In light of the hardship imposed upon Cornell graduate students due to COVID-19, in the Fall 2020 semester, IES offered a call for proposals to fund graduate research to make the funding available starting in Spring 2021. A total of $105,200 was given with awards ranging from a $1,200 paper prize, $3,000 to $9,000 grants, and a year-long full fellowship of approximately $35,000.