The American Educational Research Association (AERA) is a national research society that strives to advance knowledge about education; to encourage scholarly inquiry related to education; and to promote the use of research to improve education and serve the public good. AERA was founded in 1916 and is concerned with improving the educational process by encouraging scholarly inquiry related to education and evaluation and by promoting the dissemination and practical application of research results. AERA defines education research as the scientific field of study that examines education and learning processes and the human attributes, interactions, organizations, and institutions that shape educational outcomes. Scholarship in the field seeks to describe, understand, and explain how learning takes place throughout a person’s life and how formal and informal contexts of education affect all forms of learning. Education research embraces the full spectrum of rigorous methods appropriate to the questions being asked and also drives the development of new tools and methods.
Early Career Research Fellowship and Funding Opportunities
The AERA–National Science Foundation (NSF) collaboration for grants was founded in 1990. Since 2010, they have funded 300+ dissertation and small grants awards. These grants supported the use of large-scale data, fostered an infrastructure for data innovation, and supported foundational and fundamental research across the life span of relevance to STEM education and learning and US education policy and practice. Products include: dissertations, peer-reviewed journal publications, book chapters, and policy reports. AERA’s major grants are as follows:
| Grant Name | Brief Description | Funding Amount/Duration | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minority Dissertation Fellowship | Funds can be used for tuition, institution fees, books, living expenses, equipment, travel, supplies, software, and expenses directly related to conducting research. Graduate students will be at the writing stage of their dissertation by the beginning of the fellowship. The dissertation study must focus on an education research topic below. Please Note: Fellows are required to provide proof of advancement to candidacy at the beginning of the award period. Present Research at Invited AERA Annual Meeting Poster Session. AERA Minority Fellows Mentoring and Career Development Workshop: The workshop focuses on topics such as making the transition from graduate school to a postdoctoral program, faculty position, or a career in applied research. Minority is defined as members of racial/ethnic groups currently underrepresented in education research, (e.g., African Americans, Hispanics or Latinos, Asian Americans, American Indians or Alaska Natives, and Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islanders) | $25,000 Stipend 1 yr. Non-renewable | Nov. 9, 2026 |
| AERA-NSF Dissertation Grant | Funding supports advanced doctoral students • Small research conference focus on research methods and career development • AERA Annual Meeting Poster Session • Capstone Institute – publishing and communicating research. | $27,500 1 yr. | May 20, 2026 Another cycle most likely coming out this year. |
| AERA-NSF Research Grant | Funding supports the university, faculty, and postdoctoral researchers. Applicants are expected to use the following: Federally supported Data Sets, State Longitudinal Administrative Data Systems (SLDS), and Statistical Techniques and Analysis. | $35,000 2 yrs. | May 20, 2026 Another cycle most likely coming out this year. |
| Capacity Building Efforts | Include the following: • professional development workshops • networking with peers & senior scholars • manuscript development & review support • training in quantitative and qualitative research methods • use of large scale designed data and “big data” • linked data and other data innovations • statistical analysis techniques • mentoring activities • small research conferences • AERA annual meeting |
AERA’s Research Topics Onclude Timely Education Issues Like the Following
- Student achievement at all levels
- Parental involvement
- History of Education
- Mathematics and science education
- STEM education and STEM learning
- Machine Learning and AI in STEM
- Higher education
- School organization and finance
- Methods
- Policies and practices related to student achievement and assessment
External Fellowship and Funding Opportunities
- American Anthropological Association Fellowships
- American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellowships
- American Association of University Women Educational Funding and Awards
- American Psychological Association Sources of Funding
- American Sociological Association Grants and Fellowships
- American Statistical Association Awards and Scholarships
- Ford Foundation Grants
- LASER Institute 2023 Cohort
- Lumina Foundation Grants
- National Center for Education Statistics Funding Opportunities
- National Science Foundation Funding
- National Academy of Education/ Spencer Foundation Fellowships
- Society for Research in Child Development Awards and Research Grants
- USAID Research Technical Assistance Center Research Network