People sitting at a table with a microphone. People sitting at a table with a microphone. People sitting at a table with a microphone.

Funding Opportunities for UChicago Faculty

CSGS Call for Proposals: Autumn 2026

The CSGS provides funding to support all manner of research, events, and programming – from talks and conferences, to creative projects, exhibitions, film series, performances, research collaborations, reading or writing groups, and more. If you imagine it, we want to help make it happen! 

Collaborative projects and events – organized with other UChicago faculty, graduate or undergraduate students, colleagues from other local institutions, and community groups – are especially encouraged. 

 

Deadlines

Beginning in AY 26-27, the CSGS will issue quarterly calls for proposals due by end of day on the Friday of Week 5, which in Autumn quarter is Friday, October 30.

Please apply for support at least one quarter prior to the event or the beginning of the project (in Autumn 2026 for a Winter 2027 event or start date, etc.).

 

Eligibility and limitations

Calls for Proposals are open to all CSGS faculty affiliates, affiliated postdoctoral fellows, and Center fellows.

Please note: The CSGS attempts to give the broadest access possible to support the work of our affiliates. However, all expenditures are subject to policies that govern the Center’s budget and spending; there may also be instances where the Center must follow policies held and interpreted by the home departments and divisions of the faculty requesting funds (such as collective bargaining unit agreements). Please direct any questions to Tate Brazas at tbrazas@uchicago.edu.

 

Current theme

Protest: To protest is to assert, to object, or to gather for the purposes of voicing disapproval. This programmatic theme draws on the protest central to feminist and queer action and to the establishment of what would become gender and sexuality studies in the 1960s and 1970s. At the University of Chicago, the values of free expression, open discourse, and academic freedom have been built through student and faculty protest against sex discrimination, sexual harassment, and discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation on campus, and solidarity with communities in Chicago and beyond. Protest has also been an object of study in gender and sexuality studies itself: Douglas Crimp's account of mourning and militancy, for example, has been key to the history of HIV/AIDS. Differently than other keywords in the field, like movements (organizations and their tactics, or the action at the core of gender performance) or justice (a political ideal), protest is both negative in its opposition to an undesirable state of affairs and doggedly optimistic. Today, as certain U.S. schools, colleges and universities have banned the study, even the utterance of, women, gender, and sexuality, the Center for the Study of Gender and Sexuality welcomes courses, seminars, and programs on or related to feminist and queer protest.

 

Funding types and guidelines

  1. Programming: We welcome proposals for programming, including visiting speakers, performances, exhibitions, etc. We are particularly enthusiastic about event proposals that relate to our current programmatic theme of Protest, though we welcome proposals on any topic related to gender and sexuality studies. The CSGS offers up to $2,000 for accepted programming proposals. Funding requests that exceed the $2,000 maximum will be considered on a case-by-case basis. We strongly encourage applicants to seek additional support from other campus departments, programs, and centers. 
     
  2. Research Grants for Faculty: The CSGS also supports faculty research. Specifically, we offer the following:
    1. Individual research grants of up to $2,000 for junior faculty affiliated with the Center. Successful applicants must agree to present an aspect of their funded research at the Center within two years of the grant.
    2. Collaborative research grants of up to $3,000. The funds will support meeting and research costs, costs associated with bringing one or more colleagues to campus for a short-term visit, or the costs of travel to work with a collaborator located elsewhere, or other relevant costs. The types of collaborative projects we support vary, and might include: collaborative design of a new CSGS course; preparatory work for a major grant application; co-authorship of an article; collaboration on ethnographic or archival research; etc. We require a brief report at the end of the AY concerning how the funds were used and useful, suitable for inclusion in our CSGS newsletter or other materials. Collaborative grant proposals must be submitted by an affiliated faculty person, though collaborators are not required to all be affiliates.
       
  3. Junior Faculty Research and Publication Grants: The CSGS offers grants to Assistant Professors to support the publication of their first book. Assistant Professors who are CSGS affiliates may apply for up to $500 to support a manuscript workshop, pay for image permissions, apply funds towards a publication subvention, or defray other publication-related costs.

 

How to apply

Please submit your proposal to the CSGS Call for Proposals Google Form (log in with your UChicago account).

Proposals and requests for funding should include the following: 

  • a description of the program/project and its intended audience/impact (one page max);
  • a list of possible and/or confirmed co-sponsors and collaborators (including names and departments/affiliations)*;
  • other funding sources (requested or secured, please specify)*;
  • proposed dates of the event (estimated or confirmed, please specify)*;
  • for programming, indicate need for A/V equipment and/or CSGS space*
  • a detailed financial budget with an explanation of costs (one page max.)

* = not required for Junior Faculty Research and Publication Grants; please write N/A if form requires a response