Hi all,

The Institute for Information Literacy is offering another round of research grants due March 31st. Please feel free to share with your colleagues.

Call for Proposals: Institute for Information Literacy at Purdue $4,000 Research Grants (2024-2026)

Purpose

Society faces significant information challenges today, ranging from misinformation campaigns designed to confuse and disempower, to a lack of access to credible information that can have life-altering, disproportionate effects on different communities. Information literacy researchers can make a positive difference in addressing these unwieldy challenges. With generous support from the Esther Ellis Norton Endowment, the Institute for Information Literacy at Purdue (hereinafter referred to as the Institute) invites applications for a two-year research funding program. The Institute will fund research projects that examine complex information challenges within select contexts and aim to develop or enhance information literacy models that enable people to successfully navigate and contribute to today's information environment.

Program Description

Program priorities

The Institute supports and shares innovative, community- or context-specific information literacy research (i.e. healthcare, social media, publishing). As information literacy is interdisciplinary by nature, projects that demonstrate a substantive collaboration between research from different fields (such as psychology or political science and information studies) will be prioritized for funding.

Information literacy research and practice largely focuses on students in educational settings. The Institute seeks to expand knowledge around information literacy within a range of settings; therefore, priority will be given to projects that focus on effective information practices applied in a range of contexts and communities.

Who can apply?

The Institute will offer five $4,000, two-year research awards to information literacy researchers, including current students or post-docs. Applications will be reviewed between April and May, 2024. Funding will be awarded in September, 2024.

Program parameters and expectations

Projects should aim to inform the development or enhancement of an information literacy model or technique that supports individuals, communities, or organizations in using information wisely. Funded researchers will have the opportunity to engage in scholarly dialog with other funded researchers during the funding period. The 2024-26 cohort of researchers can share ideas and methods for advancing information literacy research, share their progress on their research, and receive feedback and advice from one another. Every spring, the Institute hosts the Information and Democracy: Education, Access, Libraries, and Society (ID:EALS) symposium at which the awarded researchers may share their research-in-progress to a broader audience, and outline the new models or techniques developed through the research.

Proposal Process

Applicants must submit a written application for their proposed project consisting of the following:

• A 2-3 page proposal completed with all elements of the supplied proposal template. These elements include: title, team members (including their expertise in subjects relevant to the proposed project), budget information, a statement of benefits for stakeholders, alignment with Institute research award priorities, expected budget and justification, and references cited.
• A 2-page CV for each project team member.

Successful proposals will clearly define the need to examine the particular information challenge in the proposed context and how they aim to carry out the research using an award from the Institute.

Submit your proposal using the template by emailing InstituteIL@purdue.edu with the subject line "IILP Research Grant Proposal" no later than March 31st, 2024. 

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Samantha LeGrand
Clinical Assistant Professor and Instruction and Design Librarian
Purdue University Libraries and School of Information Studies
She/Her/Hers
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