Open Call: Switzer Research Fellowships Program (United States)

Fellows must conduct original research in an area authorized by Section 204 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. Section 204 authorizes research toward knowledge, methods, procedures, or rehabilitation technology that maximizes the full inclusion and integration into society, employment, independent living, family support, and economic and social self-sufficiency of people with disabilities, especially those with the highest support needs.

For Switzer Research Fellowships, NIDILRR wishes to receive applications from qualified individuals whose areas of interest fall within the scope of NIDILRR’s outcome domains of community living and participation, health and function, and employment.

NIDILRR is particularly interested in receiving Switzer Research Fellowship applications from investigators with disabilities, and investigators from communities that are underrepresented in the extramural scientific workforce. Communities underrepresented in the extramural scientific workforce include Blacks/African Americans, Hispanics/Latinos, American Indians and Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians, and other Pacific Islanders (National Institutes of Health, 2020).

Funding Information

• Estimated Total Funding: $520,000
• Award Ceiling: $90,000
• Award Floor: $80,000
• Length of Project Period: 12-month project period and budget period

Outcome Domain 

• Applicants must propose to conduct an original research project that is ultimately aimed at improving outcomes among people with disabilities in one or more of the following outcome domains:
  • Community Living and Participation
  • Employment
  • Health and Function

Eligibility Criteria

• No entities are eligible for this award, only individuals are eligible to apply. If you are a non-USA citizen, you must provide documentation that you are eligible to receive research funding directly from an agency of the United States government.
• Only individuals are eligible to apply for NIDILRR Switzer Research Fellowship grants. Institutions and organizations may not apply. Because the individual person rather than their institution is the applicant, the person who seeks the Fellowship signs the forms included in the application. Representatives of institutions do not sign anywhere on the application forms.
• Applicants must: have training and experience that indicate a potential for engaging in scientific research related to improving the outcomes of individuals with disabilities.
• The program provides two categories of Fellowships: Merit Fellowships and Distinguished Fellowships.
  • To be eligible for a Merit Fellowship, individuals must be in the earlier stages of a career in research and have advanced professional training and/or experience in independent study in an area which is directly pertinent to disability and rehabilitation.
  • To be eligible for a Distinguished Fellowship, individuals must have seven or more years of research experience in subject areas, methods, and/or techniques relevant to disability and rehabilitation research and must have a doctorate, other terminal degree, or comparable academic qualifications.
• Because the award is made to the individual rather than their institution, institutional indirect costs may not be deducted from the award. Fellowship funds are taxable income.
• Fellows must not, during the duration of the Fellowship award performance period, be direct recipients of Federal government grant funds in addition to those provided by the Fellowship grant. Fellows may, subject to compliance with their institution’s policy on additional employment, be the principal investigator of, or otherwise work on, Federal grants awarded to the Fellow’s institution.
• Potential applicants who receive certain Federal and state benefits are cautioned that acceptance of a Fellowship may adversely affect their eligibility for services such as In-Home Supportive Services under Supplemental Security Income Section 1619. This has occurred in the past because Fellowships are awarded directly to individuals rather than host institutions, and this can affect determinations of employment and income status.
• Potential applicants who are not U.S. residents are cautioned that acceptance of a Fellowship may adversely affect their immigration or non- immigrant visa status. If you are not a citizen of the U.S., you may not be eligible to receive research funding directly from an agency of the U.S. government. Successful applicants who are not eligible to receive research funding directly from the U.S. government will not receive the Fellowship.

Application Requirements 

• Include the following information in your application in the form of an Eligibility and Background Statement:
  • How you meet the requirements for either the Merit level or the Distinguished level of this Fellowship.
  • How you will schedule the proposed research activities so that they can be completed in a one-year project period. NIDILRR expects Switzer Research Fellows to complete their proposed research projects within a one-year project period.
  • A statement of whether or not you are a citizen of the U.S. If you are not a U.S. citizen, describe your status as a visitor to the U.S. and explain how that status permits you to accept this fellowship. Document your eligibility to receive research funding directly from an agency of the U.S. government. Include this documentation as an appendix.  This documentation may include, for example, a photocopy of the pertinent section of your visa documentation, a passage from an official federal description of your type of visa, or a letter from the sponsor of your visa.
  • If applicable, information about your disability status, or your background as a member of one or more communities that are underrepresented in the extramural scientific workforce.

Screening Criteria 

• All applications will be screened for eligibility and will be rejected if they:
  • Are submitted after the deadline;
  • Request funding that exceeds $90,000 for Distinguished Fellowships or $80,000 for Merit Fellowships;
  • Propose a project period that exceeds 12 months;
  • Are submitted by an institution or organization rather than an individual person.

For more information, visit Grants.gov.