Notices regarding the solicitation “Graduate Research Fellowship, 

Fiscal Year 2020”

April 10, 2020: A hyperlink error on page 18 was fixed. The link 

(https://nij.ojp.gov/funding/participant-support-costs-and-incentives-social-science-research) 

now works as intended.

April 1, 2020: Additional information regarding the budgeting of funds from the $12,000 Cost of 

Education Allowance to supplement expenses under the $3,000 Research Expenses category 

has been added. See Section B. Federal Award Information for details.

March 27, 2020: Information regarding the allowability of indirect costs was revised throughout 

the funding opportunity document. See Section B. Federal Award Information for details.

March 27, 2020: Many of our solicitations encourage research partnerships and require 

applicants to include a strong letter of support, signed by an appropriate decision-making 

authority from each proposed partnering entity.

NIJ continues to strongly encourage prospective applicants to submit executed agreements 

necessary to carrying out the work proposed with applications if they can be obtained, but with 

an understanding of the circumstances surrounding the pandemic, NIJ will accept applications 

without them.

Applicants selected for award will be required to submit completed agreements by January 1, 

2021. Funds will be withheld until such agreements have been received.

February 10, 2020: On February 4, 2020, NIJ hosted a webinar that provided an overview and

discussion of the program. The slides and transcript from this webinar have been added to the

end of this document.

January 30, 2020: Information regarding designation of the award point of contact (POC) was 

added to page 6.

January 22, 2020: The time of the webinar referenced on page 4 of the solicitation has been 

revised to 1:00 p.m. (eastern time).

To learn more about this webinar, and register to attend, visit: 

https://nij.ojp.gov/events/graduate-research-fellowship-2020-solicitation-webinar. Slides and 

transcripts from this webinar will be made available after the event.

The original solicitation document begins on the next page.
U.S. Department of Justice OMB No. 1121-0329 

Office of Justice Programs Approval Expires 11/30/2020 

National Institute of Justice 

Graduate Research Fellowship, Fiscal Year 2020 

FY 2020 Competitive Research Grant Solicitation 

CFDA No. 16.560

Grants.gov Solicitation Number: NIJ-2020-17332

Solicitation Release Date: January 17, 2020 

Application Deadline: 11:59 p.m. eastern time on April 15, 2020

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Office of Justice Programs (OJP), National Institute of 

Justice (NIJ) is seeking applications for funding innovative doctoral dissertation research that is 

relevant to preventing and controlling crime, and ensuring the fair and impartial administration of 

criminal justice in the United States. This program furthers the Department’s mission by 

increasing the pool of researchers who are engaged in providing science-based solutions to 

problems relevant to criminal and juvenile justice policy and practice in the United States. This 

integrates into a single solicitation for two previously separate fellowship solicitations in Science, 

Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) and Social and Behavior Sciences (SBS). 

This solicitation incorporates the OJP Grant Application Resource Guide by reference. The OJP 

Grant Application Resource Guide provides guidance to applicants on how to prepare and 

submit applications for funding to OJP. If this solicitation expressly modifies any provision in the 

OJP Grant Application Resource Guide, the applicant is to follow the guidelines in this 

solicitation as to that provision. 

Eligibility (Who may apply) 

Eligible applicants are degree-granting academic institutions in the United States and its 

territories. To be eligible, the institution must be fully accredited by one of the regional 

institutional accreditation agencies recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education. Under this 

solicitation, the applicant institution must apply as the sponsoring institution for the doctoral 

candidate conducting dissertation research relevant to NIJ’s criminal justice mission. 

All recipients and subrecipients (including any for-profit organization) must forgo any profit or 

management fee. 

An applicant may submit more than one application under this solicitation, but each application 

must propose sponsoring a different doctoral candidate’s dissertation research. 
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Contact Information

For technical assistance with submitting an application, contact the Grants.gov Customer 

Support Hotline at 1-800-518-4726 or 1-606-545-5035 (international), at

https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/support.html, or at support@grants.gov. The Grants.gov

Support Hotline operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, except on federal holidays.

An applicant that experiences unforeseen Grants.gov technical issues beyond its control that 

prevent it from submitting its application by the deadline must email the NIJ contact identified 

below within 24 hours after the application deadline to request approval to submit its 

application after the deadline. Additional information on reporting technical issues appears 

under “Experiencing Unforeseen Grants.gov Technical Issues” in the “How To Apply

(Grants.gov)” section in the OJP Grant Application Resource Guide.

For assistance with any other requirements of this solicitation, contact the National Criminal 

Justice Reference Service (NCJRS) Response Center: toll-free at 1-800-851-3420; via TTY at 

301-240-6310 (hearing impaired only); email grants@ncjrs.gov; fax to 301-240-5830; or web 

chat at https://webcontact.ncjrs.gov/ncjchat/chat.jsp. The NCJRS Response Center hours of 

operation are 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. eastern time, Monday through Friday, and 10:00 a.m. to 

8:00 p.m. eastern time on the solicitation close date. General information on applying for NIJ 

awards can be found at https://nij.ojp.gov/funding. Answers to frequently asked questions that 

may assist applicants are posted at https://nij.ojp.gov/funding/frequently-asked-questions-aboutapplying-grants-and-cooperative-agreements.

Deadline Details

Applicants must register with Grants.gov at https://www.grants.gov/web/grants/register.html

prior to submitting an application. All applications are due by 11:59 p.m. eastern time on 

April 15, 2020.

To be considered timely, an application must be submitted by the application deadline using 

Grants.gov, and the applicant must have received a validation message from Grants.gov that 

indicates successful and timely submission. OJP urges applicants to submit applications at least 

72 hours prior to the application due date, to allow time for the applicant to receive validation 

messages or rejection notifications from Grants.gov, and to correct in a timely fashion any 

problems that may have caused a rejection notification.

An applicant must use the Add Attachment button to attach a file to its application. Do not click 

the paperclip icon to attach files. This action will not attach the files to the application. After 

adding an attachment, select the View Attachment button to confirm you attached the correct 

file. To remove the file, select the Delete Attachment button.

OJP encourages all applicants to read this Important Notice: Applying for Grants in Grants.gov.

For additional information, see the “How to Apply (Grants.gov)” section in the OJP Grant 

Application Resource Guide.
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Contents

A. Program Description 4

Overview 4

Program-Specific Information 4

Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected Scholarly Products 7

B. Federal Award Information 10

Type of Award 11

Financial Management and System of Internal Controls 12

Budget Information 12

Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement 12

C. Eligibility Information 13

D. Application and Submission Information 13

What an Application Should Include 13

How To Apply (Grants.gov) 20

E. Application Review Information 21

Review Criteria 21

Review Process 22

F. Federal Award Administration Information 23

Federal Award Notices 23

Information Technology (IT) Security Clauses 23

General Information about Post-Federal Award Reporting Requirements 23

G. Federal Awarding Agency Contact(s) 24

H. Other Information 24

Freedom of Information and Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552 and 5 U.S.C. 552a). 24

Provide Feedback to OJP. 24

Application Checklist 25
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Graduate Research Fellowship, Fiscal Year 2020

CFDA No. 16.560

A. Program Description

Overview

The Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF) program provides grants to accredited academic 

institutions to support outstanding doctoral students whose dissertation research is relevant to 

criminal justice. Applicant academic institutions are eligible to apply only if:

1. The student is currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program in the sciences or engineering; and

2. The student’s proposed dissertation research has demonstrable relevance to preventing 

and controlling crime, and/or ensuring the fair and impartial administration of criminal 

justice, in the United States.

Statutory Authority: Title I of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968

(sections 201 and 202)

Program-Specific Information

Degree-granting academic institutions are encouraged to sponsor outstanding and promising 

doctoral students whose dissertation research has direct implications for preventing and 

controlling crime, and/or ensuring the fair and impartial administration of criminal justice, in the 

United States.

In recent years, NIJ posted separate solicitations for applicants in the social and behavioral 

sciences (GRF-SBS) and for those in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields 

(GRF-STEM). All eligible applicants are now invited to apply under this single funding 

opportunity (GRF), without distinction between SBS and STEM. NIJ anticipates continued 

support for graduate research from all branches of the sciences, and invites applications from 

eligible applicants regardless of degree program. Proposals will continue to be reviewed by 

panels of experts appropriate to the field of study. Clearly indicating the student’s degree 

program on the program narrative cover page will facilitate assignment of appropriate 

reviewers.

To learn more about the program, including answers to Frequently Asked Questions, go to 

https://www.nij.ojp.gov/GRF. Look for information on a webinar scheduled for 1:00 p.m. (eastern 

time) on February 4, 2020. Webinar slides and a transcript will be posted after the event.

Awards are anticipated to be made to successful applicant institutions in the form of grants to 

cover fellowships for the sponsored doctoral students. Each fellowship provides up to three (3) 

years of support usable within a five-year period. For each year of support, NIJ provides the 

degree-granting institution $35,000 for Salary and Fringe, up to $12,000 in Cost of Education 

Allowance, and up to $3,000 in Research Expenses (see Section B. Federal Award 

Information).
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NIJ-2020-17332

The award will be made for the entire cumulative fellowship amount (up to three years of 

funding). Although the award is made for the full amount, after the first year, each annual 

funding increment is withheld pending annual demonstration of continued enrollment and 

adequate progress towards the degree.

Successful applicants must demonstrate clearly how the proposed dissertation research will 

advance criminal justice practice and/or policy in the United States. Proposals addressing one 

or more of the following seven areas are particularly encouraged:

 Reducing and preventing violent crime;

 Addressing drug trafficking, drug markets, and drug-related violence;

 Promoting law enforcement officer safety, health, and wellness;

 Rescuing and restoring crime victims;

 Securing our nation’s borders;

 Enhancing law enforcement investigations and prosecutions, and

 Investigating psychopathological, physiological, or biological correlates to offending 

behaviors and/or victimization.

Applicants contemplating research relevant to the forensic sciences may consider the problem 

areas highlighted by NIJ’s Forensic Science Technology Working Group (TWG), which identifies 

current technology challenges encountered in operational forensic science laboratories. 

Additional research needs of the forensic science community can be found at the Organization 

of Scientific Area Committees (OSAC) website.

Applicants may also consider NIJ’s Science and Technology Research Objectives for the 

application of technology across law enforcement, courts, corrections, and forensic science 

communities. Under an NIJ cooperative agreement, RAND Corporation publishes assessments 

of current and future high-priority criminal justice technology needs across various topic areas, 

which may be consulted for further guidance.1

Applicants considering research in the social and behavioral sciences are encouraged to

consult NIJ’s topical research portfolios. Also of interest may be NIJ’s Strategic Research Plans, 

which gives research areas and objectives for the near future.

While the above priorities are provided as possible focus areas for proposed research, they 

should not be considered as limiting the range of eligible research. All eligible applicants 

proposing research with demonstrated relevance to criminal justice practice and/or policy in the 

United States are invited to apply.

Applicant Information

The applicant under this solicitation will be a degree-granting academic institution in the United 

States or its territories. To be eligible, the academic institution of record must be fully accredited 

 

1 NIJ award no. 2013-MU-CX-K003.
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NIJ-2020-17332

by one of the regional institutional accreditation agencies recognized by the U.S. Secretary of 

Education. An applicant institution sponsoring a doctoral student is eligible to apply only if the 

doctoral student satisfies the Doctoral Student Eligibility Requirements.

Applications from students who apply as individuals will be removed from consideration.

The academic institution’s institution-wide research office (e.g., office of sponsored research) 

must complete and submit an application electronically using Grants.gov (see What an 

Application Should Include). A university official or faculty member (but NOT the sponsored 

student) should be indicated as the grant Point of Contact (POC). If allowed by the applicant 

institution, the sponsored doctoral student should be identified as the project’s Principal 

Investigator (PI) or co-Principal Investigator (co-PI). Otherwise, the student should be indicated 

as “Graduate Research Fellow” or similar.

The applicant must demonstrate that the sponsored graduate student is enrolled in a qualifying 

doctoral degree program at the time of application. This should take the form of a document 

from the Office of the Registrar, or an equivalent university- or college-wide office with the 

authority to verify status. A transcript may be accepted if it clearly indicates the student’s current 

full-time enrollment in the qualifying doctoral degree program.

Doctoral Student Eligibility Requirements

The graduate student must:

1. Be currently enrolled full-time in a doctoral degree program in the sciences or 

engineering at the eligible academic institution; and

2. Propose a dissertation research topic that is relevant to addressing the challenges of 

crime, and/or the fair and impartial administration of criminal justice, in the United States 

(see What an Application Should Include).

The doctoral student need not have a dissertation committee at the time the application is 

submitted, nor is it necessary for the student’s dissertation topic to have been accepted by the 

committee. However, if the application is selected for award, grant funds will be withheld until 

the applicant academic institution submits proof that the student’s dissertation topic has been 

accepted by the committee, and that it is substantively the same as that proposed in the 

application.

If the doctoral student has an approved topic at the time of application, then it should be noted 

in a statement of support from the doctoral student’s dissertation committee chair (see 

Dissertation Committee Chair Requirements).

If the doctoral student does not yet have a dissertation committee, or the dissertation topic has 

not yet been approved at the time of application, then the expected dates by which the doctoral 

student will meet these requirement should be indicated in the project timeline (see “Proposed 

project timeline and expected milestones” under Appendices). In addition, the doctoral student’s 

faculty advisor, department chair, departmental director of graduate studies, or an individual 

with similar responsibilities, must submit a statement of support at the time of application. That 

statement of support should generally follow the outline provided below for the statement of 

support from the dissertation committee chair, including all relevant elements.
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Even though an award may be made, access to award funds will be withheld until the required 

documentation is received and approved by NIJ. NIJ anticipates that award notifications will be 

made on or before September 30, 2020. The applicant academic institution and the doctoral 

student are cautioned not to anticipate the availability of fellowship funds for meeting any 

necessary or required expenses until the requirements stipulated above have been met in full.

Awarded applicants may receive fellowship funding only while the student is actively enrolled in 

the doctoral degree program and is carrying out research for the dissertation identified in the 

applicant’s funding application.

Dissertation Committee Chair Requirements

Although a fellowship may be awarded based on consideration of a letter of support from the 

faculty advisor, department chair, departmental director of graduate studies, or individual with 

similar responsibilities, NIJ must receive a signed statement of support from the sponsored 

doctoral student’s dissertation committee chair prior to authorizing the disbursement of award 

funds.

2

If the dissertation committee has accepted the student’s topic at the time of application, 

that statement of support must be submitted as part of the application. If the topic has not been 

accepted by the time of application, it must be submitted as soon as is reasonable after the 

topic has been approved. The approved dissertation topic must remain substantively similar to 

that initially proposed.

The statement of support should:

 Evaluate the doctoral student’s proposed project.

 Describe the current status of the proposed work.

 Outline any pending work — academic or otherwise — toward completion of the degree.

 Comment on the student’s potential to complete the dissertation.

 Describe the committee chair’s role in monitoring the project, and verify that the 

committee chair will review and approve all progress reports prior to submission to NIJ.

An application that does not include the statement of support from (1) the dissertation 

committee chair; or (2) the doctoral student’s faculty advisor, department chair, 

departmental director of graduate studies, or individual with similar responsibilities, will 

be removed from consideration.

For information on application elements designated as critical by NIJ under this solicitation, see 

What an Application Should Include.

Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected Scholarly Products

The ultimate goal of this solicitation is to increase the pool of researchers who are engaged in 

providing solutions to problems relevant to criminal justice policy and practice in the United 

States. Through the GRF program, NIJ supports research by promising doctoral students as 

they train to become the creators of future innovation. This is consistent with National research 

and development (R&D) priority practices:

 

2 Applicants can expect to see conditions to this effect attached to any such award.
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NIJ-2020-17332

 Educating and Training a Workforce for the 21st Century Economy

The training of the American workforce, a critical component of maintaining American 

competitiveness, is a national priority. This program supports the training of young 

scientists capable of meeting future science and technology workforce demands. NIJ’s 

GRF program seeks to engage these emerging researchers to help meet the needs of 

America’s criminal justice practitioners, while simultaneously developing their skills to 

contribute broadly to America’s R&D enterprise.

Deliverables

Recipients of awards made under this solicitation will be required to deliver annual and final 

progress reports, and quarterly financial reports, to NIJ by specified deadlines (see Section F. 

Federal Award Administration Information). The final deliverables for awards under this 

solicitation are:

 An official signed copy of the doctoral student’s defended dissertation, and

 A list of scholarly products resulting from the dissertation research, as well as products 

developed for broad dissemination to informal audiences.

Such scholarly products may take the form of peer-reviewed journal articles, indexed 

conference abstracts, book chapters or books in the academic press, technological prototypes, 

software, patented inventions, or similar scientific products. Products developed for broad 

dissemination to informal audiences may take the form of websites, webinars, podcasts, 

informational documents, online tools, or other similar products.

Upon submission, the dissertation may be archived at the National Criminal Justice Reference 

Service (NCJRS). Doctoral students who participate in the GRF program are encouraged but 

are not required to archive their dissertation data in venues appropriate to their scientific 

communities.

The Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected Scholarly Products are directly related to the 

performance measures that demonstrate the results of the work completed.

Performance Measures

OJP will require each successful applicant to submit regular performance data that demonstrate 

the results of the work carried out under the award (see “General Information about PostFederal Award Reporting Requirements” in Section F. Federal Award Administration 

Information).

Applicants should visit OJP’s performance measurement page at www.ojp.gov/performance for 

an overview of performance measurement activities at OJP.

The application should demonstrate the applicant’s understanding of the performance data 

reporting requirements for this grant program and detail how the applicant will gather the 

required data should it receive funding.
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NIJ-2020-17332

Please note that applicants are not required to submit performance data with the application. 

Performance measures information is included as an alert that successful applicants will be 

required to submit performance data as part of the reporting requirements under an award.

Objective Performance Measure(s) Data Recipient Provides

Conduct dissertation 

research having clear 

implications for 

criminal justice policy 

and practice in the 

United States.

1. Quality of the research as 

demonstrated by the scholarly 

products that result in whole or in part 

from work funded under the NIJ 

award, such as published, peerreviewed, scientific journal articles, 

and/or (as appropriate for the funded 

project) law review journal articles, 

book chapter(s) or book(s) in the 

academic press, technological 

prototypes, patented inventions, or 

similar scientific products.

1. An official signed copy of the 

doctoral student’s successfully 

defended and accepted final 

dissertation.

2. List of citation(s) to all 

scholarly products that 

resulted in whole or in part 

from work funded under the 

NIJ award.

3. Quarterly financial reports, and 

annual and final progress 

reports.

Evaluation Research

If an application includes an evaluation research component (or consists entirely of evaluation 

research), the application is expected to propose the most rigorous evaluation design 

appropriate for the research questions to be addressed. If the primary purpose of the evaluation 

is to determine the effectiveness or impact of an intervention (e.g., program, practice, or policy), 

the most rigorous evaluation designs may include random selection and assignment of 

participants (or other appropriate units of analysis) to experimental and control conditions. In 

cases where randomization is not feasible, applicants should propose a strong quasiexperimental design that can address the risk of selection bias.

Applications that include evaluation research should consider the feasibility of including 

cost/benefit analysis. In cases where evaluations find that interventions have produced the 

intended benefit, cost/benefit analysis provides valuable and practical information for 

practitioners and policymakers that aids decision making.

Evaluation research projects may also address a wide range of research questions beyond 

those focused on the effectiveness or impact of an intervention. Different research designs may 

be more appropriate for different research questions and at different stages of program 

development. The intervention strategies, setting, other contextual factors, and resources 

should be taken into account when selecting an evaluation design. In all cases, applications are 

expected to propose the most rigorous evaluation design appropriate for the research questions 

to be addressed.

Applicants are encouraged to review evidence rating criteria at

https://www.crimesolutions.gov/about_starttofinish.aspx for further information on high-quality 

evaluation design elements.
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NIJ-2020-17332

B. Federal Award Information

Maximum number of awards NIJ expects to make: At least 20 awards

Estimated maximum dollar amount for each award: $150,000

Total amount anticipated to be awarded under solicitation: Up to $3,000,000

Period of performance start date: January 1, 2021

Period of performance duration: Awards will be made for 

periods of performance of upto five years, while providing 

up-to three years’ worth of 

funding within that period

Each fellowship award will be for the entire fellowship term, as requested — up to a 60-month 

(five-year) project period. The amount requested may not exceed three years of funding 

($150,000 maximum). Although the full amount is awarded upfront, after the first year each 

annual funding increment is withheld pending receipt and approval by NIJ of:

1. Continued active enrollment in the doctoral degree program, and

2. Verification (in the form of a signed letter from the dissertation committee chair) that the

doctoral student is actively carrying out research and is making satisfactory progress

toward the dissertation topic originally proposed (or substantively similar to that originally

proposed).

Each year of support includes: 

1. $35,000 Salary and Fringe Benefits.

2. Up to $12,000 Cost of Education Allowance.

3. Up to $3,000 Research Expenses.

The $35,000 Salary and Fringe Benefits budget category may include fringe benefits (if 

applicable) and health insurance, at the applicant institution’s discretion. Where possible, in 

accordance with institutional policy, academic institutions should account for the full amount of 

$35,000 when justifying the personnel expenses of the doctoral student. The Salary and Fringe 

category may not include support for any person other than the doctoral student.

The $12,000 Cost of Education Allowance may include any combination of the doctoral 

student’s tuition, student fees, or university administrative or indirect costs. If the university 

elects not to use the entire $12,000 Cost of Education Allowance for tuition, fees, or 

administrative or indirect costs, the remaining portion may be used to supplement allowable 

expenses under the Research Expenses category.

The $3,000 Research Expenses category may include research supplies, instrumental user 

facility time, compensation for human subjects, data collection site travel, conference travel, or 
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NIJ-2020-17332

professional society membership fees, among other allowable expenses during the award 

period of performance (see complete Budget Information, including “What will not be funded”).

All travel should be relevant, reasonable, and justified. As the goal of the GRF program is to 

support the development of new scholars, some conference travel early in the project period to 

attend and observe, rather than present original research, may be acceptable. International 

travel requires additional justification and prior approval.

The total period of performance of an award will not exceed five (5) years. The applicant’s 

budget narrative and budget detail worksheet should reflect the entire proposed project timeline 

of up-to three (3) years of funding, in discrete 12-month increments. The Application for Federal 

Assistance (SF-424) should reflect the cumulative funding request.

Award funding may be received only while the fellow is actively enrolled in the initially identified 

doctoral degree program and actively carrying out research toward his/her dissertation. Should 

certain unforeseen and/or temporary circumstances arise that preclude the fellow from actively 

pursuing the dissertation research, the fellow is expected to notify NIJ via his/her academic 

institution representative. The fellow’s award funding may be temporarily suspended at the 

discretion of NIJ.

Fellowship funds may be used to support only the student who was the subject of the initially 

reviewed and awarded application, and are not transferable to any other student.

Students do not directly receive awards. The academic institution, as the grant recipient, will be 

responsible for, among other things, the administration of grant funds and for distributing 

payments to the fellowship recipient. When an award becomes active, it is expected that the 

academic institution will draw down funds based on immediate disbursement/reimbursement 

requirements. Funds should not be paid to the doctoral student in a lump sum; but rather should 

be disbursed over time as project costs are anticipated or incurred. Recipients should time their 

drawdown requests to ensure that federal cash-on-hand is the minimum needed for 

disbursements/reimbursements to be made immediately, or within 10 days.

To allow time for (among other things) any necessary post-award review and financial clearance 

by OJP of the proposed budget and for any associated responses or other action(s) that may be 

required of the recipient, applicants should propose an award start date of January 1, 2021.

Although NIJ anticipates that funds awarded under this solicitation will be made available on 

January 1, 2021, the applicant academic institution and doctoral student are cautioned not to 

anticipate the availability of funds for meeting any necessary or required expenses for the 2021 

Winter Quarter or Spring Semester until the requirements stipulated under Doctoral Student 

Eligibility Requirements have been met in full.

All awards are subject to the availability of appropriated funds and to any modifications or 

additional requirements that may be imposed by law.

Type of Award

NIJ expects to make any awards under this solicitation as grants. See the “Administrative, 

National Policy, and Other Legal Requirements” section of the OJP Grant Application Resource 

Guide for additional information.
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NIJ-2020-17332

Please note: Any recipient of an award under this solicitation will be required to comply with 

DOJ regulations on confidentiality and protection of human subjects. See “Requirements related 

to Research” under “Overview of Legal Requirements Generally Applicable to OJP Grants and 

Cooperative Agreements – FY 2020 Awards” in the OJP Funding Resource Center.

Financial Management and System of Internal Controls

Award recipients and subrecipients (including recipients or subrecipients that are pass-through 

entities) must, as described in the Part 200 Uniform Requirements3 as set out at 2 C.F.R. 

200.303, comply with standards for financial and program management. See OJP Grant 

Application Resource Guide for additional information.

Budget Information

What will not be funded:

 Applications primarily to purchase equipment, materials, or supplies. (A budget may 

include these items if they are necessary to conduct research, development, 

demonstration, evaluation, or analysis.)

 Applications for dissertation research by doctoral students who are not pursuing 

research related to crime, and/or the fair and impartial administration of criminal justice,

in the United States.

 Applications that are not responsive to this specific solicitation.

 Biomedical or behavior control experimentation on individuals or any research involving 

such experimentation.

 Conference, meeting, or training activity hosted by the applicant. (Conference, meeting,

or training attendance by the fellow, if included in the fellowship application and budget, 

may be allowable.)

Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement

See “Cofunding” paragraph under item 4 (“Budget Information and Associated Documentation”) 

under “What an Application Should Include” in Section D. Application and Submission 

Information.

Please see the OJP Grant Application Resource Guide for information on the following:

 Pre-agreement Costs (also known as Pre-award Costs).

 Prior Approval, Planning, and Reporting of Conference/Meeting/Training Costs.

 Costs Associated with Language Assistance (if applicable).

 

3 The "Part 200 Uniform Requirements” means the DOJ regulation at 2 C.F.R Part 2800, which adopts (with certain 

modifications) the provisions of 2 C.F.R. Part 200.
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NIJ-2020-17332

C. Eligibility Information

For eligibility information, see title page.

For information on cost sharing or match requirements, see “What an Application Should 

Include” in Section D. Application and Submission Information.

D. Application and Submission Information

This solicitation expressly modifies the OJP Grant Application Resource Guide by not 

incorporating the “Disclosure of Process Related to Executive Compensation” provisions in the 

“Application Attachments” section of the OJP Grant Application Resource Guide.

What an Application Should Include

The following application elements MUST be included in the application submission for an 

application to meet the basic minimum requirements (BMR) to advance to peer review and 

receive consideration for funding:

1. Program Narrative.

2. Budget Detail Worksheet (including Budget Narrative).

3. Verification of Current Enrollment in a qualifying degree program.

4. Undergraduate and Graduate Transcripts (official or unofficial).

5. Statement of Support from the dissertation committee chair (or, if the student does not 

yet have a committee, the student’s faculty advisor, department chair, departmental 

director of graduate studies, or an individual with similar responsibilities).

6. Curriculum vitae, resumes, or biographical sketches of key personnel (For purposes of 

this solicitation, “key personnel” means the student and the person providing the 

Statement of Support).

See the “Application Elements and Formatting Instructions” section of the OJP Grant Application 

Resource Guide for information on what happens to an application that does not contain all the 

specified elements, or that is nonresponsive to the scope of the solicitation.

1. Application for Federal Assistance (Standard Form [SF]-424)

The SF-424 is a required standard form used as a cover sheet for submission of preapplications, applications, and related information. See the OJP Grant Application Resource 

Guide for additional information on completing the SF-424.

Intergovernmental Review: This solicitation ("funding opportunity") is not subject to 

Executive Order 12372. (In completing the SF-424, an applicant is to answer question 19 by 

selecting the response that the “Program is not covered by E.O. 12372.”)
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2. Project Abstract

The project abstract is a very important part of the application, and serves as an introduction 

to the proposed project. NIJ uses the project abstract for a number of purposes, including 

assignment of the application to an appropriate review panel. If the application is funded, the 

project abstract typically will become public information and be used to describe the project.

Applications should include a high quality project abstract that summarizes the proposed 

project in no more than 400 words. Project abstracts should be:

 Written for a general public audience.

 Submitted as a separate attachment with “Project Abstract” as part of its file name.

As a separate attachment, the project abstract will not count against the page limit for the 

program narrative.

Project abstracts should follow the detailed template (including the detailed instructions as to 

content) available on the NIJ webpage.

3. Program Narrative

The program narrative section of the application should not exceed 15 double-spaced pages 

in 12-point font with 1-inch margins. If included in the main body of the program narrative, 

tables, charts, figures, and other illustrations count toward the 15-page limit for the narrative 

section. The project abstract, table of contents, appendices, and government forms do not 

count toward the 15-page limit.

If the program narrative fails to comply with these length-related restrictions, NIJ may 

negatively consider such noncompliance in peer review and in final award decisions.

The program narrative is expected to be the intellectual product of the student. While the 

involvement of graduate advisors and others is encouraged in the development of research 

ideas and in the revision of manuscripts, the student should be the primary author of the 

research proposal.

The following sections should be included as part of the program narrative.

Program Narrative Guidelines:

a. Title Page (not counted against the 15-page program narrative limit)

The title page should include:

 The title of the project.

 Submission date.

 Funding opportunity number.
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NIJ-2020-17332

 Name and complete contact information (address, telephone number, and e-mail 

address) for both the applicant academic institution and the principal investigator 

(i.e., the sponsored doctoral student, if allowed by the academic institution).

 Unique Author Identifier (e.g., ORCID, ResearcherID, Scopus Author ID), if 

available, for the doctoral student.

 Name of the enrolled doctoral program (degree field).

 Keywords.

b. Resubmit Response (if applicable) (not counted against the 15-page program narrative 

limit)

If an applicant is resubmitting an application presented previously to NIJ, but not funded, 

the applicant should indicate this. A statement should be provided, no more than two 

pages, addressing: (1) the title, submission date, and NIJ-assigned application number 

of the previous application, and (2) a brief summary of revisions to the application, 

including responses to previous feedback received from NIJ.

c. Table of Contents and Figures (not counted against the 15-page program narrative 

limit)

d. Main Body

The main body of the program narrative should describe the proposed project in depth. 

The following sections should be included as part of the program narrative: 

 Statement of the Problem and Research Questions. This section should address the 

need for research in the area of study. Applicants should discuss current gaps in 

data, research, and knowledge. As part of this discussion, applicants should present 

a review of the literature and discuss previous research relevant to these problems.

This section should also identify the proposed research questions and discuss the 

purpose, goals, and objectives of the proposed project. The relevance of the 

proposed research to criminal justice in the United States should be clearly 

articulated, as well as the potential significance of the proposed research to the 

particular field of study.

 Project Design and Implementation. Applicants should provide a detailed description 

of the methods to be used to address the research questions. Applicants should 

describe the data acquisition methodology in detail, and demonstrate the validity and 

relevance of the data to be collected. Applicants should justify the methods of data 

analysis planned, address the feasibility of the project overall, speculate on potential 

challenges that may arise, and discuss plans to mitigate difficulties that may be 

encountered. 

This section should include a discussion of the deliverables, including planned 

scholarly products and a plan for dissemination to appropriate audiences. Applicants 

should also identify plans, if appropriate, to make the results available to interested 
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NIJ-2020-17332

criminal justice practitioners and the broader public in a form that is readily 

accessible and useful to them.

 Capabilities/Competencies. This section should describe the experience and 

capability of the doctoral student, the research advisor or committee chair (if 

applicable), and the academic institution, highlighting previous experience 

implementing similar research. Applicants should address:

o The preparation and qualifications of the doctoral student;

o The academic environment and supporting resources, and

o Experience producing and disseminating research deliverables (publications and 

presentations).

Applicants should also outline the management plan and organization. This should 

identify the people involved in the execution of the project, their specific roles, and 

any framework to be used for ensuring that their tasks are fulfilled.

Additionally, applicants should include, if applicable, a description contextualizing the 

proposed doctoral work relative to, or within, any other work being conducted under 

an existing NIJ award, which must be specifically identified.

e. Appendices (not counted against the 15-page program narrative limit) include:

 Bibliography/references. Attach this as a separate PDF file titled, “Bibliography and 

References Cited.”

 Any tools/instruments, questionnaires, tables/charts/graphs, or maps pertaining to 

the proposed project that are supplemental to, but not essential to, a basic 

understanding of the main body of the narrative. (Tables, charts, graphs, or other 

relevant illustrations that are essential for comprehension of the project/program 

design should be included in the main body of the narrative.)

 Personal statement from the student discussing his or her academic background, 

research experience, career goals, and the anticipated role of the fellowship in his or 

her professional trajectory, not to exceed two (2) double-spaced pages in 12-point 

font with 1-inch margins. 

 Proposed project timeline and expected milestones. The timeline should include

details about student progress milestones, including, but not limited to: the date by 

which the student is expected to advance to candidacy (if applicable), any major 

dates in the dissemination plan, the writing of the dissertation, and an expected 

dissertation defense date. Any steps that are specifically required by the sponsoring 

institution for successful completion of the doctoral degree should be clearly noted. 

The project timeline should also allow for time to complete edits to the dissertation 

manuscript and for submission of the final dissertation to NIJ.

 A complete list of the individuals named or otherwise identified anywhere in the 

application (including in the budget or in any other attachment) who will or may work 
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(or advise or consult) on the proposed project. This applies to all such individuals, 

including, for example, individuals who are, or would be, employees of the applicant 

or employees of any proposed subrecipient entity, any individuals who themselves 

may be a subrecipient, and individuals who may (or will) work without compensation 

(such as advisory board members). This should include the student and the student’s 

dissertation committee (if known). The dissertation chair should be clearly identified.

For each listed individual, this identification should include: name, title, employer, any 

other potentially-pertinent organizational affiliation(s), and the individual's proposed 

roles and responsibilities in carrying out the proposed project. If the application 

identifies any specific entities or organizations (other than the applicant) that will or 

may work (or advise or consult) on the proposed project, without also naming any 

associated individuals, the name of each such organization also should be included 

on this list.

Applicants should use the “Proposed Project Staff, Affiliation, and Roles” form

available on NIJ’s webpage to prepare this list.

If the application (including the budget) identifies any proposed non-competitive 

agreements that are or may be considered procurement "contracts" (rather than 

subawards) for purposes of federal grants administrative requirements the applicant 

also must list the entities with which the applicant proposes to contract. Applicants 

should provide this list as a separate sheet entitled "Proposed non-competitive 

procurement contracts."

For information on distinctions — for purposes of federal grants administrative 

requirements — between subawards and procurement contracts under awards, see 

“Budget Information and Associated Documentation,” below.

 Human Subjects Protection paperwork (documentation and forms related to 

Institutional Review Board [IRB] review). See https://nij.ojp.gov/funding/humansubjects-and-privacy-protection. Note: Final IRB approval is not required at the time 

an application is submitted.

 Privacy Certificate (for further guidance go to 

https://nij.ojp.gov/funding/confidentiality-and-privacy-protections and 

https://nij.ojp.gov/funding/model-privacy-certificate).

 List of any previous and current NIJ awards to the applicant and investigator(s), 

including the NIJ-assigned award numbers and a brief description of any scholarly 

products that resulted in whole or in part from work funded under the NIJ award(s). 

(See “Goals, Objectives, Deliverables, and Expected Scholarly Products” under 

“Program-Specific Information,” above, for definition of “scholarly products.”) 

 List of other agencies, organizations, or funding sources to which this application has 

been submitted, including, but not limited to, other fellowships which the doctoral 

student has received, and the dates during which those fellowships will be active (if 

applicable).
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NIJ-2020-17332

 Applicants proposing to use incentives or stipends payments as part of their research 

project design, must submit an incentive or stipend approval request, as a separate 

document, according to the requirements set forth at https://nij.ojp.gov/funding/

participant-support-costs-and-incentives-social-science-research.

 Letters of cooperation/support, or administrative agreements from, organizations 

collaborating in the project, such as law enforcement and correctional agencies

(if applicable).

4. Budget Information and Associated Documentation

See the Budget Preparation and Submission Information section of the OJP Grant 

Application Resource Guide for details on the Budget Detail Worksheet, and on budget 

information and associated documentation, such as information on proposed subawards, 

proposed procurement contracts under awards, and pre-agreement costs.

The following are sample budget narrative descriptions of relevant cost items that might be 

used by an applicant:

Salaries and Wages — Personnel

The Principal Investigator (i.e., the doctoral student), Mr./Ms. xxx, will devote xxx 

summer months and xxx academic months per year toward the project. One summer 

month effort is equivalent to xxx hours. One academic month’s effort is equivalent to xxx 

hours. Therefore, the salary paid to Mr./Ms. xxx in each academic month will be xxx, and 

in each summer month will be xxx. (Note that if a stipend will be allocated in equal 

disbursements each month, please provide such a description with the corresponding 

monthly breakdown.)

The fringe benefit rate during the academic year for the graduate student is ___ percent. 

The summer fringe benefit rate is ___ percent. The benefits included in this rate cover 

__________.

Travel (Non-federal)

Attendance at the xxx Annual Meeting will provide an opportunity to disseminate the 

results of my work within the relevant academic community. The meeting will be held in 

xxx. The expected lodging rate is $xxx, based on xxx source, for a total of xxx nights 

($xxx total). The meal allowance is $xxx per day, based on xxx source. (Note that 

whether the appropriate source is the federal per diem rate,

4 or a lower rate stipulated by 

the academic institution, is at the institution’s discretion.) The expected transportation 

cost is $xxx, based on xxx source. Other anticipated costs include an anticipated 

baggage fee of $xx. The total requested funding for this travel event is $xxx.

The following paragraph (on “Cofunding”) expressly modifies the “Cost Sharing or Matching 

Requirement” provisions in the OJP Grant Application Resource Guide. The applicant is to 

follow the guidance in the following paragraph instead of the guidance stated under the 

“Cost Sharing or Matching Requirement” heading in the OJP Grant Application Resource 

Guide.

 

4 See per diem rates made available by the U.S. General Services Administration, as appropriate.
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Cofunding: An award made by NIJ under this solicitation may account for up to 100 percent 

of the total cost of the project. The application should indicate whether it is feasible for the 

applicant to contribute cash, facilities, or services as non-federal support for the project. The 

application should identify generally any such contributions that the applicant expects to 

make and the proposed budget should indicate in detail which items, if any, will be 

supported with non-federal contributions.

For additional match information, see the “Cost Sharing or Match Requirement” section 

under Section B. Federal Award Information.

If a successful application proposes a voluntary match amount, and OJP approves the 

budget, the total match amount incorporated into the approved budget becomes mandatory 

and subject to audit.

Please see the OJP Grant Application Resource Guide for information on the following:

5. Indirect Cost Rate Agreement.

6. Financial Management and System of Internal Controls Questionnaire (including

applicant disclosure of high-risk status).

7. Disclosure of Lobbying Activities.

8. Applicant Disclosure of Pending Applications.

9. Applicant Disclosure and Justification – DOJ High Risk Grantees5(if applicable).

10. Research and Evaluation Independence and Integrity.

11. Additional Attachments

a. Verification of full-time enrollment in a STEM doctoral program at the time of

application (CRITICAL ELEMENT). Attach this as a separate PDF file titled “Verification

of Enrollment.”

b. Undergraduate and graduate transcripts, either official or unofficial (CRITICAL

ELEMENT). Attach this as a separate PDF file titled “Undergraduate and Graduate

Transcripts.”

c. Statement of support from the dissertation committee chair or the doctoral student’s

faculty advisor, department chair, departmental director of graduate studies, or individual

with similar responsibilities, as applicable (CRITICAL ELEMENT). Attach this as a

separate PDF file titled “Statement of Support.”

d. Curriculum vitae, resumes, or biosketches of key personnel (CRITICAL ELEMENT).

(For purposes of this solicitation, “key personnel” means the student and the person

5 A “DOJ High Risk Grantee” is a recipient that has received a DOJ High-Risk designation based on a documented 

history of unsatisfactory performance, financial instability, management system or other internal control deficiencies, 

or noncompliance with award terms and conditions on prior awards, or that is otherwise not responsible.
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NIJ-2020-17332

providing the Statement of Support.) Attach this as a separate PDF file titled “CVs or 

Resumes.”

e. Potential Environmental Impact Coversheet and Checklist (if applicable) – National 

Environmental Policy Act (NEPA)

Each applicant is to submit an NIJ Programmatic Coversheet and Checklist with its 

application to assist NIJ in assessing the potential environmental impacts of the activities 

proposed for funding by the applicant. Specifically, the applicant is expected to:

• Carefully read the Programmatic Environmental Assessment;

• Complete the Cover Sheet and the attached Programmatic Checklist; and

• Attach the completed documents to the grant application.

The applicant should also submit a Cover Sheet and NIJ Programmatic Checklist for 

any organization identified in the Budget Detail Worksheet that will receive grant funds 

through a subaward or procurement contract to perform any of the following activities: 

new construction or renovations that change the basic prior use of a facility or 

significantly change its size; research and/or technology development that could be 

expected to have an effect on the environment; or implementation of programs 

involving the use of chemicals. For more information about NEPA and NIJ’s NEPA 

Process, please go to https://nij.ojp.gov/funding/national-environmental-policy-actnepa.

How To Apply (Grants.gov)

Applicants must register in and submit applications through Grants.gov, a primary source to find 

federal funding opportunities and apply for funding. Find information on how to apply in 

response to this solicitation in the OJP Grant Application Resource Guide.

Registration and Submission Steps

Applicants will need the following identifying information when searching for the funding 

opportunity on Grants.gov.

 Assistance Listing 16.560, National Institute of Justice Research, Evaluation, and 

Development Project Grants.

 NIJ-2020-17332.

For information on each registration and submission step, see the OJP Grant Application 

Resource Guide.
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E. Application Review Information

Review Criteria

Applications that meet basic minimum requirements will be evaluated by peer reviewers using 

the following review criteria.

Statement of the Problem and its Significance – 30%

1. Clarity of the problem statement and research questions.

2. Demonstrated awareness of the state of current research.

3. Connection between the problem and the proposed research.

4. Demonstrated relevance of the proposed research to criminal justice in the United 

States.

5. Potential significance of the proposed research to the field of study.

Project Design and Implementation (Quality and technical merit) – 40%

1. Detailed and complete discussion of proposed research methods.

2. Soundness of the research methods and appropriateness to the proposed study.

3. Awareness of potential pitfalls of the research plan and proposed practical solutions.

4. Feasibility of the proposed project.

Capabilities/Competencies (Capabilities, demonstrated productivity, and experience of the 

applicant organization and proposed project staff) – 30%

1. Qualifications of the doctoral student, including:

a. Undergraduate record

b. Graduate coursework completed

c. Relevant work and/or research experience

d. Leadership roles

e. Publication record

2. Academic environment and supporting resources of the applicant institution, degree 

program, and graduate advisor (if applicable).

Plan for Dissemination to Broader Audiences (if applicable to the proposed project)
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Peer reviewers may comment — in the context of scientific and technical merit — on strength 

and feasibility the proposed plan (if any) to produce or to make available to broader interested 

audiences, such as criminal/juvenile justice practitioners or policymakers, summary information 

from the planned scholarly products of the project.

Budget

In addition, peer reviewers will consider and may comment on the following additional items in 

the context of scientific and technical merit.

1. Appropriateness of requested research expenses and related costs to the proposed 

dissertation research.

2. Use of existing resources to conserve costs.

Review Process

OJP is committed to ensuring a fair and open process for making awards. NIJ reviews the 

application to make sure that the information presented is reasonable, understandable, 

measurable, achievable, and consistent with the solicitation. See the OJP Grant Application 

Resource Guide for information on the application review process for this solicitation.

The following five paragraphs in this solicitation expressly modify the “Application Review 

Information” provisions in the OJP Grant Application Resource Guide. An applicant is to follow 

the guidance in these five paragraphs instead of the guidance stated under the “Application 

Review Information” heading in the Guide.

Peer reviewers will review the applications submitted under this solicitation that meet basic 

minimum requirements. For purposes of assessing whether an application meets basic 

minimum requirements and should proceed to further consideration, OJP screens applications 

for compliance with those requirements. Although specific requirements may vary, the following 

are common requirements applicable to all solicitations for funding under OJP programs:

 The application must be submitted by an eligible type of applicant.

 The application must request funding within programmatic funding constraints (if 

applicable).

 The application must be responsive to the scope of the solicitation.

 The application must include all items necessary to meet the basic minimum 

requirements.

For a list of the application elements that MUST be included in the application submission in 

order for an application to meet the basic minimum requirements, see “What an Application 

Should Include” under Section D. Application and Submission Information.

Peer review panels will evaluate, score, and rate applications that meet basic minimum 

requirements. NIJ may use external peer reviewers, internal peer reviewers, or a combination, 

to assess applications on technical merit using the solicitation’s review criteria. An external peer 
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NIJ-2020-17332

reviewer is an expert in the subject matter of a given solicitation who is not a current DOJ 

employee. An internal reviewer is a current DOJ employee who is well-versed or has expertise 

in the subject matter of this solicitation. Peer reviewers’ ratings and any resulting 

recommendations are advisory only, but are considered carefully.

Other important considerations for NIJ include geographic diversity, strategic priorities, available 

funding, the planned scholarly products, and the extent to which the Budget Detail Worksheet 

and Budget Narrative accurately explain project costs that are reasonable, necessary, and 

otherwise allowable under federal law and applicable federal cost principles.

Pursuant to the Part 200 Uniform Requirements, before award decisions are made, OJP also 

reviews information related to the degree of risk posed by the applicant. Among other things to 

help assess whether an applicant that has one or more prior federal awards has a satisfactory 

record with respect to performance, integrity, and business ethics, OJP checks whether the 

applicant is listed in SAM as excluded from receiving a federal award.

All final award decisions will be made by Director of the National Institute of Justice, who may 

take into account not only peer review ratings and NIJ recommendations, but also other factors 

as indicated in this section.

F. Federal Award Administration Information

Please see the OJP Grant Application Resource Guide for information on the following:

Federal Award Notices

Administrative, National Policy, and Other Legal Requirements

OJP strongly encourages prospective applicants to review information on post-award legal 

requirements and common OJP award conditions prior to submitting an application.

If selected for funding, in addition to implementing the funded project consistent with the OJPapproved application, the recipient must comply with all award conditions, and all applicable 

requirements of federal statutes and regulations (including applicable requirements referred to 

in the assurances and certifications executed in connection with award acceptance). 

For additional information on these legal requirements, see the “Administrative, National Policy, 

and Other Legal Requirements” section in the OJP Grant Application Resource Guide.

Information Technology (IT) Security Clauses

General Information about Post-Federal Award Reporting Requirements

In addition to the deliverables described in Section A. Program Description, any recipient of an 

award under this solicitation will be required to submit certain reports and data.

Required reports. Recipients typically must submit quarterly financial reports, annual progress 

reports, final financial and progress reports, and, if applicable, an annual audit report in 

accordance with the Part 200 Uniform Requirements or specific award conditions. Applicants 

should anticipate that progress reports will be required to follow the non-budgetary components 
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NIJ-2020-17332

of the Research Performance Progress Report (RPPR) template/format. General information on 

RPPRs may be found at www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/rppr/. Future awards and fund drawdowns 

may be withheld if reports are delinquent. (In appropriate cases, OJP may require additional 

reports.)

See the OJP Grant Application Resource Guide for additional information on specific postaward reporting requirements, including performance measures data.

G. Federal Awarding Agency Contact(s)

For questions directed to the Federal Awarding Agency, see NCJRS contact information on 

page 2.

For contact information for Grants.gov, see page 2.

H. Other Information

Please see the OJP Grant Application Resource Guide for information on the following:

 Freedom of Information and Privacy Act (5 U.S.C. 552 and 5 U.S.C. 552a).

 Provide Feedback to OJP.
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Application Checklist

Graduate Research Fellowship, Fiscal Year 2020

This application checklist has been created as an aid in developing an application.

What an Applicant Should Do:

Prior to Registering in Grants.gov:

 Acquire a DUNS Number (see OJP Grant Application Resource Guide)

 Acquire or renew registration with SAM (see OJP Grant Application Resource Guide)

To Register with Grants.gov:

 Acquire AOR and Grants.gov username/password

(see OJP Grant Application Resource Guide)

 Acquire AOR confirmation from the E-Biz POC (see OJP Grant Application Resource Guide)

To Find Funding Opportunity:

 Search for the Funding Opportunity on Grants.gov (see page 20)

 Access Funding Opportunity and Application Package

(see OJP Grant Application Resource Guide)

 Sign up for Grants.gov email notifications (optional)

(see OJP Grant Application Resource Guide)

 Read Important Notice: Applying for Grants in Grants.gov

 Read OJP policy and guidance on conference approval, planning, and reporting available at

ojp.gov/financialguide/DOJ/PostawardRequirements/chapter3.10a.htm

(see OJP Grant Application Resource Guide)

After Application Submission, Receive Grants.gov Email Notifications That:

 (1) Application has been received

 (2) Application has either been successfully validated or rejected with errors

(see OJP Grant Application Resource Guide)

If No Grants.gov Receipt, and Validation or Error Notifications are Received:

 Contact NIJ regarding experiencing technical difficulties

(see OJP Grant Application Resource Guide)

Overview of Post-Award Legal Requirements:

 Review the “Overview of Legal Requirements Generally Applicable to OJP Grants and 

Cooperative Agreements – FY 2020 Awards” in the OJP Funding Resource Center.

Scope Requirement:

 The federal amount requested is within the allowable maximum request limit of $150,000.
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Eligibility Requirement:

 Degree-granting academic institutions in the United States and its territories apply on behalf 

of an eligible student. Institutions must be fully accredited by one of the regional institutional 

accreditation agencies recognized by the U.S. Secretary of Education, and are eligible if:

1. The student is currently enrolled in a Ph.D. program in the sciences or engineering; and

2. The student’s proposed dissertation research has demonstrable relevance to preventing 

and controlling crime and/or ensuring the fair and impartial administration of criminal 

justice in the United States.

What an Application Should Include:

 Application for Federal Assistance (SF-424) (see page 13)

 Project Abstract (see page 14)

 Appendices (see page 16)

 Bibliography/references (see page 16)

 Tools/instruments, questionnaires, tables/charts/graphs, or maps (see page 16)

 Personal statement (see page 16)

 Project timeline (see page 16)

 List of involved people and organizations (see page 16)

 Human Subjects Protection paperwork (see page 17)

 Privacy Certificate (see page 17)

 List of previous and current NIJ awards (see page 17)

 List of other funding sources received or submitted (see page 17)

 Participant incentives approval request (if applicable) (see page 18)

 Letters of support (if applicable) (see page 18)

 Financial Management and System of Internal Controls Questionnaire

(see OJP Grant Application Resource Guide)

The following items are critical application elements required to pass basic minimum 

requirements review. An application that OJP determines does not include the application 

elements that must be included in the application submission in order for the application to 

meet the basic minimum requirements, will neither proceed to peer review, nor receive further 

consideration.

 Program Narrative (see page 14)

 Budget Detail Worksheet (including Budget Narrative)

(see OJP Grant Application Resource Guide)

 Verification of Current Enrollment (see page 19)

 Undergraduate and Graduate Transcripts (see page 19)

 Statement of Support (see page 19)

 Curriculum Vitae, Resumes, or Biographical Sketches (see page 19)
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NIJ-2020-17332

 Disclosure of Lobbying Activities (SF-LLL) (see OJP Grant Application Resource Guide)

 Applicant Disclosure of Pending Applications (see OJP Grant Application Resource Guide)

 Applicant Disclosure and Justification – DOJ High Risk Grantees (if applicable)

(see OJP Grant Application Resource Guide)

Additional Attachments:

 Research and Evaluation Independence and Integrity

(see OJP Grant Application Resource Guide)

 Potential Environmental Impact Coversheet and Checklist (NEPA) (see page 20)
i 

Funding Webinar Transcript

On February 4, 2020, NIJ hosted a webinar that provided an overview of this solicitation.

Following are the transcript and slide presentation from that webinar.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Good afternoon, everybody. And welcome to today’s webinar, NIJ 

Graduate Research Fellowship, the 2020 Program Overview, hosted by the National Institute of 

Justice. 

At this time, I would like to introduce today’s presenters, Gregory Dutton, Office of Investigative 

and Forensic Sciences; Eric Martin, Office of Research and Evaluation, and Joe Heaps, Senior 

Physical Scientist.

GREGORY DUTTON: Welcome. Thank you to everyone for attending. Since the 2020 GRF funding 

opportunity is now open, we wanted to take this opportunity to welcome everyone not yet 

familiar with the program, and get an overview of NIJ’s Graduate Research Fellowship, or GRF 

program. We will give some important updates on recent changes to the program to those who 

are already familiar with NIJ and GRF, and we will show you where to look, and how to get started 

if you’d like to apply. 

My name is Greg Dutton. I’m a Program Manager of NIJ and a chemist by training. I manage 

programs at NIJ and forensic science R&D. I’m also part of the NIJ GRF Program Team and I’ll be 

presenting today with my colleague, Eric Martin, who also manages GRF and other social science 

programs. 

Many of you may not already be familiar with NIJ. Who are we? NIJ is the research and 

development agency of the US DOJ. Our mission is to bring science to issues of crime and justice 

for the benefit of the nation. I encourage you to visit our website, nij.gov, to see the range of work 

that NIJ does. We’re primarily a science funding agency that funds external research, but we 

happen to have a specific mission space of crime and justice. An important part of supporting any 

research community is developing the scientific work towards the future. NIJ has long supported 

the Graduate Research Fellowship Program. In fact, it’s one of NIJ’s longest-running programs. 

The goal of the GRF Program is to increase the pool of researchers who work on problems 

relevant to our mission. We do this by supporting PhD students whose research is relevant to 

crime and justice. For the past six years, the program has had two parallel program tracks: GRF 

SBS, (Social and Behavioral Sciences), and GRF STEM. As we’ll discuss later: This year, we’re 

removing those program distinctions and returning to a single comprehensive program. I 

encourage you to visit the program webpage at nij.gov/grf for more information. 

The program has a relatively simple eligibility requirement. The student needs to be currently 

enrolled in a PhD program in a science or engineering field. Really about the only thing that 

wouldn’t qualify is Arts and Humanities. And the dissertation topic proposed must have 

demonstrated relevance to crime or criminal justice. That could take a lot of manifestations. The 
ii

student can be at any stage in their graduate career when they apply as long as they’re currently 

enrolled in the program at the time of application. But the fellowship funding is meant to support 

the student during the research, writing, and defense phases. The university must be an 

accredited institution of the US or its territories, and [the university] is the official applicant and 

applies on behalf of the student. So the student and the university need to work together to 

assemble and submit an application. 

The fellowship provides up to $50,000 per year for up to three years of funding with some simple 

budget allowances. It includes $35,000 a year for student salary and fringe [expenses]. Up to 

$12,000 annually for costs of education allowance, tuition, fees, and university expenses. And up 

to $3,000 annually for research expenses. The intent is to support the student, to allow them to 

devote their full efforts to completing their dissertation. We try to make our fellowship terms 

competitive with other federal funders. We’ll talk more later about specific allowable cost items 

under these budget allowances. 

These are one-time awards that cannot be supplemented with additional funds. So the total 

amount of support that you anticipate needing must be requested up front when you apply. If 

you’re certain that you’ll finish in 18 months, you might want to request just 18 months of 

funding. But if you’re not sure, then you might want to request the full three years. There’s no 

competitive advantage to lowballing. 

There are a few annual requirements to stay in good standing. Annual progress reports, where

you report the progress of your project, publications and presentations, verification of a 

continued enrollment. And lastly, a letter from your Committee Chair confirming that you’re 

making adequate progress on your degree. A final deliverable is a copy of your defended thesis.

We encourage, but we don’t require, public archiving online at NCJRS [National Criminal Justice 

Reference Service]. 

I mentioned this year we’re merging the previously separate GRF-SBS and STEM Program. I 

wanted to step back to take a look at the recent history of the program, to explain why we’re 

doing this. In the early 2010s, NIJ realized that the GRF Program was not being well-used by 

students in the physical and life sciences, and the engineering field. So in 2014, a separate GRFSTEM Program was initiated with increased outreach and funding to attract students in the hard 

sciences. You can see that the effort has been largely successful, and GRF fellows from STEM fields 

now represent a sizable and stable proportion of the portfolio. Since that effort has been 

successful, we’re now merging the two programs back together, and will continue to solicit and 

fund GRF fellows from across the sciences. 

Altogether, the program has funded over 150 fellows from over 60 unique institutions since 2012.

The split in the degree program classification has been fairly equitable. And I should say that a 

portion of the social sciences there actually is biological and physical anthropology. That might be 

considered a hard science, too. 
iii

We’d like to give you some examples of recent fellows to give you a sense of the diversity and 

topics that we’ve funded. I will now turn it over to my colleague, Eric, to give some recent 

examples of GRF fellows.

ERIC MARTIN: Thanks, Greg. Here are two fellows from the previous GRF-SBS programs, the 

program in the Social and Behavioral Sciences. These were both FY ’17 applicants. 

First, we have Mawia Khogali, from John Jay. She studied police-citizen interactions and how the 

law enforcement officers’ interpretations of the events and the citizens’ interpretations of event 

may have differed, and what factors led to that diversion. And then we have Elizabeth Webster, 

also a 2017 fellow, from Rutgers University in Newark. She studied wrongful convictions but from 

a different angle than common wrongful convictions literature. She looked at the role of 

prosecutors and particularly conviction integrity units in developing a pathway to exoneration.

Going to 2018, we have Brian Klein, a fellow from Michigan State University. He was looking at 

school shootings, and particularly life events, in the trajectory of offending of the school shooter.

And then we have Ieke De Vries from Northeastern University, and she was looking at the role of 

online sex websites in sex trafficking at massage parlors. Now these are just four fellows from a 

number of very exceptional applicants, and I picked them just to give you some of the diversity of 

topics that we’ve funded in the past in the GRF-SBS program. Now I’m going to turn it back to my 

colleague, Greg. He’s going to introduce some past STEM awardees.

GREGORY DUTTON: Thanks, Eric. I wanted to give a few examples of GRF fellows in my subject 

areas. I want to emphasize again that these are just a few select examples. There are many other 

degree fields represented. Just browse past fellows at nij.gov/grf to see all of them. 

Here we have Caitlin Vogelsberg, who was a 2017 fellow from Michigan State in the Biological 

Anthropology PhD Program. Her thesis dealt with identifying human remains found in border 

regions. And she is now working as a post-doc at the Pima County Arizona Medical Examiner’s 

Office, so it sounds like an extension of her previous work. Shady El Damaty is a 2016 fellow in the 

Neuroscience PhD Program at Georgetown. His work deals with cognition and behavior that 

applied to violence in adolescents. And he is still working towards his PhD. A couple more: Christy 

Mancuso is a 2014 fellow from the University of Utah in the Chemistry PhD program, I believe. Her 

thesis dealt with evaluating the potential for using stabilized analysis of human fingernails for 

investigative and forensic purposes. And she is now a post-doc at New Mexico. 

And finally, Katherine Gettings was a 2011 fellow in genetics. Her thesis dealt with correlating 

ancestry and phenotype SNPs, Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms, with conventional forensic DNA 

markers. She’s now a Staff Scientist at NIST in the Applied Genetics Group, and is becoming a 

leader in the field of forensic DNA. I am going to now hand it back to Eric to talk about the 2020 

funding opportunity.

ERIC MARTIN: Thanks, Greg. As you can see, here is a screenshot of the solicitation that is 

currently live. We are hoping to fund for FY 2020, at least 20 new fellows. And as Greg said, these 

are going to be awarded across the sciences and the engineering [fields]. We do ask that you 
iv

clearly state your degree program, what field you’re studying, right up front in the application. 

That’ll help us determine where it should be reviewed and what experts should comment on it.

But the one thing I do want to stress in this slide is you’ll notice the closing date: Midnight Eastern 

Time, on April 15th, 2020. That’s Tax Day. We didn’t choose that on purpose, but it’s a good day 

to remember. But I do encourage you to download the application package as soon as possible.

There’s a number of different requirements and you really need to interface with your sponsored 

research office at your institution early to ensure that you meet all the critical elements we’re 

going to be talking about. This is a good experience for applying for federal funding for those of 

you who haven’t done so before. We really don’t want to see any quality applicants not be able to 

participate in the peer review process because they didn’t have all of their application 

requirements submitted on time. 

Just to give you a quick snapshot of the timeline we’re looking at: We have some key milestones 

here throughout the year. The application came live on January 17th, and you have until April 

15th to apply. That may seem like a lot of time, but with the amount of things that need to be 

gathered for the application process, it will go by quickly. We have a very tight timeline for review, 

especially given the number of applications we anticipate and we usually see. And those are going 

to be spread over multiple external peer review panels, and also will receive internal review. NIJ 

Science Staff will, based on the results of the external peer review, identify the best of the best 

applicants, so to speak, and make funding recommendations up through our leadership team at 

NIJ. And just so you know at NIJ, the Director, Dr. David Muhlhausen, has sole funding authority. 

We make recommendations to him for funding through our leadership team, and we have the 

opportunity to discuss those recommendations and funding for any application at NIJ. This is not 

just particular to the GRF Program. Any application is subject to a number of different factors, 

such as competing funding priorities, new priorities from the administration or congress, the 

funding availability of other programs, and whatnot. 

But Greg gave you an excellent history [of] of the program. GRF is NIJ’s longest-standing signature 

program. We are very committed to supporting new scholars and doctoral research. And in my 

experience, we’ve never had an opportunity where we weren’t able to fund a number of different 

and quality dissertations. So we’re very committed to this process. 

We’re going to make funding decisions, or NIJ is rather, towards the middle of summer and then 

that starts the awarding process. The Accountants and Grant Management Staff at OJP will 

interface with the potential awardees Office of Sponsored Research or Grants office. Those initial 

offers will be made and the university has an opportunity to accept them. We wrap that up by the 

end of the fiscal year and then OJP — the Office of Justice Programs where NIJ sits — will make 

the official award announcement. This will be by September 30th. We find it best just to give the 

last possible date, because that’s usually what it always ends up being. In the past, we’ve tried to 

shoot for accelerated or expedited award announcements, and we don’t want to promise what 

we can’t deliver. So, we are confident and we are sure that awards will be announced by 

September 30th. That’s the easiest date to go with. Then, as we will state to you later in the 

presentation, we ask that applicants put January 1st, 2021 [as a] start date for their award.
v 

You may wonder why January 1st when we’re going to know by the end of September: That’s to 

allow all the necessary paperwork to clear. Budgets have to be approved, there may be human 

subject issues, and whatnot. We find [January 1st to be] very nice and clean, and this is for all our 

awards at NIJ, not just GRF. We have them start right at the first of the year following the award. 

Just to highlight some recent changes to the GRF program: As we said before, we’re no longer 

having solicitation in the Social Behavioral Sciences and a separate one in science, technology, 

engineering, and mathematics. This will make it much easier for applicants. You do not have to 

choose which one you belong to. There are inevitably always some applicants that fall in the gray 

area, where they may belong to a physical science program but they’re studying a social 

behavioral topic, or vice versa. And then also inevitably, there are always applicants that 

accidentally submit to the wrong solicitation. So in the past, we’d have to physically move the 

application, which is a process for us, and would threaten to delay the review. This is going to be 

much easier. 

The fellowship terms are exactly the same now for the Social Behavioral Science Program and the 

STEM Program. We started that process last year because we anticipated the change. We wanted 

to merge back into one program. It really isn’t much of a difference from last year to this year. We 

anticipate $3,000,000 being made available for funding and we hope to fund at least 20 fellows. 

Now, as I said, we have standard critical elements across the program now. It used to be there 

were slight differences in the SBS and STEM critical elements. These are standardized now. And 

there are six that you need to worry about. Now before I introduce the six, these are elements 

that we call internally basic minimum requirements. Each application has to have these six things 

in order to advance to external peer review. If they do not have these things included in their 

applications, they cannot advance. And inevitably, there’s always some applicants who fail to 

meet these requirements. In order to ensure the integrity of the process and to be fair across all 

applicants, we really don’t make exceptions to this rule. There is guidance at the top cover page of 

your solicitation package that talks about if you’re having a technical submission issue. And 

there’s a protocol to follow at that time. This is separate. 

Once the application is submitted, by the application deadline, it needs to contain all six of these 

items: 

1. The Program Narrative. That is your proposal in a nutshell. The meat, I should say, of the 

proposal. This is what you’re attempting to do, and there’s also detailed information about 

what a Program Narrative is going to contain in the solicitation. 

2. Your Budget Detail Worksheet. In the past, we used to have a worksheet and a Budget Detail 

Narrative. OJP took the steps to make it easier for applicants across OJP. These items are now 

merged. You’ll have a worksheet and then you’ll have space to enter context to describe the 

allocated items in your budget. 
vi 

3. Verification of Current Enrollment. 

4. Undergraduate and graduate transcripts. These do not have to be official transcripts, but you 

should be able to get unofficial transcripts, usually electronically, from your institution. 

5. Statement of Support from Committee Chair. There is detailed information on critical 

elements five and six throughout the solicitation. This is usually a point of confusion, or a 

point where some applicants have not met basic minimum requirements in the past. If you 

have an accepted proposal, if you’ve advanced the candidacy at the time of application, we 

need to see a statement of support from the Committee Chair. We do allow applicants who 

are pursuing candidacy, who have not defended their prospectus, to apply. Those milestones 

have to be met by the time the award is made, but we encourage applicants to apply who are 

still pursuing that. If you don’t have a Committee Chair designated, we have a list of 

acceptable personnel that can submit a statement of support on your behalf. That could be 

your Faculty Advisor. That could be the Department Head. That could be the Director of 

Graduate Studies at your department or somebody who fills in that role. But regardless, we 

need to see a statement of support from that person you designate as either the Chair, or the 

person who’s filling the role of the Chair if you do not have one. 

6. Then we need CVs or resumes from key personnel. For the GRF Program key personnel are 

the student and the Chair, or the person that is stepping in to fill the Chair role at the time of 

the application. With that, I’m going to pass it back to Greg.

GREGORY DUTTON: Thanks, Eric. We’ve made some specific changes to the Programmatic Budget 

Allowances this year. So, we want to go over the specific allowable cost under each of those 

categories. Because the award amounts are relatively small, we need to make sure that the 

budgets make the best use of funds to support the student and the research. We have some very 

specific allowed costs. The first budget allowance is salary and fringe. We can only support the 

student fellow, no one else, and can include fringe or separate health insurance. We recommend 

that the full amount of $35,000 a year [be] requested. 

The second budget allowance is for cost of education. This can include tuition fees and university 

administrative costs, at the discretion of the university. . Up to 

$12,000 per year is permitted. 

The third budget allowance is for up to $3,000 per year in research expenses. These are cost items 

that directly support the student’s research or scholarly professional activity. This is a unique 

allowance that other fellowship programs may not provide. It can give you the opportunity to 

purchase or acquire samples that you otherwise wouldn’t have access to, or travel to collect data, 

or present your work at conferences. Other allowable costs may be permitted if they support the 

government’s program. 

So, if you are contemplating applying, or just want to learn more, these are the first steps that you 

would take:
vii 

1. Review the solicitation itself. That’s the official document with all the specific 

requirements. We’re giving you the links to that if you don’t have it already, to verify that 

you’re eligible. 

2. Next, contact your university Grants Office or Office of Sponsored Programs, or Office of 

Sponsored Research, to let them now that you intend to apply and to ask for their help in 

submitting a proposal. Your university will have an office whose job is to help university 

people apply for external research funding. You should get in touch with them as soon as 

you can. They’re the ones who will submit the actual application, and they’ll help you put 

everything together. 

3. Next, start putting together all the elements of the application. The biggest piece is the 

Program Narrative. That’s the heart of the proposal, so you need to start thinking about 

that and start writing as soon as possible. Secondly, ask for the letter of support from your 

Chair or Advisor early. They won’t be able to submit that themselves. The university will 

need to submit that as part of the proposal package, so make sure that they know about 

this early so they can get it to the university. And lastly, get your enrollment verification 

and transcripts together, both graduates and undergraduate transcripts. They don’t need

to be official transcripts.

As Eric mentioned, there are six critical elements and I won’t go over those again, but I want to 

remind you that those six elements are required parts of the application package. So work with 

your university OSP [Office of Sponsored Programs] to get all of these together by the deadline 

date of April 15th. 

Two other application elements that are important, but are not required at the time of 

application, are: 

1. Dissertation topic approval. Eric talked about this a little bit. It’s not required at the 

time of application. 

2. Also, IRB approval for human subjects research is not required at the time of 

application. If you do have these when you apply, that’s great, but they’re not required 

then. But if you do get a fellowship, you must complete these before fellowship funds 

would become available.

Let’s say you’ve assembled and submitted an application. What happens next? The very first thing 

we do after all applications are received is an internal NIJ review for eligibility and for the critical 

elements. All proposals that meet these basic minimum requirements will move to external peer 

review. Any application that is missing any critical element will be rejected without further review.

We hate to see this happen, so work with your OSP to make sure that they have everything that 

they need.
viii

We convene panels of external reviewers to review the proposals. These are academic faculty 

with experience mentoring grad students just like you. Your designation of your degree program 

on your application, and a content of your proposal in your degree field, help us assign your 

application to the appropriate panel of reviewers. Knowing what the panels will focus on and 

what they’ll score your application on can you help you in the development of your proposal.

These are the review criteria that are detailed in the solicitations.

So, for GRF, there are three scored review criteria:

1. First is Statement of the Problem and its Significance;

2. Then Project Design and Implementation; and

3. Finally, Capabilities and Competencies.

You can see by the pie chart that there is a nearly similar weight given to each criteria. But the 

biggest factor, 40%, is Project Design and Implementation, or scientific merit. So make sure that 

this is the strongest part of the proposal.

To facilitate reviewers’ assessment of your experimental design, you should be very clear and 

detailed about your research hypotheses, proposed sampling methods, experiments, 

instrumentation, methodology, and data analysis. The solicitation gives you some more detail that 

can help you write your proposal [according] to these criteria. Statement of the Problem —30% 

weight— is important in that it encompasses the clarity of the research questions, the relevance 

to criminal justice, and the potential significance to the particular field of study. And lastly, 

Capabilities and Competencies, also 30%, is particularly the importance for a fellowship program 

like GRF, since it considers your preparations, your qualifications, scholarly record, and honors.

Reviewers will also consider the academic environment of your institution, your program, and 

your advisor. Peer review scores are the primary consideration in award decisions. So pay 

attention to these review criteria as you write your proposal and assemble your application.

We also want to give you some additional tips to help you put together a successful proposal. We 

encourage you to browse past fellows’ abstracts on the nij.gov website, just to get a sense of how 

successful fellows’ abstracts look. If you have preliminary results, of course, include if possible. 

Reviewers love to see that. 

Demonstration of proof of concept: make sure that you articulate in your proposal the relevance 

to criminal justice. That’s an eligibility requirement. So that needs to be in there. And then finally, 

ask other people, your friends, people in your research lab, your program, your advisor, to read 

and comment on your proposal. The writing needs to be yours, but obviously everyone benefits

from having helpful feedback from others, so they can help you with the concept and motivation,

[and] the design of the experiments. Definitely proofread for errors. We also encourage you to go 

to the GRF Program page and look at the frequently asked questions to see what other people are 

asking. That may help you as well.
ix

If you know of any groups of students who might be interested in the program, we have a 

printable program flyer on the web that we encourage you to distribute. The link will be included

in the slides once they’re posted after the webinar. And you can go to nij.gov to learn about other 

NIJ Programs and funding. You can sign up to receive automated notices of NIJ funding 

opportunities like GRF so you know right away when they are posted.

Finally, these are some resources for more information about the program and this year’s 

solicitations. We especially encourage you to look at the GRF frequently asked questions on the 

program page, as well as the transcript of this webinar once it’s posted. For specific questions 

during the open solicitation period, you should contact NCJRS at the phone, email, and chat

contacts that are given here. And they’re also listed in the solicitation.

That concludes the presentation portion and I think we’ll now turn it over to the Q&A portion to 

take your question.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: I’m going to leave this information up here so that you have the 

opportunity to take notes if you like. All right, first question. “Does a potentially doctorate of 

education qualify?”

GREGORY DUTTON: Unfortunately, it does not qualify. Only PhD programs qualify or PhD-MD 

programs. But it’s specified that it must be a PhD program. A PhD in Education, if that’s a 

program, that will qualify. But unfortunately, an MD doesn’t.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “Does the student need to be a US citizen or a permanent resident to be 

eligible?”

GREGORY DUTTON: The applicant is the university, and we have no requirements for the student.

So, no, there is no citizenship requirement.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “I noticed that the sociocultural anthropology has not been a field 

generally funded by the fellowship. Are qualitative ethnographic methods not seen to qualify for 

fellowship?”

ERIC MARTIN: We do not discriminate based on method. The eligibility requirement goes with the 

program field. So, yes, we encourage qualitative, as well as quantitative, research. Just make sure 

that the research methods are appropriate for the question being asked.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “I received funding from the National Science Foundation to do my field 

research and would like to apply for NIJ Funding for the writing and analysis phase. Does your 

agency accept applicants for writing and analysis?”
x

GREGORY DUTTON: Yes. Students that are currently enrolled at any phase of their graduate career 

are eligible. We would make sure that there was no duplication in funding between federal 

sources. But, yes, you’d be eligible.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “Under what conditions is NIJ interested in dissertation topics that use 

data from foreign countries? What are examples from a past GRF fellow using foreign country 

data, particularly in social sciences?”

GREGORY DUTTON: The requirement is that the application shows relevance to crime and criminal 

justice in the United States. So, if it was data from a foreign country, but the research would be 

relevant to the United States, that would be fine. We’ve had a number of fellows who went to 

foreign countries to collect skeletal metrics data on certain foreign populations. We have funded 

that sort of thing in the past. There’s no specific prohibition against that.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Are there any penalties for completing early? That is, if I submit 

requesting two years of funding but finished in eighteen months, will there be any penalties?

GREGORY DUTTON: No, no penalties at all. Obviously, you need to finish on your own timeline.

We can’t dictate that. So, if you finish early, then the funding stops early. You go by your timeline 

and we will support you as long as we can.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: How many applications do you expect to receive?

GREGORY DUTTON: Based on past volumes, we expect about a hundred and fifty applications, 

most likely, total.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Can you comment on the degree to which you support qualitative 

research in social sciences? I am looking through past awardees’ dissertation topics and did not 

see many titles that reflected qualitative methodology and I’m wondering which degree of 

applicants proposing qualitative dissertations can expect their applications to be reviewed by 

qualitative researchers?

ERIC MARTIN: We do not have any preference for quantitative over qualitative research. And we 

do have external peer review panelists who are qualitative researchers. We make it a point to 

recruit them. The one thing I can’t say regarding how many qualitative studies we funded, we 

don’t really compare across applications. We instruct our peer reviewers and our internal 

reviewers ourselves, we really try to hone in on the merits of each individual applications. We’re 

really looking for scientific careers, irrespective of qualitative or quantitative methods. Then, what 

is the question is being asked, and is it addressing a critical problem, and will the research make a 

contribution to NIJ’s larger portfolio?

We have funded quantitative research in the past, and we funded mixed method approaches in 

the past. In the snapshot of previous GRF fellows, the Michigan State University dissertation 

involved some qualitative methods. That was 2018. I can’t really give you a percentage. We don’t
xi

identify that this number of fellowships is going to be reserved for qualitative research, but I can 

tell you, we do consider [it] a priority to fund mixed methods and qualitative research, depending 

on the questions and the merit of applications.

GREGORY DUTTON: Thanks, Eric.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: This question was addressed in the presentation but I’m going to ask it 

again. Do transcripts need to be official?

GREGORY DUTTON: No, they don’t need to be official. But you do need to include graduate and 

undergraduate transcripts.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: There are two questions here regarding the committee chair. Is this a PhD 

dissertation committee?

GREGORY DUTTON: Yes. The committee chair is the dissertation committee chair.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: And then the next question is, “If we have co-chairs, do we need 

statements from both, or just one?”

GREGORY DUTTON: At minimum one, but if you have co-chairs you could have both. At least one.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: I completed my undergraduate in another country. Should I send my 

transcript in the original language and a translation, or just the translation?

GREGORY DUTTON: I would suggest the original and the translation if you can, that would be very 

helpful.

ERIC MARTIN: That’s a very interesting question, by the way. One guidance we always give in 

these webinars is I think sometimes the applicants get hung up on the basic minimum 

requirements, or critical elements, just to make it to external peer review. One thing I will say is 

for all application elements, think of just trying to make your application as descriptive as 

possible. Try to anticipate any questions [from] someone who doesn’t know you, or may not be 

familiar with your school or what research you’ve done already ... so that they have the complete 

picture of you as a scholar and the research problem you’re tackling. I think that’s the best advice

any of us could give. So just as Greg said, try, when it comes to the transcripts, to submit as much 

as possible just so everybody who’s reading it has a complete picture of what you studied at your 

undergraduate institution.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Should we submit the CVs for just ourselves and our dissertation chair or 

the CVs for ourselves and the entire committee?

GREGORY DUTTON: Just yourself and your chair. We don’t need it from the whole committee.
xii

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Are there specific formatting guidelines for citations that we should 

follow, example, APA or MLA?

GREGORY DUTTON: We don’t have a specific requirement. I would suggest that you go with 

what’s typical for your field. Because the reviewers are going to be familiar with that. Do what’s 

typical for your field.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: If requesting the full $50,000, and only $10,000 is needed for [the] cost of 

education, can the remaining $2,000 be used for research expenses?

GREGORY DUTTON: I’m not sure I can give you a definitive answer on that now, but, if the 

university is willing to free up an additional $2,000 for the student, I would say include that in the 

budget, and we’ll see if it’s allowed. We’d like as much to go towards the student and their work 

as possible.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Including preliminary results, does this include post-docs, et cetera — just 

put it all into the essay?

GREGORY DUTTON: I would suggest that you think from the perspective of the reviewers. You

want to give them enough information to convey up what you’re trying to [achieve], but not too 

much. If you give them too much, it’s going to distract from what’s really important. Think about 

what is critical to what you need to convey and include that.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Do we also need to write a personal statement and add it into the 

application?

GREGORY DUTTON: Yes, a personal statement is one of the additional attachments in the 

appendices that I think you’ll see listed in the solicitation. It’s not one of the required critical 

elements but it is asked for, and it does help reviewers to get the context of your application.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Similar question that we had before, how many students actually apply 

for GRF each year?

GREGORY DUTTON: Based on past volumes, we expect about a hundred and fifty applicants.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: What are some common mistakes made by applicants in prior years?

GREGORY DUTTON: The one mistake that we hate to see is when some of the critical elements

required documents are missing, and we have no choice but to reject the application. Some of the 

most common things are missing transcripts, so we need both graduate and undergraduate 

transcripts. If it doesn’t have both, it will be rejected. Letter of support, that’s another one that 

often doesn’t get attached because the adviser doesn’t realize that they need to get it [to the 

OSP]. They can’t submit it themselves, and that they need to get it to the university office. Those
xiii

are the most common mistakes we’ve seen. Then there’s also the enrollment verification. Make 

sure you got those critical elements.

ERIC MARTIN: One thing we often see for the applications that are going through peer review that 

met all the critical elements to advance is just lack of detail. When you know your research 

question intimately and the literature back and forth and you’re steeped in the project you’re 

doing, it’s very easy to overlook some critical information to be able to accurately convey your 

research project to someone who is just meeting you, so to speak, for the first time through the 

application. I would suggest try to complete the application package early enough so that you are 

able to get a set of peer reviews yourself or your faculty or committee chair just to go through it 

and make sure that anybody who’s reading this can logically connect what methods you’re doing 

to answer your question, what data you’re going to be using for those methods, and so on. That’s 

probably where a lot of all the applicants fall short — just being able to really convey that 

message.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Next question. “I’m doing a comparative case study from my dissertation 

and only one case study is based in the US. Would this project qualify?”

GREGORY DUTTON: If the findings of the research would be relevant to criminal justice in the 

United States, then I think it would be eligible. Did you want to add anything, Eric?

ERIC MARTIN: I was going to say just that. I think a way to really show that relevance is when 

you’re talking about impact, when you’re talking about your problem statement. Make sure it’s a 

problem in the United States and that you’re using this comparison from abroad to highlight 

issues that are unique to the United States criminal justice system.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Is it okay to apply for less than one-year funding if the dissertation 

defense is anticipated for spring or summer 2021?

ERIC MARTIN: That’s fine, you certainly could apply.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: Are there program officers that we can speak with to discuss our research 

questions to understand if it is in line with the NIJ’s funding priorities?

GREGORY DUTTON: During the open solicitation period, NIJ program managers are not permitted 

to speak directly to potential applicants, which is why we give the links to NCJRS for you to send 

your questions. You can send any questions to them. I would also say that especially for the GRF 

Program, specific NIJ funding priorities of the moment don’t really come into play. So we set kind 

of a reasonable bar for entry, show that what you’re doing is relevant to criminal justice, and then 

we really go by the results of peer review, and we’re not picking and choosing based on funding 

priorities.

ERIC MARTIN: In the solicitation we put a number of resources for you to familiarize yourself with 

what we are currently doing. And we try to tailor them for applicants in the STEM fields, and then 
xiv

applicants in the social and behavioral sciences. I know for the SBS applicants, we highlighted our 

strategic research plans. We have a number of those for topic area, and then we also have topical 

NIJ webpages. So I think it’s a good idea to just peruse those resources that we gave you, just to 

be conversant on the research NIJ is funding and what we’re doing.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “I’m currently a master’s student but I am in the process of transferring to 

the PhD program by the end of the semester. Would this affect my eligibility?”

GREGORY DUTTON: I think we’ve had this type of case before in the past. So if you’re in a master’s 

program and you’re transferring to the PhD program in the same university, we could consider 

that, but we would need a statement from your program to that effect.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “For schools that use three-paper dissertation formats, are meta-analyses 

acceptable as part of our larger proposal?”

ERIC MARTIN: We have accepted applicants from institutions that use the three-paper format. We 

consider that just like any different method to study the issue at hand that you’re considering.

One thing I would say for those applicants coming from institutions with that format, just make 

sure you very clearly discuss how your entire body of research is going to address that problem 

that you outline in the problem statement. I’m not saying it’s an extra challenge for you, but I 

think sometimes in the past that can be lost because you are having different research projects.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: We have quite a few questions left to answer. We are going to try to 

address as many of those questions and we will stay on for a little longer. If for some reason your 

question does not get answered today, please submit it to the National Criminal Justice Reference 

Service. You can email them at grants@NCJRS.gov and you can also web-chat them. That web chat 

URL is https://webcontact.ncjrs.gov/ncjchat/chat.jsp. NCJRS will work with the NIJ staff here and 

get an answer to you.

“How much do the reviewers consider the strategic objectives that the institute puts out?”

ERIC MARTIN: The reviewers don’t have specific instructions to directly match applications to NIJ’s 

strategic priorities, but that would come as a factor under Statement of the Problem and its 

significance. But there’s no specific matching.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “Is the salary portion of the budget to pay for the student’s work as a 

graduate assistant, or is it to pay the student’s living expenses so that they don’t have to work? In 

that case, are they allowed to work and be paid, in addition to this salary?”

ERIC MARTIN: There’s no prohibition on outside work if you have the fellowship. The intention of 

the fellowship is to try to adequately support the students so that they can put full attention to 

the research. But if you do have some outside work, that’s not prohibited, but it would be a good 

idea to let us know about that.
xv

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “Would topics pertaining to juvenile justice population and special 

education be considered?”

GREGORY DUTTON: Juvenile justice would be. Special education, I’m not certain, I don’t think so.

Juvenile justice, yes.

ERIC MARTIN: There’s no prohibition against special education, but you have to tie it to the 

criminal justice problems that you identify. In the past, we had applicants propose to research 

disciplinary policies of the school and, making that connection [with] the school-to-prison 

pipeline, that kind of thing. We ... consider that under the larger body of juvenile justice research.

So, again, just make sure that any aspect of education that you’re looking at is related to the 

criminal justice problem you identify.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “Does working with NIST, although not funded, or other government 

agencies, interfere with this funding opportunity?”

ERIC MARTIN: No, it doesn’t. Any other federal funding you would need to disclose to us so that 

we could make sure that there’s no duplication in what that’s funding, but no, there’s no problem 

with that.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “To clarify: doctorate programs are not eligible, only PhDs, correct?”

GREGORY DUTTON: So, PhDs only, yes. PhD MD programs are eligible, but it has to be a PhD 

program.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “Is it still encouraged to apply when the dissertation is using secondary 

data as long as it is made in the US, and related to criminal justice?”

ERIC MARTIN: Yes. It has to be related to [a] United States Criminal Justice problem. We don’t 

really have a prohibition on different data sets, methods, secondary data analysis, primary data 

collection as long as it’s related to that overall criminal justice problem. You have to document 

that they’re appropriate as you all know, possibly highlight if they’re innovative. We’re looking at 

this problem from a different lens, so to speak. But make sure at the end of the day, and it’s a 

theme throughout the body of questions: Make sure you can make that case that this advances 

knowledge on [a] critical criminal justice issue in the US.

[Time stamp: 1:00:46]

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “If the current salary for students is lower than $35,000 given to the 

university, would the students get the full amount?”

GREGORY DUTTON: So the students’ support is paid as a salary through the university. The 

university is the applicant. The student is being paid through the university. Some universities 

have specific policies and limits to student salary. This is up to the university. We encourage that 
xvi

the university, if possible, give the full $35,000 to the student. But if the university has a policy 

that says otherwise, then that’s up to them to request the student salary amount.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “In the program narrative, should I mention that the research was initially 

proposed to NIJ and not the GRF?”

GREGORY DUTTON: If the research project was initially proposed under another NIJ program, you 

could certainly mention that. That would be helpful but not required.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “For students of co-chairs of their committees, are multiple letters of 

support required, and how do PI and co-PI roles work?”

ERIC MARTIN: If you have co-chairs, we need at least one letter. If you want to give two, that 

would be fine. We encourage the student to be identified as the PI because they’re the primary 

researcher here. Some universities don’t allow that, so then we suggest the committee chair or 

adviser be named as PI and the student be named as co-PI, or just graduate researcher.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “How many publications are necessary? How much weight is placed on 

previous publications?”

ERIC MARTIN: So this varies by field. In some fields, it’s very common for students, at an early 

stage, to start getting published and be part of publications. In other fields, it’s not. So there is no 

requirement and I think it depends on the field. The reviewers will be from those fields, and they’ll 

have a good sense of whether a student has a reasonable scholarly output or not for their field.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “Aside from adviser’s letters of support, can we add additional support 

letters, such as letters from institutions where the project would take place?”

GREGORY DUTTON: If it’s necessary to show the involvement of another institution or a third 

party that’s really critical for making the project happen, then yes. Otherwise, no, it’s not 

necessary.

ERIC MARTIN: One thing I do want to add to that: We often see, and this is applicable to GRF and 

then other NIJ projects that we fund, if you are relying on a separate institution for access to data 

such as a police department or a service provider, to the extent possible, I would try, before

application, to get as robust a letter of support or even [have] an MOU in hand at the time of 

application. It is not required, as Greg said. I don’t want to confuse anyone: This is not a 

requirement. But it is definitely seen as a value to have some kind of statement from a 

participating institution that they are willing to support your research and are willing to work with 

your academic institution to see that your research is conducted. This comes up quite a bit in our 

discussions not only of GRF but of, you know, all of the NIJ programs that I’m a part of. Thank you.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “Will there be a balance between awards given to SBS versus STEM field, 

even though SBS applications seem to be more prominent?”
xvii

GREGORY DUTTON: We do strive for balance, and we think with the volume of applications that 

we’ve had, we will get that balance. I noted that [projects] that were labeled as social and 

behavioral sciences would probably fall under forensic science and physical sciences. So, we had a 

pretty good split on the volume of applications last year and we anticipate that again.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “I hope to begin data collection this summer. Am I able to include the

costs of my interviews and travel in my budget overview?”

GREGORY DUTTON: You would not be able to include costs for work before the project started, 

no.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “The appendix section of the solicitation asks for a list of any previous and 

current NIJ awards to the applicant and investigator. Does the investigator mean the committee 

chair and research adviser?”

ERIC MARTIN: Yes. I would say anyone attached as PI or co-PI would fall under that.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “Is feedback provided after the evaluation process for both accepted and 

not accepted proposals?”

GREGORY DUTTON: Yes. Unsuccessful applicants get their peer review comments back right away, 

typically in October. Successful applicants, we try to get the comments back to them because it 

can be helpful feedback as well. That might take a little longer.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “Is there a page limit for the program narrative?”

GREGORY DUTTON: I think the page limit we give this year is 15 pages. Is that correct?

ERIC MARTIN: That’s correct, Greg. One thing I would say is you can include tables and charts in 

the appendices if you choose. There’s no real preference [for] in-text or [in the appendices], but

the page limit is 15 pages, and the external peer review panels are instructed that they do not 

have to review anything over 15 pages. But any appendices do not count towards that page limit.

As you see in the solicitation, there’s a list of recommended and required appendices, and they’ll 

say not included in the 15 pages. The 15 pages is the text of your proposal narrative.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “If you spent time at multiple undergraduate universities, do you need 

transcripts from everywhere that you attended?”

GREGORY DUTTON: I think reviewers would like to see all of your undergraduate background. I

think you should just try to make sure that all your undergraduate work is accounted for in the 

transcripts. Now, it could be that the final institution where you ended up reflects on its 

transcript, your previous credits at the others, so that may be sufficient.
xviii

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “Do you need transcripts from community college courses if a degree was 

not received?”

GREGORY DUTTON: Again, you should just try to account for all of your background. If those were 

credits that were accepted by a university later for your undergraduate degree, these might 

already be reflected on the final transcript from the other institution. You might not need to 

include the community college transcript.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “Are non-profit university students allowed to participate?”

GREGORY DUTTON: Non-profit university students? I’m not sure exactly what that’s getting at, but 

the university just needs to be a Department of Education-accredited university in the US or its 

territories.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: We’re going to spend another five minutes answering as many of the 

remaining questions as possible.

“If there is a project that is similar to a previously funded project, would this be acceptable?”

GREGORY DUTTON: It certainly could be, but it would be reviewed on its own merit.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “How much weight is given to undergraduate grades when reviewing 

applications?”

GREGORY DUTTON: I don’t know that I could say. Imagine the perspective of the reviewer. So 

they’re going to want to look at the background of the student in general. Undergraduate grades 

would be one piece of that, but I don’t think it would be overwhelmingly significant, especially if 

you show graduate grades that may be better.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “I’m looking to conduct research in a school setting. Are letters of support 

for specific schools, school districts, et cetera, required as part of the application?”

GREGORY DUTTON: It’s not required, but in that case, if coordination with those schools is really 

critical for this research, then it might be helpful to the reviewers to see that.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “To clarify, if an applicant applied during this cycle and was funded, would 

it be required that their dissertation proposal be passed by January 1, 2021?”

GREGORY DUTTON: No. Definitely not required. So you can apply now. The earliest that the 

fellowship could start is January 1st, 2021. It doesn’t have to start then. It can start later. And if 

you haven’t defended your dissertation topic, and if you haven’t done it by January 1st, then the 

fellowship would just wait on hold until you did get your topic approved, and then the funding 

could start. But no, you don’t have to have it approved by that date. That’s the earliest that the 
xix

fellowship could start. We can’t dictate a timeline on your graduate work, so we try to work with 

you in your own timeline.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “Funding acceptances from the National Science Foundation, GRFP, and 

the Ford Fellowship are released in March-April. If accepted from multiple graduate fellowships, 

can only one be received? How does it work when NIJ Fellowship is announced much later than 

the others?”

GREGORY DUTTON: It’s unfortunate with the timeline of our funding opportunities that we have 

to be out of sync with the other fellowship programs. You cannot receive duplication in funding. 

You couldn’t take an NSF, GRFP, and an NIJ GRF at the same time. You are required to disclose if 

you’ve already received another fellowship or if you’ve applied to another fellowship program. 

Even if you haven’t got an answer yet from the other fellowship program, you do need to let us 

know that you’ve applied, so that if we do award you a fellowship, we can work that out with the 

other federal funding agencies.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “Can the dissertation proposal timeline be reviewed again?”

ERIC MARTIN: The application package is due on April 15th. Once all the applications come in, NIJ 

staff review for critical elements and responsiveness, and then the external peer review panels 

are paneled, applications are sent there, we discuss the results of the external peer review panel 

with those panelists, and then of the high-quality applications, we discuss them internally and 

make funding recommendations. Those recommendations will be decided upon by the NIJ 

Director, usually around early July, and then that starts the Office of Justice Programs funding 

process that NIJ reports to. The staff within the grant-making offices there will interface with the 

successful university applicants, and they will have an opportunity to accept awards that are 

offered. Once that happens, all awards will be made public by September 30th of this year.

GREGORY DUTTON: These are the firm dates that we have. Yes, all awards will be announced by 

September 30th. If you don’t hear that you’ve been offered a fellowship by September 30th, get 

in touch with your university. The notice will go to your university, so first, get in touch in them.

And letters for non-awarded applicants are typically sent out about a week after September 30th.

But if you’re not hearing, get in touch with your university to check if they’ve had a notice.

ERIC MARTIN: That’s a good point, Greg.

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: “To clarify the question about salary: Is the student paid for not doing 

anything but working on their dissertation, or does the department use this money to pay the 

student to teach?”

GREGORY DUTTON: The same salary is for them to work on their dissertation research and 

writing. It’s for the student doing the research. It doesn’t go to the department. They’re not 

expected to teach. This is so that you can put all of your effort into your dissertation research.
xx

MARY JO GIOVACCHINI: If you feel that your question hasn’t been addressed and you would like a 

specific answer to it, please submit it to NCJRS, again, that is NCJRS, the National Criminal Justice 

Reference Service, and you can email them at grants@ncjrs.gov.

GREGORY DUTTON: So that concludes the webinar. Thank you, everyone.

ERIC MARTIN: Thank you.
NIJ Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF)

2020 Program Overview

February 4, 2020 | 1:00 PM EST

The webinar will begin shortly
NIJ Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF)

2020 Program Overview

Today’s Presenters: 

Gregory Dutton, Office of Investigative and Forensic Sciences, National Institute of Justice

Eric D. Martin, Office of Research, Evaluation, and Technology, National Institute of Justice

Joe Heaps, Senior Physical Scientist

Solicitation: NIJ-2020-17332

Posting Date: Jan. 17, 2020

Closing Date: Apr. 15, 2020 11:59 PM EDT

2
www.nij.gov/GRF

Webinar Topics

1. GRF Program Overview

2. Recent Changes

3. How to Apply

3
Who we are:

• NIJ is the research, development, and evaluation agency of

the U.S. Department of Justice

Our mission: 

• Improving knowledge and understanding of crime and justice

issues through science

National Institute of Justice (NIJ)

www.nij.gov/GRF 4
Program Goal:

• Support the development of new researchers addressing

the challenges of crime and justice in the U.S.

Previously two program tracks:

• Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS)

• Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM)

NIJ’s Graduate Research Fellowship (GRF)

www.nij.gov/GRF 5
Eligibility

Student: 

• Enrolled full-time in a PhD program in the sciences or engineering

• Dissertation topic is relevant to crime or criminal justice in the U.S.

University:

• Accredited institution in the U.S. or its territories

The university applies on behalf of the student

www.nij.gov/GRF 6
Fellowship Terms

Up to $50,000/year for up to 3 years:

• $35,000 annual student salary

• $12,000 annual cost of education allowance

• $3,000 annually for research expenses

www.nij.gov/GRF 7
Fellowship Terms

These are one time awards:

• Total amount needed must be requested up front

Annual requirements:

• Progress report

• Verification of enrollment

• Committee chair statement of progress

Final Deliverable:

• Defended dissertation

www.nij.gov/GRF 8
Recent Program History

www.nij.gov/GRF

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

2012

2013

2014

2015

2016

2017

2018

2019

GRF Applications by Degree Fields

Physical Sciences Life Sciences Engineering Social Sciences

GRF-STEM 

program initiated 

in 2014 to 

increase 

participation of 

students from 

physical and life 

sciences and 

engineering.

9
Recent Program History

www.nij.gov/GRF

Primary

Program

Class.

Physical Sciences

Life Sciences

Engineering

Social Sciences

There have been GRF Fellows 2012 - 2019

over 

150 fellows 

from over 

60 institutions 

since 2012

10
Examples of Recent Fellows

Mawia

Khogali

2017 Fellow

John Jay

Dissertation project: 

Officers’ and Community Members’ 

Evaluations of Police-Civilian 

Interactions

Elizabeth 

Webster

2017 Fellow

Rutgers 

UniversityNewark

Dissertation project: 

Post Conviction Mentality: Prosecutorial 

Assistance as a Pathway to Exoneration

www.nij.gov/GRF Click on “Featured Fellows” 11
Brian Klein

2018 Fellow

Michigan State 

University

Dissertation project: 

Pathways to School Shootings: An 

Integrated Developmental and Life 

Course Criminological Approach

Ieke De 

Vries

2018 Fellow

Northeastern 

University

Dissertation project: 

Crime in Public Space and Online 

Domains: Commercial Sex and Sex 

Trafficking in Massage Businesses

Examples of Recent Fellows

www.nij.gov/GRF Click on “Featured Fellows” 12
Caitlin 

Vogelsberg

2017 Fellow

Michigan 

State 

University

Dissertation project: “Increasing identifications 

of deceased border crossers: investigating spatial 

and skeletal attributes of migrant deaths”

Currently: Postdoc at Pima County Office 

of the Medical Examiner

Shady

El Damaty

2016 Fellow

Georgetown 

University

Dissertation project: “Pattern Classification 

of Neurocognitive and Socio-Emotional 

Developmental Factors Underlying Violent 

Outcomes in Adolescents”

Currently: pursuing PhD

www.nij.gov/GRF Click on “Featured Fellows”

Examples of Recent Fellows

13
Christy 

Mancuso, 

PhD

2014 Fellow

University of 

Utah

Dissertation project: “Fingernails as 

Recorders of Region-of-Origin and Travel 

History”

Currently: Postdoc at the 

University of New Mexico

Katherine 

Gettings, PhD

2011 Fellow

George 

Washington 

University

Dissertation project: “Ancestry/Phenotype 

SNP Analysis & Integration with Established 

Forensic Markers”

Currently: Staff Scientist at NIST

www.nij.gov/GRF Click on “Featured Fellows”

Examples of Recent Fellows

14
Annual 

funding 

opportunity

OPEN 

NOW

GRF Solicitation

At least 

20 new 

fellows 

expected 

in 2020

www.nij.ojp.gov/funding/opportunities/nij-2020-17332 15
Program Timeline

GRF 2020 Solicitation 

open 

Jan. 17

to 

Apr. 15

Review

Awards 

announced 

by 

Sept. 30

Awarding 

Fellowships 

can start

Jan. 1, 2021

www.nij.gov/GRF 16
GRF-SBS and GRF-STEM have been merged

• No need for applicant to select which program

• Application requirements (eligibility, documents) standardized

• Fellowship terms now equivalent

Total available funding is unchanged

• $3M anticipated; at least 20 new fellows

Recent Changes to GRF 

www.nij.gov/GRF 17
Six Critical Elements: 

1. Program Narrative

2. Budget Detail Worksheet

3. Verification of Current Enrollment

4. Undergraduate and Graduate Transcripts

5. Statement of Support from Committee Chair

6. CVs or Resumes of Key Personnel

a. Key Personnel are Student and Chair 

www.nij.gov/GRF

Critical Application Elements

18
Programmatic Budget Categories

1. Salary and Fringe Benefits ($35,000/yr.)

• Student salary

• Fringe benefits

• Health insurance

NIJ recommends that the full $35k should be requested

GRF solicitation (p. 10), Federal Award Information 19
Programmatic Budget Categories

2. Cost of Education Allowance (up to $12,000/yr.)

• Tuition

• Student fees

• University administrative or indirect costs

GRF solicitation (p. 10), Federal Award Information 20
Programmatic Budget Categories

3. Research Expenses (up to $3,000/yr.)

• Research supplies

• Instrument time

• Human subjects compensation

• Data collection site travel

• Conference travel

• Professional society membership fees

• Other reasonable, allowable costs

GRF solicitation (p. 10), Federal Award Information 21
1. Review the solicitation for eligibility

2. Contact your university grants office (e.g., Office of Sponsored 

Programs (OSP))

3. Start assembling application materials

a. Write the program narrative 

b. Ask for letter of support

c. Obtain enrollment verification and transcripts

www.nij.gov/GRF

Start the Application Process

22
Application Checklist

Six Critical Elements: 

1. Program Narrative

2. Budget Detail Worksheet

3. Verification of Current Enrollment

4. Undergraduate and Graduate Transcripts

5. Statement of Support from Committee Chair

6. CVs or Resumes of Key Personnel

Application Deadline: April 15, 2020 23
• Dissertation topic approval is not required at time of 

application

• IRB (Institutional Review Board) approval for human 

subjects research is not required at the time of 

application

BUT– fellowship funds will become available only after

these are completed and received by NIJ

Other Application Elements

www.nij.gov/GRF 24
Internal review 

for Eligibility

Internal review for 

Critical Elements

GRF solicitation (p. 20), Review Criteria

Application Review – Initial Review

25
External Review against the Review Criteria!

GRF solicitation (p. 20), Review Criteria

Application Review – Peer Review

26
Statement of the 

Problem and its 

Significance

Project Design and 

Implementation 

Capabilities and 

Competencies 

GRF solicitation (p. 20), Review Criteria

What are the Review Criteria?

27
Helpful Tips

1. Browse past fellows’ abstracts

2. Include preliminary results, if possible

3. Be sure to articulate the relevance to criminal justice

4. Ask others (peers and advisors) to read and comment:

• Concept

• Experimental design

• Proofread for errors

5. Visit the GRF program FAQs at nij.gov/GRF

www.nij.gov/GRF 28
https://nij.ojp.gov/sites/g/files/xyckuh171/files/media/document/grf-flyer.pdf

Spread the News to 

potential applicants

Printable program flyer 

for interested audiences

29
https://nij.ojp.gov/funding/opportunities

Learn about 

NIJ Funding

www.nij.gov/subscribe

Subscribe for notices 

when funding 

opportunities post

30
For More Information

GRF program page: www.nij.gov/GRF

Solicitation: www.nij.ojp.gov/funding/opportunities/nij-2020-17332

GRF FAQs: link at www.nij.gov/GRF

For questions while the solicitation is open, contact:

National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS)

1-800-851-3420 (TTY: 301-240-6310 for hearing impaired only)

Email: grants@ncjrs.gov

Web chat: https://webcontact.ncjrs.gov/ncjchat/chat.jsp 

31