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CCT Consortium Grants – Call for Proposals

Consumer Culture Theory Consortium (CCTC) Funds for Research Workshops in 2020-2021

[DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSIONS: JULY 31, 2020]

CCTC is pleased to announce availability of funds to CCTC members for conducting research workshops. CCTC will allocate a total of $10,000 for a series of workshops during 2020-2021 (ideally to be held between Dec. 2020-May 2021). Each workshop should expect to receive approximately $2000 in support.

Purpose

The key purpose of this funding is to provide seed money to cover workshop costs. Given that we were unable to host the annual CCT conference in 2020, we initiated this grant program to encourage a series of regional gatherings (once social distancing restrictions are lifted and it’s safe to return to this format) to share research, provide feedback, and expand our intellectual community. Workshops can take on a variety of formats, including but not limited to, invited speakers, mini-conferences, doctoral student development, and project workshopping. Our hope is that these local research workshops may continue in the future, with this initial seed money as an impetus to get you started. To this end, we encourage you to use CCTC sponsorship to attract funds from other granting agencies or host institutions. In turn, grantees must acknowledge funding support from CCTC in any subsequent publications or press communications associated with the initial workshop.

Covered Expenses

CCTC grants are designed to support workshops where the focus is consumer culture theory research and attendance is open to all (i.e., invitation-only conferences are ineligible; it is permissible, however, to limit the size of the event). The grants are intended to cover key elements of organizing and conducting such workshops and will not be given directly to participants of the workshop. That is, the funding provided is not for support of individual research projects or dissertations. Workshop organizers can use these funds to cover expenses including logistics (e.g., A/V services, room rental, catering), software (to manage the application/review process), and expenses related to any deliverables (e.g., videos, proceedings). Please note that CCTC policies explicitly prohibit the purchase of alcohol with grant funds. CCTC funding for workshops is typically $2,000. Smaller or larger amounts may be requested, but grants much larger than $2,000 are generally unlikely.

Proposal Format

The format for a funding proposal is as follows (maximum 3 single-spaced pages):

1. Workshop title and logistics (date, location, anticipated schedule, estimated number of participants)
2. Information about the organizers (names, email addresses, institutions, statement confirming that the organizers are current CCTC members, short bios <100 words)
3. Description of the workshop objectives and target audience
4. A detailed budget with an explanation of exactly how the grant funds will be used
5. Expected outcomes (e.g., any plans for posting videos, live streaming, proceedings)

If you receive CCTC funds, you will be expected to file a short (maximum 2 pages) post-conference report of the workshop outcomes.

Grant requests should be sent as a single email attachment (preferably as a PDF file) to CCTC Executive Secretary cctexecsec@gmail.com. Questions can also be sent to the CCTC Executive Secretary.

Proposal Evaluation Criteria

Each proposal will be reviewed by the CCTC board.  Final decisions are made by the CCTC board (its members are listed on the CCTC website). The criteria for selection include:

(1) the potential contribution for generating new consumer culture theory research;

(2) the number of expected participants (i.e., proposals for workshops with larger expected audiences will be given greater weight in the evaluation process);

(3) the ability of the workshop to improve the visibility of consumer culture theory research among important stakeholders and/or to bring in new voices;

(4) the qualifications of the organizers, and outcomes from prior events, if any;

(5) clearly defined goals and outcomes for the workshop (e.g., journal special issue, doctoral student training, research collaborations).

The CCTC board will review proposals and notify the organizers of decisions by September 30, 2020.