The National Coalition of Independent Scholars (NCIS)
If you are an independent scholar seeking support, one group that may be of help is the National Coalition of Independent Scholars (NCIS). Independent scholars often run into the same problems when seeking financial support - academic bureaucracy.
In particular, small UK grants that total £30,000 salary support per year, are often only awarded for scholars with an institutional affiliation such as a university. The problem is that, after taxes and the university taking funds for their "overheads," the grant salary may be only £15,000 for the scholar.
Since most scholars cannot work full-time for that type of money, it means we are often scrambling to receive funding from multiple sources. That means preparing multiple proposals, applications and letters of support. Another option is to seek funders who do not engage in these restrictions.
One option is the National Coalition of Independent Scholars (NCIS). Please read their website information (listed below). We also provided a link to their web page. In addition to their various forms of support including their research funding which you will find at the bottom of this page. Please share your thoughts about this resource. We are seeking to align the M2M Research Network with various groups that can help us expand resources and work together on policy changes to strengthen independent scholars on the margins of academia.
The Misogynoir to Mishpat (M2M) Research Network © 2023
NATIONAL COALITION OF INDEPENDENT SCHOLARS (NCIS)
National Coalition of Independent Scholars is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization providing professional affiliation, support services, and camaraderie to scholars outside of tenured academia. Although based in the United States, our membership and activities extend internationally, and NCIS Full and Associate members comprise over 250 scholars in 26 countries in Europe, Asia, Australia as well as Canada and the Americas. Membership is open to scholars across all disciplines. NCIS assesses the qualifications of each membership candidate for intellectual contribution, scholarly rigor, and independent status prior to acceptance. Being a scholar in any field requires original contribution to the accumulated knowledge of the chosen discipline.
Our most recent international conference was held at the University of Massachussetts, Amherst in June 2019, on the theme "Making Connections, Meeting Challenges," and we sponsored an International Conference on Creative Research Methods (Manchester, England, September 2023. NCIS also publishes an open access, peer-reviewed journal, The Independent Scholar, now in its 11th volume.
NCIS is an affiliate of the American Historical Association and a member of the The Alliance of Nonprofits.
FREE RESOURCES
Free resources for all independent scholars can be found at www.ncis.org/resources-independent-scholars.
Paid-up members of NCIS can also access additional resources such as podcasts at https://www.ncis.org/member-resources. (You will need to be logged in to access this page).
GRANT AWARDS OFFERED BY NCIS:
NCIS Research Grants (funded by NCIS);
NCIS Conference Support Grants (funded by NCIS);
NCIS Special Research Support Grants (funded by NCIS);
Amanda Haste Award (funded by NCIS);
David Sonenschein Award (funded by NCIS);
Elizabeth Eisenstein Essay Prize (jointly funded by NCIS and Margaret DeLacy)
More information on all NCIS grants can be found on the Grants page of this site, or contact grants@ncis.org