The Labor Research and Action Network (LRAN) brings together workers’ rights advocates, academics, and students with the shared goal of building workplace and economic power for workers in the United States. One of the organization’s key objectives is to help develop the next generation of labor researchers to collaborate in identifying and solving obstacles as we build a better, more inclusive labor movement.

LRAN is pleased to announce a competition for seed grants ranging from $1,000 to $3,000 for labor folks who are engaged in research as activists, policy-makers, and academics. Consistent with LRAN's mission, we strongly encourage collaborative efforts and activist scholarship directly related to workers and workers' rights organizations. Applications that use funds to support labor and community organizations or to compensate grassroots and student researchers for what would otherwise be unpaid labor will be prioritized.

We strongly encourage applicants not connected to an academic institution, especially those from traditionally underrepresented backgrounds, to apply. If you need support with your project proposal, please contact us. Students in all academic disciplines and labor researchers and organizers working part-time or full-time in labor and community organizations are also encouraged to apply. We will prioritize applications from non-tenured faculty and tenure-track professors with fewer than five years of professorial experience.

Applicants should submit a single PDF that includes the following information:

1- A brief project proposal (no more than five pages, double-spaced). For academic applicants, please include information about whether IRB approval is required and, if needed, where the applicant is in the IRB process. All applicants must address the following:

A) Identify the problem you are trying to address.

B) Indicate your specific research question.

C) Explain why the labor movement should be interested in this research and the problem it seeks to address.

D) Explain what data you are collecting, how you plan to collect it, and what process or method you will use for your analysis.

2- A detailed budget that explains how the funds will be used. Please note that LRAN grant money may not be used for overhead, tuition, or fees at the applicant’s university. Funds will be disbursed as reimbursement for budgeted research expenses.

3- For labor practitioners unaffiliated with academic institutions, a letter recommending the proposal from a colleague or collaborator. For graduate students, a letter signing off on the proposal from the student’s academic advisor. For early-career academic researchers who are untenured or have five years or less of professorial experience, a letter recommending the proposal from a senior professor or senior labor practitioner.

4- Contact information (phone and preferred email).

5- If the proposed project collaborates with a union or other worker organization, please add the name, email, and phone number of the applicant’s contact at the host organization.

Winners must provide status reports on the state of their research projects six months and one year after receiving their awards.

For a sample successful application, refer here. Send your proposals in a single PDF to lrangrants@jwj.org with “LRAN New Scholars Research Grant” in the subject line. Also, ask your reference to email the letter of recommendation to this email with your name on the subject line. Grantees will receive a travel stipend of up to $500 to report their research proposal at the 2025 LRAN Conference. The application deadline is November 4th, with winners announced by Nov. 29, 2024.

For more information on LRAN, see https://www.lranetwork.org/