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Brass Research Grant Award, Reference and User Services Association

Posted February 11, 2026

Description

The BRASS Research Grant Award will be awarded to an individual or team seeking support to conduct research in business librarianship. One $2,000* award will be presented.

This award is sponsored by RUSA.

*Monetary award amounts are subject to change without notice and are contingent upon donor funding supplied at the time the award is presented.

Qualifications

The BRASS Research Grant Award will be awarded to an individual or team seeking support to conduct research in business librarianship. Individual applicants (or at least one member of a collaborative team) must be a member of ALA.

Recipient Responsibilties:

  1. The project must be completed within 3 years upon receipt of the award. A yearly project status report and a final project completion report is required to be submitted to the current committee chair.
  2. The recipient(s) will be required to acknowledge the BRASS Research Grant when publishing or presenting their research.
  3. The funds may be used at the discretion of the award recipient(s), but it needs to be aligned with the budget table in the proposal.
  4. The recipient(s) is/are encouraged to share the project results with the business librarian community at available ALA-BRASS venues or at other related venues.
  5. If the project cannot be completed within 3 years, the recipient(s) should notify the current committee chair.
  6. If the project is published, recipient(s) is/are encouraged to provide a citation or link to the current committee chair.

How to Apply

Applicants must submit a detailed proposal including

  1. Project significance and objectives. Explain how this research will benefit the business librarianship profession or how the research will help the profession address some trending or challenging issues and identify specific objectives.
  2. Project scope. Describe the scope of proposed research project and how this project either expands or fills a gap of the existing literature. Proposal should include a preliminary literature review.
  3. Methodology and qualification of researcher(s). Explain the design, procedure, creative process or methodology of this project and the competency of the researcher(s) in completing this project.
  4. Procedures and an estimated timetable. Identify specific activities needed to achieve these objectives and an estimated timetable to successfully complete these activities.
  5. Budget table — the applicant must submit a budget and include all costs that can be specifically identified.
    • Budget items include, but are not limited to:
      • Books and/or other materials needing to be purchased
      • Conference expenses such as airfare, hotel, and registration
      • The budget must be completed to the best of the applicant’s ability for the committee to evaluate.
      • Open access publication fee
      • Online training courses such as Coursera
      • Project incentives such as gift cards
      • Surveys to be conducted
      • Travel expenses (e.g. accessing materials; meeting with survey participants; meeting with data experts)
    • The budget table should include four categories with descriptions:
      • Budgeted item
      • Description
      • Justification
      • Estimated Cost
    • The budget must be completed to the best of the applicant’s ability for the committee to evaluate.
  6. The budget must be completed to the best of the applicant’s ability for the committee to evaluate.
  7. Project outcomes. Describe the outcomes of this project and how it will impact the business librarianship community.
  8. Project dissemination. Explain how the work will be disseminated and, to the best of your estimation, when the project will be disseminated to the business librarian community or other stakeholders.
  9. Curriculum Vitae/Resume of each applicant(s).

The deadline for proposal submission is February 20, 2026.

To submit a proposal, please complete the BRASS Research Grant Award nomination form.

Questions should be directed to the committee chair, Jiebei Luo, [email protected].

Scholarship