REAI grant deadline is approaching

The Real Estate Academic Initiative (REAI) at Harvard is now offering grants to support research in both domestic and international urban development. The REAI research committee will review applications for grants on a rolling basis and will give priority to interdisciplinary and interfaculty collaborative research efforts.

Proposals relating to the following research themes will be given priority for funding. However, other proposals that further the mission of the initiative with respect to improving the built environment will also be considered.

Research themes approved by the research committee include:

• Why Are Housing Prices So High?
• Financial Restructuring and Non-Performing Loan Resolution
• “New Urbanism” and Building Social Capital
• Legitimizing the Informal Property Sector in Developing Countries
• Workplace Design and Productivity
• Place-Making and Redeveloping Suburban Town Centers
• Ecology and Land Development: Protecting Farm Land and Open Space in Rapidly Developing Areas
• Real Estate and Metropolitan GovernanceThe initiative has approximately $200,000 available for immediate funding of proposals, plus $300,000 to $500,000 for next year. One-year grants in the range of $15,000 to $25,000 for faculty are suggested. Multiyear grants will not be funded at this time, but research that anticipates future funding will be considered as long as the first phase is a publishable component. Papers by doctoral students and postdoctoral students in the range of $5,000 to $7,000 will also be considered. Please note that all funds for faculty are given as whole amounts without additional allowances for institutional overhead or other charges. Faculty members who anticipate these costs should adjust and itemize grant requests appropriately.Interested faculty should submit proposals by Nov. 1. The time frame for completion of research projects will be nine to 12 months from the grant date. Proposals should include a one-to-two-page detailed description of research plans; a detailed budget including, but not limited to, support for doctoral students and summer research interns, travel, and faculty summer support; and short CVs of proposed researchers.

  Expected products of supported research are as follows:

• A presentation to the REAI International Advisory Board within nine to 12 months of grant
• An executive summary to be posted on REAI Web site and/or a publication précis for distribution to International Advisory Board and other supporters
• Submission of an article to a refereed academic journal and/or book (research findings may also be published by the REAI in a working paper series)Proposals should be addressed to the Research Committee and submitted to Attn: Research Committee, REAI, 48 Quincy St., Cambridge, MA 02138.For further information, contact Jessica McFarland at (617) 495-2604 or jmcfarla@gsd.harvard.edu, or visit http://www.reai.harvard.edu.