Wikimedia Research Fund Grant

The Wikimedia Research Fund Grant aims to support diverse research initiatives that enhance the understanding of Wikimedia projects. With funding ranging from $2,000 to $150,000, it encourages submissions from established researchers across various disciplines. The grant prioritizes projects that address significant research gaps while promoting knowledge equity and community engagement. This initiative aligns with the Wikimedia Foundation's mission to empower individuals and groups dedicated to advancing free knowledge and fostering collaboration within the research community.

Welcome to Wikimedia Foundation Funds!
The Wikimedia Foundation supports individuals and organizations around the world to increase the diversity, reach, quality, and quantity of free knowledge. Our funding programs are focused on decentralized decision-making, regional committees, and reaching underrepresented communities.
The Research Fund supports individuals, groups, and organizations with expertise and interest in conducting research on or about Wikimedia projects. We encourage submissions from across research disciplines, including but not limited to the humanities, social sciences, computer science and engineering, education, and law.
Applicants should be established Wikimedia researchers (i.e., people with a history of conducting research related to Wikimedia projects) or established researchers who want to become Wikimedia researchers. We will fund proposals primarily based on our assessment of whether a grant will result in high-quality and high-impact scholarship.
Type 1: Research Proposals
We expect to fund 4-10 grants to support basic or applied research projects related to Wikimedia projects. We expect that these projects will include the following types of research:

• The production of research products (especially peer-reviewed scholarly publications) that can:

Contribute to generalizable knowledge that has the potential to improve and expand our understanding of the Wikimedia projects and their impact;Identify and/or evaluate novel technical and socio-technical solutions that can enhance the technology or policy in support of the Wikimedia projects;Inform important social or policy decisions that organized groups within the Wikimedia communities want to make.The development of datasets of importance for Wikimedia communities (including but not limited to Wikimedia research communities).
We are particularly interested in proposals that advance the Wikimedia Movement towards the 2030 strategic direction, the Multigenerational strategy, and/or seek to provide evidence of causal effects.
Funding Amount: Funding of between 2,000-50,000 USD per proposal.
Time Period: Work should be conducted for up to 1 year (12 months).
Type 2: Extended Research Proposals
We expect to fund up to two grants for extended research proposals. This proposal will have the same scope and goals as the “normal” research proposal described in the section above but will be higher in total funding amount and in the time period the work is carried out.
Funding Amount: Funding of up to 50,000-150,000 USD (over all years of the grant period with up to USD 75,000 per year) per proposal.
Time Period: Work should be conducted for up to 2 years (24 months). We will consider (re-)applications in the second year of these grants for a third year of funding to continue or extend work made during a potential third year.
Type 3: Event and Community-Building Proposals
We will fund up to 5 proposals by established members of the Wikimedia research community to organize events or conduct community-building projects to strengthen, expand, and diversify the community of researchers studying Wikimedia projects and increasing the Wikimedia research community’s collective impact.
Funding Amount: Funding of up to 50,000 USD per proposal.
Time Period: Work should be conducted for up to 1 year (12 months).

Eligibility

Individuals, groups, and organizations may apply. Any individual is allowed three open grants at any one time. This includes Rapid Funds. Groups or organizations can have up to five open grants at any one time.
Requests must be over USD 2,000. The maximum request is 50,000 USD for Type 1 and 3 proposals and 150,000 USD for Type 2 proposals (with a maximum of 75,000 USD per year).
Funding periods can be up to 12 months for Type 1 and 3 proposals and up to 24 months for Type 2. Proposed work can start as early as July 1, 2025 and must end no later than the end of the agreed grant period.
Recipients must agree to the reporting requirements, be willing to sign a grant agreement, and provide the Wikimedia Foundation with information needed to process funding. You can read more about eligibility requirements.
Applications and reports must be submitted in English.
Potential applicants should not submit a proposal if at least one of the following holds true:
At least one applicant has been an employee or contractor at the Wikimedia Foundation in the last 24 months;At least one applicant has had an advisee/advisor relationship with one or more of the Research Fund Committee Chairs or members of the Wikimedia Research team;At least one of the applicants is a current or has been a former Formal Collaborator of the Research team at the Wikimedia Foundation in the last 24 months;At least one applicant has co-authored a scientific publication with the Research Fund Committee Chairs within the last 24 months.Potential applicants must meet all WMF General Eligibility requirements listed at Legal and conduct requirements.

Ineligibility

Our funds are limited and we want to focus the funds on the most important and unaddressed research gaps on the Wikimedia projects that existing Movement organizations and initiatives are less likely to tackle. To this end, we will not fund:

• Research proposals to develop a product or technology in support of the Wikimedia projects;

Research proposals that involve conducting a study that is identical or similar to a study previously conducted in one language edition of Wikipedia in another, unless there is a strong reason to believe the result will differ.