Children in Low Income Families
Junchao Tang
Doctoral Candidate, Sociology
Boarding, Schooling and Academic Achievement Gap
Tiffany Wu
Doctoral Candidate, Combined Program in Education and Psychology
SMOTE, XGBoost, Action! Leveraging Modern Machine Learning to Reduce Chronic Absenteeism Rates for Students from
Low-Income Families
The Tessler Fellows Fund
Hanna Lee
Doctoral Candidate, Political Science
Revisiting the power of distributive policy under dictatorship: Does autocratic distributive policy strengthen its legacy?
Donor Impact
“The impact of this award on my work and career cannot be overstated. By enabling me to conduct this fieldwork, the award will significantly enrich the depth and quality of my dissertation research, allowing me to provide novel insights into the interplay between Chinese green energy firms and global political dynamics.”
– Jun Fang
“I am honored to have been selected for this prestigious award. My parents are immigrants who came to the United States with little money in hopes of creating a better life for their future children, and my education here in the U.S. has opened pathways for me to pursue opportunities not afforded to my parents. In this way, the purpose underlying the Sarri Family Fellowship is personally meaningful to me.”
– Tiffany Wu
“This award will be crucial for funding my field research in France this semester. This field work is crucial to my dissertation, and without this award I would not be able to spend the amount of time needed on field work to produce a quality dissertation. Thank you for helping me do this!”
– Charlotte Boucher
“Your support enables me to circumvent challenges that could delay my dissertation progress. Thanks to your contribution, I am able to mentor an undergraduate research student to conduct preliminary analyses. The award will also help defray rising inflated-related living expenses, unexpected computing costs, and the financial means to secure restricted usage data to complete my analyses.”
– Deaweh Benson
“This funding will provide me the opportunity to field original survey questions examining group solidarity, identity, and experiences with discrimination among individuals with ancestry tracing back to the Middle East and North Africa. This project seeks to honor Hanes Walton Jr.’s legacy by expanding research in Political Science to encompass overlooked racial and ethnic minority groups.”
– Maya Khuzam
“To honor teachers’ time and labor, the funding from the Douvan award will be used to compensate teachers financially with an honorarium and give them the opportunity to participate in the retreat, all-expenses (lodging, food, transportation) paid. Receiving this grant also supports the completion of my dissertation, a requirement for my degree, and allows me to make a scholarly contribution to the growing field of teacher retention in educational research.”
– Sarah Day Dayon
“I am delighted and grateful to receive the Marshall Weinberg Fellowship in Population, Development, and Climate Change. The fellowship will significantly contribute to my dissertation by allowing me to do field research in drought-prone districts in India to assess how the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme provides a safety net and enhances resilience to cope with climate change by rural households.”
– Nabin Pradhan
Support the Next Generation
As our 2024 awardees described above, donor-funded Next Generation awards have transformative power, supporting their hard-working recipients and putting important and innovative projects into action, while honoring the legacy of those who came before. If you are interested in giving to or have any questions regarding the Next Generation Initiative, please contact the Development team at ISR.