2025 SurveyCTO
Primary Data Collection
Research Grant
We’re excited to announce that the 2025 Primary Data Collection Research Grant is returning for another year!
We’re proud to offer this grant to empower the next generation of researchers. PhD candidates conducting rigorous research that depends on high-quality data are encouraged to apply.
Winners receive a cash grant to support their primary data collection, a free year-long subscription to SurveyCTO, expert customer support, and visibility for their project and co-marketing opportunities.
The application cycle will start on August 1, 2025 and run until September 30, 2025 so make sure to apply!
Data collection is challenging. We want to help.
The team at Dobility (creators of SurveyCTO) was formed by field researchers and data collection practitioners who remember the struggle of piecing together funding as graduate students.
We’d like to provide this grant to defray some of the costs associated with data collection fieldwork, and provide a free one-year subscription to SurveyCTO accompanied by our 24/7 professional support.
SurveyCTO research grant details
A free, one-year SurveyCTO subscription
Grant awardees win a free annual subscription to SurveyCTO, which includes the following to help power your research project:
Unlimited storage and forms
- Store images, videos, audio audits, GPS data, signatures, and many more types of data
- Deploy survey forms, instruments, or questionnaires to collect data
Unlimited users and devices
- Bring on as many collaborators or field researchers as you like
- Use as many mobile devices as you need
10,000 form submissions/month
- Use SurveyCTO to collect up to 10,000 data entries each month
Built-in data quality features
- Take advantage of built-in data quality and data monitoring features to ensure that you're only collecting the best data for your research
Grant awardees will also receive:
Funding
This year, we'll award winners with a one-time cash grant of up to $3,000 to be used for research expenses related to their upcoming primary data collection projects.
Access to our expert support
Awardees get a dedicated SurveyCTO Research Advisor as well as full, 24/7 access to our expert customer support team. We'll help you set up SurveyCTO in the best way possible for your research project.
Visibility for your research project
As an awardee, you’ll have the opportunity to promote your research in the form of articles, webinars, podcasts, or other formats. We’ll share your work with our audience and the broader survey research community.
Eligibility requirements for the grant
The SurveyCTO Primary Data Collection Research Grant is open to current PhD candidates from around the world.
Students whose research projects aim to benefit underserved people from their home community are strongly encouraged to apply.
Learn more about crafting a winning grant application in this info session.
The review process
All applications will be assessed by a committee within Dobility. Each application will be ranked based on several criteria, including:
Impact
Who will your research impact? Will your research have cultural, environmental, economic, social, or policy impact? What steps are you taking to protect your data?
Research field and methods
Are you working in an ambitious field of research? Are you using novel or cutting-edge research methodologies?
Feasibility of the project
How likely is your project to reach its stated goal?
Winners will then work with SurveyCTO to promote visibility for their research projects in the form of podcasts, webinars, articles, or other formats.
Use of grant funds
Grant awardees must use funds to directly support fieldwork and data collection.
As a large part of the award includes a one-year subscription to the SurveyCTO platform, grant awardees may use the accompanying funds to support fieldwork in conjunction with the platform, and to cover related expenses including field travel costs like local transportation, data collection equipment purchases or rentals, enumerator or field assistant remuneration, enumerator training materials, field communication expenses, printing and stationery costs, and respondent incentives.
What is SurveyCTO?
SurveyCTO is a powerful data collection platform for mobile, field, and on- and offline data capture. It’s a flexible, low-code solution for researchers, with a wide range of data quality-promoting features as well as integrations into popular systems like Stata and R.
SurveyCTO was born out of founder Dr. Christopher Robert’s experience as a researcher on Harvard-based development economics projects in Tamil Nadu, South India. Since then, we’ve used our experiences as researchers to embed best practices in research and data collection within the tool.
Leading universities and research institutions in over 165 countries use SurveyCTO. They include Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA), Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab (JPAL), International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI), World Bank Group, Stanford University, University of Michigan, Georgetown University, London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and NORC at the University of Chicago.
Meet SurveyCTO's 2024 Research Grant Recipients
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the timeline for applications and awards?
You can apply from August 1, 2025 to September 30, 2025. After September 30, we will start the application review process. Winners will be announced in late 2025/early 2026 and you will be notified via email about your application status.
What are the requirements for accepting the grant if I win?
Grant awardees will collaborate with SurveyCTO on an article, webinar, podcast, or another collaborative effort about their research project.
My project doesn’t have a heavy focus on data collection. Should I still apply?
You’ll get the most value out of the grant if your project requires high volumes of primary data collection.
If you’re in doubt about the level of data collection involved in your project, please contact info@surveycto.com.
Are there requirements for how I should use the grant funds?
Grant awardees must use the accompanying funds for expenses directly related to research, fieldwork, and data collection using the SurveyCTO platform.
Do I need significant technical expertise to receive this grant?
No. SurveyCTO’s user-friendly interface is easy for anyone to use. The platform provides easy-to-use tools to build complex forms and workflows and control data quality as well as features to monitor, visualize, and share data securely and with ease.
As part of the award, you’ll have access to SurveyCTO’s 24/7 export support team, who will be able to provide you with detailed and timely research and troubleshooting support.
Can you share any examples of previous projects you’ve funded?
Absolutely! You can see the research projects we’ve supported over the years here:
Who can I contact with questions?
The best way to get in touch with us is by sending an email to info@surveycto.com. Please include “SurveyCTO Data Collection Research Grant” in the email subject.