The Faculty Small Grant Program (FSGP) provides grants of up to $10,000 over one year to support scholarly publications and creative research. Research funded by the FSGP program should be new and innovative research directions. Starting with the FY26 cycle, continuation of existing projects or programs are not eligible for FSGP funding, including continuation of previously funded FSGP projects. The VPR Office defines scholarly activity as a work of scholarship that is peer reviewed and publicly disseminated. Examples of scholarly activity should demonstrate the discovery and/or integration of new knowledge, technologies, methods, or materials. The VPR defines creative activity as original contributions to an investigator’s field of study that are produced through writing, creating, composing, designing, recording, performing, curating, etc.*

The Faculty Small Grant Program utilizes a tiered funding option. Total budget amount requested must align with one of the following tiers:

• Tier 1: Up to $3,500
• Tier 2: Up to $5,000
• Tier 3: Up to $10,000

 *Listed definitions of scholarly and creative research work are not meant to be comprehensive. Questions about whether your research idea would qualify for the FSGP should be directed to vprgrants@utah.edu.

Career and tenure-line faculty members who hold at least a .50 FTE appointment are eligible to apply. Adjunct faculty are permitted to act as co-PI on FSGP applications. Applicants must not have any outstanding final reports on past VPR-funded projects and must be prepared to dedicate enough time to complete the proposed project within one year of the award. Each submitted project may have up to five co-PIs.

Applicants will be required to identify previous internal funding including VPR sponsored awards such as FFA, FSGP, 1U4U and Research Incentive Seed Grants.

The FSGP has one cycle per year. This is to maximize available funding for the program and provide potential applicants with substantial time to prepare their application.

Applications for the FSGP are due on the first Thursday in December each year. Late applications are not accepted.

FY26 applications are due by 11:59 PM on Thursday, December 4^th, 2025.

• Executive Abstract (up to one-page max): Abstract should include project goals or research questions, plan of action or research methods, planned outcomes, and plan for dissemination. Abstract should also include up to 10 keywords that help identify the key objectives, disciplines, research types, and associated departments of the FSGP proposal.
• Proposal Narrative (up to four pages max): The proposal narrative must be limited to three single-spaced pages with a font size of 12 points. A one-page bibliography may also be submitted. Those with more than 4 pages will be returned to the applicant without committee review. All proposal narratives must include:
  • A clear description of the project with strong objectives, specific research questions/creative objectives, justification for the project, a detailed, concise description of methodology and procedure, and verification that the proposed project will not duplicate research already undertaken by other researchers.
  • A clear description of how the proposal addresses a clear funding need i.e., identify areas of research that have limited funding options, identify components of project that are challenging to fund (and why), identify why the FSGP program is an ideal mechanism for accomplishing a specific goal as part of a larger research effort, etc.
  • The full estimated timeline/duration of the project: This timeline should be based on the amount of funding received through the FSGP. Timelines should be as feasible and accurate as possible. Inflated timelines without clear milestones/deliverables will not be approved. We strongly encourage you to consider and plan for potential delays, setbacks, etc. when determining timeline. Timelines may not exceed 12 months.
• Budget Outline: Please reference the FSGP Budget Guidelines and Restrictions section of this webpage and required FSGP Budget Template when completing this section. Budgets should be well-justified, accurate, and reflect the full scope of the proposed work. In general, budgets should not exceed $10,000. In exceptional circumstances, the committee may elect to support an outstanding proposal at a higher level of funding. If additional funding is needed, substantial justification is required. Budgets must be well-justified and reflect the actual funding need of the project. Projects with deliberately inflated budgets will not be considered for funding.
• Abbreviated CV OR Biographical Sketch: Please provide the abbreviated CV or biographical sketch of each investigator listed on the project. CVs/bio-sketches are not required for associated parties who will not be considered PI or co-PI on the project. There is no maximum number of pages for the CV/Biosketch upload, however, please ensure all relevant entries are uploaded as a single PDF.
• Health, Safety, and Compliance Documentation: The applicant must submit evidence that the proposal has been submitted to the required health, safety, and compliance officials, including Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval for research on human subjects, and OACC approval for research involving comparative medicine. Note: The URC will not release funds for an awarded project if not approved by the relevant health, safety, and compliance officials. Documentation of relevant IRB and/or OACC application submissions must be provided with the grant application for the application to be considered.
• Resubmission Statement (if applicable): All resubmissions must include a point-by-point response to all previous reviewer comments, explicitly stating how the new proposal has addressed or clarified those comments and concerns. New proposals are not required to complete this step.
• Appendices & Attachments (up to three pages max – optional): Examples of relevant attachments include applicant’s relevant publications (include first page of publication or link to publication), descriptions of how the project will be disseminated to the public, etc. Appendices & Attachments should be kept to a minimum.

Important Note: Letters of Support are no longer required for the FSGP. If you have optional letters of support you would like to include for review consideration, please upload them to the Appendices section.

FSGP applications are reviewed by the University Research Committee (URC). The URC is a campus-wide faculty committee tasked with reviewing creative and scholarly research proposals and making funding recommendations to the VPR.

In general, FSGP proposals are evaluated on the criteria listed below. Reviewers may also comment on other strengths and weaknesses of the proposal overall. This is to ensure applications receive a thorough review of quality, merit, impact, and feasibility.

• The significance and soundness of the proposed research/creative work and timeline of project events/action.
• Strength of the proposal's research questions, methodologies, personnel, facilities, etc.
• Articulated need for funding.
• The impact of the funding/proposal on advancing the applicant's career and/or personal research/creative mission. The URC has asked applicants to directly address this in their proposals.
• The impact of the proposed research/creative work on the Department's, College's, and University's research/creative missions.
• The likelihood that the project will bolster the University’s profile of research/creative excellence and support the OVPR’s strategic research plan (Note: link to the strategic research plan forthcoming.)

Note: Continuation of existing projects or programs is not eligible for FSGP funding including continuation of previously funded FSGP projects.

Important note: The FSGP review process may take up to 90 days to complete.

The recipient of any VPR Internal Grant mechanism is required to submit a Final Report identifying a summary of the project, outcomes, next steps, etc. Final Report information will be shared in the award letter to selected applicants.

Final reports demonstrate impact and are essential for continuation of the program. Given that, colleges with outstanding reports will not be eligible for future funding.

The recipient of any URC award is required to acknowledge the URC grant in any published results, catalogs, videos, or other products using the following URC Acknowledgment Statement: “This project was supported by the University Research Committee (URC) at the University of Utah. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors, and do not necessarily represent the official views of the URC, the Vice President for Research Office, or the University of Utah.”

Applications must be submitted via InfoReady.

The FY26 FSGP application portal is not yet available. Please check back in the coming weeks. The program will be formally announced in both the Research Post and the AVPR's Desk.