The Boniuk Institute for the Study and Advancement
of Religious Tolerance

Proposal timeline for the 2020-2021 academic year:

  • Proposals are due on or before April 15, 2020 at 5:00pm CST
  • Award notifications will be made by May 15, 2020
  • Awards expire on June 30, 2021

Fund information:

The Boniuk Institute for the Study and Advancement of Religious Tolerance conducts and supports research on religious tolerance from diverse perspectives, methods, and disciplines. The Boniuk Institute is currently accepting applications for Small Grants ranging from $2,000 to $5,000 (although outstanding proposals in excess of this amount will be considered). Eligible applicants must be current graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, or faculty at Rice who will be continuing students/postdocs/faculty through AY20-21. Collaborative projects and proposals that relate to course development and support, research, speaker funds, writing, and experiential learning projects are especially encouraged.

Proposals must focus primarily or substantially on religious tolerance, and should include a public or youth education component as an output. Applications must be written for a broad, multidisciplinary audience. All disciplines and methodologies will be considered.

Funds may support research-related travel (transportation, lodging and subsistence expenses, etc.), wages (including fringe benefits) for graduate or undergraduate student workers or staff, supplies, special software needs, if the need is clearly tied to the project, and other miscellaneous research expenses. Requests for travel funding must be actual dollar estimates of anticipated expenses - per diem is not allowed. Supplemental or summer salary for the recipient is not allowed. Non-Rice collaborators are allowed, but they cannot receive wages or fringe benefits.

All project recipients must:

  • Submit a five to eight-page research report explaining the project’s findings and contributions to the discipline, especially with respect to religious tolerance as a category of analysis (Spring 2021)
  • Submit a one-page summary accessible to a lay audience, explaining the project’s relevance to the study and advancement of religious tolerance and its broader impacts (Due by September 1, 2021)
  • Acknowledge the support of Rice University's Boniuk Institute for Religious Tolerance in publications in any medium

Application Deadline & Instructions:

To apply, submit application materials listed below as a single PDF to Boniuk Institute Department Coordinator Kate Eubanks by 5pm CST on April 15, 2020. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered. Award notifications will be made by May 15, 2020. Awards expire on June 30, 2021.

Project description (not to exceed 1,000 words) that includes the following information:

  • State how the project contributes to the study and/or advancement of religious tolerance within or across disciplines. Explain how it contributes to current knowledge or practice, and informs the political climate of religious (mis)understanding in a specific historic and geographic context (including the present).
  • Detail the broader impacts and benefits of the project, and how it will be used specifically to educate the broader public or youth segment. (E.g. How does the project promote teaching, training, and learning of K-12 teachers, undergraduate/graduate/ post-doctoral researchers? How will it enhance collaborations, networks, and partnerships across under-represented institutions, communities, or groups for research and education? How will the findings be broadly shared in formats useful to students and teachers, policymakers, media, and the general public? How might the proposed research benefit society?)
  • Methods and timeline
  • Applicant's qualifications to undertake the project
  • Budget and justification of budget
  • Other internal or external funding requests and expected date of notification

Curriculum Vitae

Application deadline: April 15, 2020 5pm CST