Matrix News

Applications Open: 2025-2026 Research Teams, Iris Hui Memorial Scholarship

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Social Science Matrix is pleased to present two funding opportunities: for Matrix Research Teams, and for the Iris Hui Memorial Scholarship.

Matrix Research Teams

Application Deadline: March 14, 2025

MATRIX-SPACE-REDUCEDWe are now accepting proposals from faculty, students, and affiliated researchers for Matrix research teams for the 2025-2026 academic year. Matrix Research Teams are emerging research communities who gather regularly to explore or develop a novel question or growing field in the social sciences. Successful research teams integrate participants from several disciplines, address a compelling research question with real-world significance, and deploy or develop appropriate methodologies in innovative ways. Ideally, all research teams — whether faculty- or student-led — will also involve members of diverse ranks (i.e. faculty, post-docs, affiliated researchers, and graduate students) from the Social Sciences Division (and can include members across the university). Research teams are expected to use their funding to support their community-building and research activities and to support Social Science Matrix’s goals of advancing transdisciplinary research and fostering connections across campus. Faculty-led Research Teams can receive funding up to $5000. They run for one to two semesters, meeting at least 8 times around a defined research problem. Student-led Research Teams will receive funding up to $1500. Coordinated by one or more graduate students, they will meet regularly, around 5-10 times over the course of the academic year, and explore an emerging field — a new area or question of inquiry — and assess whether it has potential for further investigation.

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Iris Hui Memorial Scholarship

Application Deadline: March 31, 2025

photo of Iris HuiEstablished in 2021, the Dr. Iris Hui Memorial Graduate Student Scholarship honors the vision and goals of Dr. Iris Hui, a PhD graduate of Political Science from UC Berkeley. Family and friends raised funding for this memorial scholarship in Dr. Hui’s name to support researchers and students tackling issues that meant so much to her — urgent, real-world problems facing all of us, including the governance of natural resources, climate change, political empowerment, and migration. As a former graduate student herself, Dr. Hui understood how funding like this can benefit graduate students. Social Science Matrix is honored to be chosen as the institutional home for this memorial scholarship, which will be distributed to awarded graduate students each summer. The maximum award amount is $1000; amounts may be less than requested. Applications for the research funding are accepted each year until March 31st. Money will be given to students as a stipend upon award. We anticipate being able to award 1-2 awards each year, depending on the amount of the awards and funding availability. Awards will be announced by June 1st each year. Eligibility: Applicants can be at any stage of the PhD process, and must be enrolled in any department in the Social Sciences Division of the UC Berkeley College of Letters & Science. Students are eligible to receive this grant once during their graduate studies.

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Matrix News

PhD Students: Apply to be a Social Science Matrix Communications Fellow

Fellows will help share UC Berkeley social science research with the general public

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Social Science Matrix invites PhD students or candidates in the UC Berkeley Division of Social Sciences to apply for the Social Science Matrix Communications Fellowship. Fellows will serve limited-term appointments during the 2022-2023 academic year.

As UC Berkeley’s flagship institute for cross-disciplinary social science research, Matrix believes that social science research should be broadly relevant and shared with the public in accessible formats. The Matrix Features program, under which this program is organized, makes this belief a reality by bringing together scholars from different disciplines to create content that translates social science research for the general public.

Working in consultation with faculty and Matrix leadership, Matrix Communications Fellows will be responsible for attending monthly meetings (in-person) and creating two features during the 2022-2023 school year. Fellows will create podcasts, written interviews, or other features showcasing Berkeley scholars while developing social science communication skills at workshops throughout the year. Each fellow will receive a stipend of $1500.

Learn more.