The 2018 Kauffman Dissertation Fellowship (KDF) Request for Proposals is available online, and proposals are being accepted by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation through August 16, 2017. The Kauffman Foundation will award up to 20 Dissertation Fellowship grants of $20,000 each to Ph.D., D.B.A. or other doctoral students for the support of dissertations from a wide range of fields on topics related to entrepreneurship.

QUALIFICATIONS: This competitive fellowship is open to students seeking doctoral degrees from accredited U.S. institutions of higher education, and is intended for students who are in the process of formulating their dissertation proposals, as well as doctoral candidates with recently approved dissertation proposals. It is expected that applicants will complete their dissertations by the conclusion of the 2018-2019 academic year.

TOPICS: While dissertations can be written on any topic of importance to entrepreneurship, the Kauffman Foundation is particularly interested in regional dynamics and local ecosystems, demographic dimensions of entrepreneurship, economic growth, entrepreneurship policy, declining business dynamism, future of work, and programmatic research.

APPLICATION PROCEDURE: Graduate students interested in applying for the Kauffman Dissertation Fellowship can find the Request for Proposals online at http://www.kauffman.org/kdf. All proposals must be submitted via the online application by 5:00 p.m. Central on Wednesday, August 16, 2017. Please direct all questions to kdf@kauffman.org

Recipients may use the grant to pay for costs associated with their dissertation, including data collection and analysis, databases, specialized hardware/software, course buyouts and travel.

ABOUT THE KDF: The KDF is one of three academic recognition programs established by the Kauffman Foundation as part of Kauffman Entrepreneurship Scholars (formerly Kauffman Emerging Scholars), an initiative that aids the Foundation in achieving its goal of building a body of respected entrepreneurship research and making entrepreneurship a highly regarded academic field. More information on the Kauffman Entrepreneurship Scholars can be found here: http://www.kauffman.org/what-we-do/programs/entrepreneurship/entrepreneurship-scholars