FAQ Listing

Yes, these forms are necessary for all NIJ grants. You should submit them with the application to avoid unnecessary delays in access to fellowship funds. See the guidance at Human Subjects and Privacy Protection and Confidentiality and Privacy Protections for how to properly state that your research does not involve human subjects or that no private data is collected.

The number of GRF awards will depend on the availability of funds and quality of applications. Refer to the current year's notice of funding opportunity for an estimate of program funds for that year.

 Also see a list of past GRF awards.

Independent external review panels evaluate all responsive GRF proposals. Reviewers from across the social, physical, and life sciences and engineering are chosen for their scientific expertise and experience in advising graduate students. These external reviewers assess the merits of each application against the specific review criteria outlined in the notice of funding opportunity.

Peer review results are presented to the NIJ Director, who has the final authority to make awards. NIJ strives to fund as many quality fellowship applications as possible, given available funding.

The application review process, including peer review, decision-making and other considerations, may take up to six months. All notices of award are anticipated to be made no later than September 30. Notices of award and non-award are sent by email to the university Authorized Representative, Entity Administrator, and Application Submitter identified in the application. These are typically Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) administrators, so students are encouraged to maintain communication with their OSP.

GRF grants require:

• Quarterly financial reports from the university.
• Annual performance reports. See the NIJ guidance for following the RPPR format. Typically, the student drafts the report, the committee chair reviews, and the Grant Administrator (often a university Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) official) submits.
• A copy of the defended dissertation and a list of scholarly products. 

NIJ recognizes that it is not uncommon for universities to allow, or even require, enrollment in a reduced credit load in the advanced stages of a degree program. To accommodate this practice, NIJ GRF does not require full-time enrollment during the fellowship term. But please note that the fellowship may only draw funds while the student is actively enrolled in the degree program and carrying out research toward their dissertation. Nevertheless, NIJ recognizes that maintaining career-life balance may sometimes require the temporary suspension of active research. Should such circumstances arise, including child birth, adoption, dependent care, elder care, and serious illness, the NIJ grant manager should be notified with a request approved by the university’s authorized representative. Award funds may be temporarily suspended, and the award period extended at no cost, at the discretion of NIJ.

NIJ doesn’t prohibit fellows from obtaining additional employment. Nevertheless, the intent of the program is that fellowship support should allow the student to devote primary effort to the dissertation research. Students should check whether their universities have policies limiting outside employment while receiving fellowship funds.

Yes, a student can receive other awards or stipends. However, any other funding or support must be disclosed (e.g., research or teaching assistantships, positions held under an advisor's grant, other private or government fellowships, grants, stipends). NIJ may seek to avoid duplicative funding, if appropriate.

No. Fellowship stipend funds may be used to support only the originally reviewed and awarded GRF fellow and are not transferable to any other student. 

However, limited compensation for a research assistant to support the proposed project may be allowable under the Research Expenses allowance.

Doctoral students who have already started their dissertation research are encouraged to apply. Any student enrolled full-time in a qualifying research doctorate program and proposing a dissertation topic with relevance to criminal justice may apply at any stage in their graduate career. 

If a student’s dissertation committee has already accepted the dissertation topic proposed in the GRF application, the student would be eligible for release of fellowship funds as soon as all other administrative requirements are met. Commencing research before submitting an application or while the application is under review does not necessarily impact the likelihood of receiving an award.