2026 Graduate Student Research Workshop
May 18–22, 2026
Howard University, Washington, DC
Application Deadline: January 30, 2026, 11:59 p.m. CST
Informational Webinar: Wednesday, December 3, 2025, from 3:00–3:30 ET | 2:00–2:30 CT | 1:00–1:30 MT | 12:00–12:30 PT
Zoom link: https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/99470800709 | Add to Calendar (iCal file)
View/download full RFP in PDF format | Frequently Asked Questions
About the Workshop
Howard University and the Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison seek applications for their Graduate Student Research Workshop on Poverty and Economic Mobility. This week-long workshop, held at Howard University in Washington, DC, is aimed at pre-proposal doctoral students in the social sciences studying topics related to poverty or economic mobility in the United States who are from an economically disadvantaged background.
The workshop offers intensive training and mentorship to help attendees expand their skills, knowledge, and resources needed to prepare an effective dissertation proposal centered on policy-relevant, actionable research that will inform human services and economic mobility policies. The workshop will be led by faculty from Howard University and IRP affiliates. Students will set and accomplish daily goals, participate in group lectures, work individually and in small groups, and consult with workshop mentors.
The workshop is designed to meet the following goals for dissertators to:
- increase their knowledge about poverty research and the context of human services and economic mobility policies;
- strengthen their interdisciplinary research skills;
- increase the policy relevance of their research;
- improve communication and translation skills for policy audiences; and
- gain the building blocks for a strong dissertation including:
- strategies for formulating a solid research question and hypotheses;
- strategies for determining the appropriate research method and securing data;
- goal setting and time management strategies; and
- peer and mentor feedback on draft proposals.
About CRW
CRW seeks to enrich the dialogue, research, and policy formation with regard to asset building, wealth accumulation, and racial wealth disparities. CRW is a member of the U.S. Collaborative of Poverty Centers (CPC) and hosts the Graduate Student Research Workshop on Poverty and Economic Mobility as part of this collaboration. The Center’s location in an economics department and in Washington, DC, uniquely positions it to bring a wide array of economists and public policy advocates into the debate on poverty and inequality.
About IRP
The Institute for Research on Poverty is a center for interdisciplinary research into the causes and consequences of poverty and inequality in the United States and the impacts of related policies and programs. As the National Research Center on Poverty and Economic Mobility sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, IRP coordinates the U.S. Collaborative of Poverty Centers (CPC). IRP and its partner centers support and train poverty and economic mobility scholars. In addition, IRP and its partner centers provide relevant, cutting-edge research on a wide range of topics with the goal of improving the effectiveness of public policies to reduce poverty and its consequences.
Terms
Eligibility
Applicants must be pre-dissertation proposal doctoral students in the social sciences studying topics related to poverty or economic mobility in the United States. Further, applicants must be at a US university other that University of Wisconsin-Madison and be from an economically disadvantaged background. To meet the economically disadvantaged definition, applicants must meet one or more of the following criteria:
- come from a low-income family;
- be from a family in which neither parent earned a four-year college degree;
- come from an underserved urban, rural, or farming community;
- have attended a high school with limited college preparatory curriculum;
- have attended a high school in a high poverty concentration school district;
- have other economic family circumstances that have impacted the applicant’s educational opportunities.
Awards
The top twelve applicants will be selected to attend the workshop in May 2026.
The event will be held in-person at Howard University. Funding for travel, meals, and lodging at Howard University (for students residing outside of the DC area) will be provided to successful applicants.
Workshop participants will be eligible for consideration to receive one of four $4,950 student research awards to support their dissertation work. Funding may be used to cover research support costs related to data collection, such as transcription, or for conference registration or travel. Student research awards will take place under a separate selection process but will be limited to individuals who participated in the 2026 Graduate Student Research Workshop.
Application Instructions
To apply, please complete the online application form.
Applicants are responsible for asking their primary advisor to fill out the recommendation form by the application deadline. Both the applicant and the advisor will receive a confirmation email when the recommendation is submitted. Note that the recommendation can be submitted before or after the application is submitted but both the application and the recommendation must be submitted by the deadline for the application to be complete.
Contact
Workshop-related questions should be directed to:
Brooke McKie, PhD | brookemckie@gmail.com
Process-related questions should be directed to:
IRP Apply | irpapply@ssc.wisc.edu
Timeline
| Call Release | October 15, 2025 |
| Optional Webinar | Wednesday, December 3, 2025, from 3:00–3:30 ET | 2:00–2:30 CT | 1:00–1:30 MT | 12:00–12:30 PT https://uwmadison.zoom.us/j/99470800709 |
| Application Deadline | January 30, 2026, 11:59 p.m., CST |
| Notification | Early March 2026 |
| Workshop Dates | May 18–22, 2026, at Howard University |