Call to Action to Address Racism & Social Injustice Research Program

Full Proposal Deadline
November 1, 2024, 5 pm Central

The Chancellor’s Call to Action Research Program provides support for academic research and the expansion of community-based knowledge that advances the understanding of systemic bias and structural disparities – some of the greatest challenges facing our society. The goal of the program is to enhance exceptional cross-disciplinary research strengths and expand collaborations to build cultures of research and scholarship that create a more robust and equitable society. We seek high-quality, high-integrity scholarship, and creative activity to fundamentally address the roots of these issues with generative ideas, imaginative strategies, and open collaborations.

We welcome projects that have the potential to make a deeper connection with students and reciprocal partnerships with communities, in addition to those rooted in Illinois’ research strengths. Of foremost importance are sustainability and impact. A plan for how the work can be sustained, via external funding, beyond the funding year is a critical component of the application. Please see below for the key evaluation criteria.

Focus Areas

For 2025, the research program projects may include but are not limited to:

• Systemic interventions to improve educational outcomes and increase college readiness.
• Research that tackles the complex drivers of health disparities.
• Structural disparities in the criminal justice system.
• Challenges faced by sexual and gender minorities in education, health, and the criminal justice system

This year we are especially interested in supporting entrepreneurial or collaborative projects that could result in near-term impact.

Proposals may focus on a single research area or apply an intersectional approach via examining the complex configurations of social determinants and how those social constructs interact to yield outcomes.

Learn more about this year’s Request for Proposals on the Call to Action website.

Contact 

The Call to Action to Address Racism & Social Injustice Research Program is administratively supported by the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. For questions, please contact Amanda McGuire at C2ARFP@illinois.edu or call 217-300-8989.