American Sociological Association Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant Program (ASA DDRIG)

The ASA Doctoral Dissertation Research Improvement Grant (ASA DDRIG) program provides support to enhance and improve the quality of doctoral dissertation research in the scientific discipline of sociology. The program was modeled after the former NSF Sociology DDRIG program and has been in place since 2020. The ASA DDRIG promotes the progress of science by identifying and supporting talented doctoral students with exceptional projects that have the potential to advance science and promote the public good.

The emerging generation of sociologists whose work is funded are pursuing questions that are not just interesting, but are original, significant, and needed. These scholars use rigorous social scientific methods to increase knowledge about the social world and inform decision-making and practice on a broad range of contemporary issues including poverty, conflict, crime, and inequality.

As such, the research supported by the ASA DDRIG may contribute to the health, prosperity, and general welfare of our society for generations to come. Removing economic barriers to the production of high-quality, rigorous scientific research at the PhD level is critical for advancing and widening the STEM pipeline. In doing so, the ASA DDRIG program helps contribute to a diverse and globally competitive scientific workforce.

The ASA DDRIG program awards up to 25 grants of up to $16,000 each annually to support theoretically grounded and empirically rigorous sociological research conducted by doctoral students and supported by faculty sponsors. Proposals are reviewed by a panel of PhD sociologists representing a wide range of substantive and methodological expertise. The ASA DDRIG program’s contribution to science is demonstrated in the scientific quality of the funded dissertation projects, and in the program’s influence on knowledge production in the discipline.

Funded projects have the potential to advance sociology by expanding existing theories, filling gaps in knowledge, and making methodological contributions. ASA DDRIG proposals also are evaluated for their potential to contribute to society and their likelihood of advancing desired societal outcomes. In this way, the ASA DDRIG program helps ensure that emerging sociologists design research projects with an eye toward not just creating new understandings of social processes, but doing so in a way that can help inform both decision-making and practice on a wide range of important social issues.

Along with direct financial support, the program provides recipients with access to ASA’s professional development resources and networking opportunities which enhances the impact of the award. Dissertation research is a stage at which an injection of funds and a vote of confidence from the student’s disciplinary association can propel a doctoral student to higher ambitions and greater success.

The reciprocity of effort and influence between the ASA DDRIG program and the association’s support of doctoral education positively influences the quality of training and the production of knowledge far more than either initiative could in isolation.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.