Our faculty at Middlebury College and the Middlebury Institute for International Studies are expert scholars, analysts, and practitioners who can provide invaluable insight into conflict analysis and transformation. The CT Collaborative has an annual process for soliciting applications and announcing awards, with funding available over the calendar year. See below for more details.

For faculty and staff interested in professional development, please consult the opportunities at the College in Vermont and the Institute in California.

Research Proposals Call

The 2024 application cycle has closed. The review process is near completion and we will be posting details on the 2024 recipients in mid-December. The applications for 2025 will open in Fall 2024, with a deadline at the end of October. 

  • Typical grant of $10,000–$50,000.
  • Can be used toward a variety of research-related expenses, such as travel for interviews or to visit archives; presenting at conferences; open-access publication fees; hiring RAs; collecting data; or summer salary.
  • All full-time Middlebury faculty and research associates are eligible to apply.

The CT Collaborative invites proposals for grants to support research on the topic of conflict transformation. Our definition of conflict transformation will remain broad and flexible in order to accommodate a wide variety of research projects. Core to our understanding of conflict transformation is the belief that conflict can be productive, generative, and crucial for social change.

We are especially interested in research that asks new questions about conflict, and how we transform our engagement with it. We seek to support projects that connect with our guiding principles of conflict transformation, as applied to particular fields’ approaches and specific complex problems. Studies may focus on conflict at any scale, ranging from interpersonal, to institutional, to international. Research can also address any stage of conflict, from indicators of impending conflict, to efforts to deal with existing conflict, to conflict termination and its aftermath.

We welcome projects that will involve the participation of students, foster collaboration across Middlebury’s campuses, or with other institutions, especially those in the communities that are the focus of the research, and/or support dignity for marginalized identities.

View our full Request for Proposals here.

Application Requirements

  • A three-to-four-page single-spaced narrative proposal, following the template available in the application, that includes
    • A statement of the project’s connection to conflict transformation,
    • A short budget justification, and
    • A brief dissemination plan;
  • A budget using the Excel template available in the application;
  • InfoEd approval email (refer to user guide available in the application);
  • A recent CV; and
  • Indication of any other funding for the project.

Applicants will need to use their Middlebury login credentials to access the application form.

Select Frequently Asked Questions

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The purpose of these grants is to fund research that helps us develop a deeper understanding of conflict, including how it may be transformed. Other elements of the broader grant received by Middlebury focus on developing skills for transforming conflict for high school, college, and graduate students and through community engagement.

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We are interested in a wide range of research on conflict. Core to our understanding of conflict transformation is the belief that conflict can be productive, generative, and crucial for social change. We are also interested in research in the field of conflict studies. We will give preference to projects that ask new and interesting questions about conflict; how one might transform dominant understandings of it; projects that demonstrate how research can be useful for understanding and addressing conflict; and proposals that make clear how this funding will allow applicants to extend their research beyond what they have done before. We welcome proposals from all fields.

Among other aspects, strong proposals might:

  • Recognize that conflict is pervasive in society and presents opportunities to create change processes that increase justice (Lederach 2003)
  • Highlight creative solutions to conflict-based systems and situations (conflict resolution) and/or help build something new (moving to transformation)
  • Emphasize how a particular field, approach, or discipline approaches conflict transformation, especially within specific contexts
  • Discuss whether the project is focused on macro, meso, micro, and/or “me-cro” (individual) scales of conflict transformation
  • Demonstrate a recognition of the past/history in creating present patterns/structures – and consider how moving into the future means creating new relationships
  • Explore the application of key practices in Conflict Transformation, such as: seeing issues as a window, integrating multiple time frames, posing conflict energies as dilemmas, making complexity part of the process, and hearing/engaging multiple perspectives (Lederach 2003)
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For specific questions about budgets, please email the Collaborative in Conflict Transformation. The Office of Grants and Sponsored Programs may also need to be consulted in certain cases.

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Yes. Summer and/or sabbatical salary is available for those setting aside time dedicated to the project. The number of hours that will be committed to the project should be included in your budget justification. Please refer to Middlebury’s guidelines for budgeting in these categories. Successful awardees must follow all institutional procedures for receiving grant-supported salary payments (e.g., submit a Time & Effort Form).

If you are planning to request sabbatical salary for a full academic year, please note that the CT Collaborative research grant period follows a calendar year basis by default. You should include your request for academic year sabbatical salary in your application; if approved, your grant period will be adjusted to accommodate the academic year schedule. PIs approved for academic year sabbatical salary should contact the CT Collaborative to confirm the adjusted grant period.

Also note: if you are requesting sabbatical salary for a full academic year, the grant cannot pay your salary over a single semester. It must be distributed across the full academic year.

 

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This funding cycle covers the calendar year 2024 (between 1 January 2024 - 31 December 2024). Any funds awarded but not spent by December 2024 will return to the CT Collaborative to be reassigned, unless an extension has been approved by the CT Collaborative in advance. You may reapply for funding annually, though priority will be given to new awardees.

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In addition to following our reporting guidance at the end of the grant, we expect successful recipients to:

  • Execute administrative processes associated with running their grant activities
  • Proactively monitor their budget balances; PIs will be set up to receive monthly automated reports showing their grant expenses and transactions
  • Supervise any student hires
  • Reach out to the CT Collaborative with questions, concerns, or proposed changes to the grant’s scope/budget allocations
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We will send a survey to all recipients asking about their work at the end of the funding period. Additionally, success of these grants is measured in terms of scholarly output. This might include conference presentations, traditional peer-reviewed publications (including academic journal articles, book chapters, or books), or public-facing scholarship that describes accomplishments or lessons learned for policy or practice; thus, we ask that you keep the CT Collaborative updated on dissemination. We will reach out annually to ask grant recipients for their related citations, etc., though recipients are also welcome to share updates on an ad-hoc basis. Grant recipients may also be asked to present their research via CT Collaborative convenings.

Please see our full FAQs document here for additional guidance.

Contact the Collaborative in Conflict Transformation with any further questions.