Through a combination of in-house and commissioned research, the Institute investigates broadly defined land policy issues as well as more specific themes such as municipal fiscal health.
Requests for Proposals (RFPs)
The Institute periodically issues requests for proposals on key themes and offers fellowship programs.
Climate, Land, and Water Evaluation
Application Period: April 14-May 19, 2023
The Lincoln Institute seeks subject matter experts to evaluate its work on low-carbon, climate-resilient communities and sustainably managed land and water resources. Learn more and apply by May 19. The Lincoln Institute invites proposals from teams or individuals with expertise to execute the full scope of this evaluation, or individuals with expertise in one portion of this scope willing to be partnered with others.
Scenario Planning and Housing Affordability
Application Period: February 16-March 14, 2023
The Consortium for Scenario Planning, a program of the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, invites proposals for original applications or uses of exploratory scenario planning processes in communities to address housing affordability and availability. The Consortium is looking for projects that will design community-based exploratory scenario planning workshops that consider the impacts of housing-related issues. International applications are welcome. Successful applicants may receive commissions of up to $10,000.
Case Studies on Land Value Capture Implementation in the U.S. and Canada
Application Period: February 9-March 23, 2023
The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy invites proposals for case studies on the application of land value capture (LVC) in the United States and Canada, as a tool to promote social equity, economic development, climate action, and fiscal health at the local and regional levels. We seek case studies that will explain issues that jurisdictions face when implementing LVC policies.
Research on Land-Based Financing Approaches for Climate Action
Application Period: February 9-March 23, 2023
The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy invites proposals for original research that examines opportunities for, and challenges with, implementing land-based financing instruments, including land value capture, to promote and fund climate adaptation, mitigation, or resiliency measures, with a focus on equity, urban form, and nature-based solutions. The research should help inform practitioners, policy makers, and decision makers.
Program on the People's Republic of China International Fellowship
Annual, Currently Closed
Submission Deadline: November 27, 2022
The Lincoln Institute's China Program invites proposals for academic and policy research papers addressing land, urban, fiscal, and environmental issues relating to urbanization in China. Preference will be given to policy-oriented empirical studies and international comparative studies.
Legacy Cities Community of Practice (2023–2024)
Currently Closed
Application Deadline: September 16, 2022
The Legacy Cities Community of Practice is a groundbreaking 18-month program that brings together interdisciplinary teams from four selected cities. These teams will focus on a land-use issue like housing, transportation connections, or placemaking to gain a deeper understanding of local issues and implement solutions through place-based projects in disinvested neighborhoods. Through a combination of virtual workshops and three in-person convenings, the Community of Practice will include leaders from community-based organizations and local city governments who will explore topics including equity, greening, network building, data, and metrics.
Community-Based Exploration of Changes in Agricultural Water Availability in the U.S. Southwest
Currently Closed
Application Deadline: September 12, 2022
The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, in partnership with its Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy and Arizona State University’s Global Futures Laboratory (ASU), is seeking agricultural communities interested in exploring the impacts of changes in water availability and climate uncertainty on their community. This project will use an exploratory scenario planning process to consider these factors and options for addressing them.
Babbitt Center Evaluating Tools for Integrating Land Use and Water Management
Currently Closed
Application Period: April 15 – May 15, 2022
The Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy invites proposals for original research in the U.S. that evaluates the suite of tools, practices, and processes the Babbitt Center has identified as crucial to water sustainability and to connecting land use and water management.
Innovative Curricula and Case Study Awards
Annual, Currently Closed
Curriculum Innovation Application Period: March 15 - April 25, 2022
Case Study Application Period: March 1 - March 28, 2022
In partnership with the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, the Lincoln Institute is holding a competition for the development of innovative curricula and case studies focused on local government finance, urban poverty and spatial inequality, climate change, sustainable land and water management, and related land policy issues. The Curriculum Innovation awards (four $7,000 awards) will honor excellence in teaching and design of learning experiences that are accessible, engaging, and effective for all students. The Case Study awards (ten $2,000 awards) will be awarded to authors to write case studies that will be hosted in a digital case study library and freely available for anyone.
Scenario Planning and Changing Food Systems
Currently Closed
Application Period: March 3 - March 23, 2022
The Consortium for Scenario Planning, in collaboration with the Babbitt Center for Land and Water Policy, seeks proposals for original tools that help communities prepare for changing food systems. Potential deliverable types for this project should be a practitioner how-to guide; software tool or game; or workshop model and/or interactive exercise.
Fellowship Opportunities
The Institute offers fellowship programs to assist new research projects and to encourage and support scholars who will pursue academic disciplines related to land policy and land-related tax policy.
Lincoln Institute Scholars Program
Annual
Application Period: January 3, 2023 - March 31, 2023
This program provides an opportunity for recent PhDs specializing in public finance or urban economics to work with senior economists.
Lincoln/Loeb Fellowship
Annual
The Loeb Fellowship was established in 1970 through the generosity of the late John L. Loeb, Harvard College '24. Based at the Graduate School of Design, the program offers ten annual post-professional awards for independent study at Harvard University. The fellowship is a unique opportunity to nurture the leadership potential of the most promising men and women in design and other professions related to the built and natural environment. Each year one fellow is selected to be the Lincoln/Loeb Fellow and to work with the Lincoln Institute's Department of Planning and Urban Form.
Kingsbury Browne Fellowship
Annual
The Lincoln Institute established the Kingsbury Browne Fellowship in association with the Kingsbury Browne Conservation Leadership Award in 2006. That award honors the late Kingsbury Browne, a Lincoln Fellow in 1980, whose work led to the creation of the Land Trust Alliance (LTA). Now a national organization of about 1,800 land trust members, LTA trains thousands of conservation leaders, encourages the passage of legislation on land conservation, and develops standards and practices to professionalize and safeguard work on land trusts. This annual fellowship program is administered by the Lincoln Institute's Department of Planning and Urban Form.
Graduate Student Fellowship Opportunities
The Institute offers fellowships for Ph.D. and master students whose research furthers the goal of improving the quality of life through the effective use, taxation, and stewardship of land.
Master’s in Land Policy and Sustainable Urban Development Fellowship
Application Deadline: November 29, 2022
The Lincoln Institute of Land Policy and Spain’s Universidad Nacional a Distancia (UNED), have joined to develop a graduate program that addresses the current urban reality. Participants will receive training to lead the implementation of measures that will allow the transformation of cities. The Lincoln Institute will offer scholarships that will cover the partial cost of the master for those candidates that are selected. Among the requirements, candidates must possess a bachelor’s degree and submit a narrative of their professional goals and their vision of the types of leadership that are currently needed to attain sustainable and equitable cities. Those candidates that are not selected may opt to apply for financial aid offered by UNED.
Babbitt Center Dissertation Fellowship Program
Annual
Application Deadline: March 1, 2023
The Babbitt Center Dissertation Fellowship Program assists PhD students whose research builds on, and contributes to, the integration of land and water policy to advance water sustainability and resilience, particularly in the West. The program provides support to scholars early in their careers; the application is currently closed. Open call for applications begins annually in late fall and closes the first week of March the following spring. For information on present and previous fellowship recipients and projects, please visit Babbitt Center Dissertation Fellows, Current and Past.
C. Lowell Harriss Dissertation Fellowship Program
Annual
Application Period: January 3, 2023 - March 3, 2023
The Lincoln Institute's C. Lowell Harriss Dissertation Fellowship Program assists PhD students whose research complements the Institute's interest in property valuation and taxation. The program provides an important link between the Institute's educational mission and its research objectives by supporting scholars early in their careers.