The goal of this Data Research Grant Program is for the USC Libraries to purchase research data on behalf of faculty and graduate students in order to provide campus-wide access to data and increase the libraries’ impact on data-driven research on campus. The Data Research Grant Program started as a pilot generously supported by a USC Libraries Dean's Challenge Grant.
Who can Apply?
USC faculty and graduate students are welcome to apply for a data research grant.
Data Requirements
The Data Research Grants Program can be used to cover the one-time cost of a dataset or to subscribe to data for the first year. First consideration will be given to requests below $500. The library will negotiate the purchase and disburse the funds directly to the data vendor. Please consider the following when applying for a data-grant:
- Only data that can be licensed campus-wide will be considered.
- Requested data needs to be in a format that can be stored at USC Libraries and accessible to the entire USC community.
- Requested data needs to align with the cross-disciplinary research interests of more than one academic program. Esoteric data that will only benefit one researcher will not be considered.
- USC libraries cannot consider restricted data. An example of restricted data is Nielsen Data.
- Requested data needs to enhance the existing USC Libraries collection and not duplicate current content. Please review USC Libraries's current subscriptions and data sources before submitting your application.
Timeline
DEADLINES
THIS PROGRAM IS TEMPORARILY ON HOLD DUE TO COVID-19. In the meantime, please contact Eimmy Solis, eimmysol@usc.edu with any data-related assistance.
Consideration of applications is ongoing and data requests will be evaluated on a rolling basis depending on available funds. Data-grant recipients will be notified within a month of submitting an application.
Please note: Licensing datasets is a complicated and lengthy procedure. Access to the data will take some time depending on the vendor and the type of data.
Application Process
Applicants will submit through an online form the following: a description of their research project, an account of the requested data, an explanation of why the data is important to their research, and how they discovered the data.
A select group of Librarians will review and select applications based on the potential impact of the data on the USC research community, data cost, and availability of funds.
Click here to apply to the Data Research Grant Program
Questions? Contact Eimmy Solis, Social Sciences Data Librarian, at eimmysol@usc.edu.
2018-2019 Data Grant Recipients
- Rachelle Wang-Cendejas is a 6th year Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at USC. Her research focuses on Family Sociology, Military Economics, and Social Stratification.
- Meiying Li is a 2nd year Ph.D. candidate in Sociology at USC. Her research focuses on the gender earning gap in China.
- Hae Yeun Park is a 5th year Ph.D. candidate in Economics at USC. Her research focuses on Industrial Organization, Antitrust Economics, and Airline industry.
2018-2019 Grant Data
- National Population Census of China (NPCC) This link opens in a new windowThis database includes Chinese census data at national and local levels from 1982 to 2010.
- Official Aviation Guide (OAG), domestic airlines schedules dataset from 2008-2017This dataset provides US domestic flight schedules, including airline information (carrier code, name, flight number, etc.) and routing information (airport code, departure and arrival time, stops, number of seats, etc.) from 2008-2017 by year and month.
2018-2019 Data Grant Presentations, April 25, 2019
- Data Research Grant Presentation- National Population Census of China (NPCC)Meiying Li and Rachelle Wang-Cendejas presented on the National Population Census of China (NPCC), which includes Chinese census data at the national and local level from 1982 to 2010.
- Data Research Grant Presentation- Official Airline Guide (OAG)Hae Yeun presented on the Official Aviation Guide (OAG), domestic airlines schedules
dataset from 2008–2017.
The Data Research Grant Program is an opportunity to comprehensively meet the USC Libraries Strategic Plan’s Theme 4, Goal A to “Apply unique library expertise and capacities to support the vision of USC as a leading private research university dedicated to the greater public good” by using cross-functional library and collection development expertise to resolve the funding challenges many USC researchers currently have to purchase data.