https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:IdeaLab
IdeaLab is an incubator for people to share ideas to improve Wikimedia projects and collaboratively develop them into plans and grant proposals.
I'm cross-posting to the developer and researcher lists because I could imagine some of you following this path:
idea for research -> IdeaLab -> learning to use publicly available data sources -> quick prototyping via User Metrics, replicated databases in Labs, stats.wikimedia.org, and Limn -> idea for a bigger project with research & editor engagement implications -> idea refinement in IdeaLab -> grant proposal
Now is a good time to start so you can get a grant proposal in by the 30 September deadline, requesting up to USD 30,000. More information: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:IEG#ieg-learn
Hope this is helpful!
-- Sumana Harihareswara Engineering Community Manager Wikimedia Foundation