Faculty Research Grants

Faculty Research Grants is sponsored by Institute for Humane Studies (IHS). IHS provides funding for faculty and other scholars whose work engages foundational questions about the norms and institutions of a free society, challenges and tensions within them, and the drivers of abundance and human flourishing.

Expense Support | Institute for Humane Studies The Hayek Fund provides grants of $500 to $5,000 to faculty at accredited colleges and universities conducting research within the classical liberal tradition. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis; applicants typically hear back within six weeks. Applications must be submitted at least six weeks before the expense is incurred.

Support for Faculty Expenses Research often hinges on timely opportunities—presenting at a conference, accessing an archive, purchasing a dataset, collaborating with a research assistant, or preparing a manuscript for submission. Expense Support helps offset these targeted costs, so your work can move forward without delay.

We support rigorous scholarship that contributes meaningfully to ongoing academic conversations about political, economic, intellectual, and cultural freedom. Awarded faculty retain full independence over research design, analysis, and publication. This opportunity is open to faculty members actively engaged in research within the liberal tradition at any accredited college or university.

Priority is given to research connected to IHS initiatives or scholarly communities, projects with clearly articulated publication or dissemination plans, and proposals that demonstrate meaningful contributions to ongoing academic conversations.

Preference will be given to proposals aligned with IHS’s current research priorities: the political and legal foundations of liberal democracy; economic freedom and the policy conditions for abundance; and the institutional design questions that make self-government stable and effective.

Eligibility & Application Criteria Travel and Research Activities: travel for conference presentations and archival research; research collaboration such as hiring a research assistant. Data and Research Materials: purchase of datasets; LLM subscriptions for specialized research sources. Publishing and Dissemination: journal submission fees; book publication expenses such as copyediting or indexing; preparation of research manuscripts.

Living expenses, hardware purchases, retroactive expenses, conference travel without a scheduled presentation, and institutional overhead or indirect costs. If you are unsure whether a specific expense qualifies, please refer to our Funding FAQ or contact us for clarification. Can I apply for Expense Support more than once?

Yes. Previous recipients are welcome to apply for subsequent projects. Each application is reviewed on its own merits.

Is there a limit on how much I can request for a research assistant? There is no fixed cap, but requests should be proportionate to the project scope and clearly tied to defined research tasks. Include a brief description of the assistant’s role in your budget.

Can I use the grant for a conference I’ve already registered for? No. Retroactive expenses are not eligible. Applications should be submitted before the expense is incurred.

Can independent scholars without institutional affiliation apply? Applicants should be affiliated with an accredited college or university. Independent scholars are generally not eligible, though exceptions may be considered for exceptional projects.

Free Society Grants for Undergraduate Programming Support for undergraduate programming grounded in the liberal tradition. Academic Mentorship Program Year-long research collaboration with a faculty mentor. Targeted funding for research aligned with current institutional priorities.

Connect to people, ideas, and opportunities—tailored to what you care about most. I'm interested in: Ways to support IHS's work Resources and opportunities for scholars Ideas and essays on freedom and human flourishing