Grants / Department of Justice / National Institute of Justice

O-NIJ-2021-171008: W.E.B. Du Bois Program of Research on Reducing Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Justice System, Fiscal Year 2021

Closed Closed December 30, 2021 Opportunity O-NIJ-2021-171008 ☆ Save

This grant is closed. A newer notice from the same program is open now: NIJ FY 2026 Research and Evaluation on Violent Crime: Gangs and Organized Criminal Groups (Domestic and Transnational) (O-NIJ-2026-172806). Status: Closes November 30, 2026 (23 days left). It is in our archive of National Institute of Justice notices from 2021.

• Award ceiling$3.0 million
• Total funding$3.0 million
• Expected awards8
• Cost sharingNot required
• Funding typeGrant

Key dates

Who can apply

This opportunity was open to nonprofits, colleges and universities, state and local governments, tribes, small businesses and businesses.

For purposes of this solicitation, the term “State” means any State of the United States, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, the Virginia Islands, Guam, American Samoa, and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Foreign governments, foreign organizations, and foreign colleges and universities are not eligible to apply. Federal agencies are eligible to apply. (Any award made to a federal agency will be made as an inter-agency reimbursable agreement.) To advance Executive Order 13929 Safe Policing for Safe Communities, as of October 28, 2020, the Attorney General determined that all state, local, and university or college law enforcement agencies must be certified by an approved independent credentialing body or have started the certification process to be allocated FY 2021 DOJ discretionary grant funding, as either a recipient or a subrecipient. For detailed information on this new certification requirement, please visit https://cops.usdoj.gov/SafePolicingEO. All recipients and subrecipients (including any for-profit organization) must forgo any profit or management fee.

More grants for nonprofits, colleges and universities, state and local governments, tribes, small businesses, businesses.

Is this a realistic fit?

• Past National Institute of Justice Research, Evaluation, and Development Project Grants awards averaged $596,032; this notice allows up to $3.0 million per award.
• Most of the program's money (45% over five years) went to colleges and universities.
• No cost sharing or match is required.

What the grant funds

The Department of Justice is committed to advancing work that promotes civil rights, increases access to justice, supports crime victims, protects the public from crime and evolving threats, and builds trust between law enforcement and the community. The W.E.B. Du Bois Program supports quantitative and quantitative research that furthers the Department's mission by advancing knowledge regarding the intersections of race, crime, violence, and the administration of justice within the United States. In FY 2021 under the W.E.B. Program, NIJ seeks applications for funding of investigator-initiated research examining how observed racial and ethnic disparities in the justice system might be reduced through public policy interventions at any point during the administration of justice. NIJ seeks applications for funding from two categories of researchers: W.E.B. Du Bois Scholars - Researchers who are advanced in their careers (awarded a terminal degree at least seven years prior to December 31, 2021) may apply for grants for research, evaluation, and mentoring less-experienced researchers. W.E.B. Du Bois Fellows - Researchers who are early in their careers (awarded a terminal degree within seven years of December 31, 2021) may apply for grants for research and evaluation. Under this solicitation, NIJ will only consider applications for research on public policy interventions that may reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the justice system. Prospective applicants from all racial and ethnic backgrounds are eligible to apply to the W.E.B. Du Bois Program. Researchers of color and women are strongly encouraged to apply. Applications must identify under which Category a proposal is submitted. NIJ will accept proposals to examine how observed racial and ethnic disparities in the justice system might be reduced through public policy in either the criminal and juvenile justice context or both. Although not required, NIJ encourages applicants to consider researcher-practitioner partnerships in responding to this solicitation. Research can provide practical solutions to the obstacles faced by criminal justice practitioners as they work to reduce racial and ethnic disparities. Through these partnerships, criminal justice practitioners can independently assess their programs and measure outcomes.

Category: Science and Technology and other Research and Development.

Applying now

This notice no longer takes applications. Apply under the newer notice, O-NIJ-2026-172806, which is open now.

The notice on Grants.gov keeps its full text and attachments, which is useful for planning a resubmission.