Internal Funding Programs | Limited Submissions Information | No-Cost Extensions
External Funding Database | EDI External Funding Opportunities | Past Awardees
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Internal Funding Programs
The Office of the Vice President for Research manages a number of funding and award programs designed to pilot new research ideas or equipment, advance the scholarly and creative research profile of the university, promote an equitable, diverse, and inclusive research community, and recognize the outstanding achievements of research faculty across campus.
All current VPR-sponsored funding and award programs are listed below. Deadlines vary according to program type. Please check back regularly for updates.
Research Instrumentation Fund (RIF)
Upcoming Deadlines: 11:59pm (MST) on October 1st, 2021
The Research Instrumentation Fund (RIF) provides support to faculty and core facilities for new equipment purchases, or to replace/upgrade existing research equipment. The VPR Office runs two cycles of the RIF Program – one for Fall semester, and one for Spring semester. Equipment purchased with RIF funds is meant to be shared as broadly as possible and used to facilitate externally funded research and scholarship.
Research Incentive Seed Grant Program
Upcoming Deadlines: 11:59pm (MST) on December 1st, 2021
The goal of the Research Incentive Seed Grant Program is to support investigators in collecting preliminary data in new, innovative research areas that will be leveraged for extramural grant applications. The Seed Grant Program is conducted in coordination with individual Colleges. Applications are accepted once per fiscal year.
Administrative Supplements to Promote a Diverse Research Community
Upcoming Deadlines: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
Supplements to externally funded existing grants will be considered to support recruitment or retention of research personnel from groups that have low representation in the research community. Principal Investigators who have identified a specific individual to be recruited to the University of Utah to work on an existing externally funded project (such as a graduate student, post-doc, research staff, or career-line faculty, or a current researcher in one of these categories supported by an existing grant who is a retention risk) can apply for supplements to improve recruitment and retention outcomes.
Faculty Grant Writing Support
Upcoming Deadlines: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.
To support faculty who experience significant hardship in meeting their extramural proposal submission goals due to family-care, other personal responsibilities, or unexpected life events. Funds through this competition will be available for grant writing assistance.
Qualified faculty who plan to submit a research proposal to an extramural sponsor, but have been hindered or limited by family-care responsibilities or other unexpected life events, may apply for funds to contract with external grant-writing specialists for assistance.
Faculty Small Grant Program
Upcoming Deadlines: 11:59pm (MST) on October 1st, 2021
The Faculty Small Grant Program (FSGP) seeks to support significant research and creative scholarly projects in colleges that experience difficulty obtaining extramural funding. This program will provide faculty with grants up to $6,000 for a period of two years to support scholarly projects and publications.
Faculty Fellow Awards
Upcoming Deadlines: 11:59pm (MST) on December 1st, 2021
The Faculty Fellow Awards (FFA) provide a semester of full release time (from teaching and administrative tasks) at full salary to tenure-line faculty for scholarly research or creative projects. The University Research Committee (URC) awards the sum of $15,000 to the department to defer the cost of the awardee’s release time.
Distinguished Research Awards
Upcoming Deadlines: 5:00pm (MST) on January 7th, 2022
The Distinguished Research Award (DRA) recognizes outstanding achievements in scholarly or creative research by University of Utah tenured faculty. Up to three awards for outstanding achievements in scholarly or creative research are awarded to University of Utah tenured faculty each year. This prestigious research award provides the faculty member with a $10,000 grant to pursue research and/or creative pursuits and recognition at the UofU Commencement. Nominees are evaluated on the impact and significance of their career research or scholarly work to their field, as well as to the improvement and enrichment of the human condition.
VPR Exceptional One-Time Requests
Upcoming Deadlines: Applications are accepted on a rolling basis
The Vice President for Research (VPR) office is pleased to formally allow small funding requests of $5,000 or less for exceptional one-time funds. These funds are available to offset University of Utah sponsored research symposia, travel for new and beginning investigators to meet program officers, proposal development for interdisciplinary large programmatic grant applications, and other research-specific areas that are not typically supported by the investigator’s department or college or is outside the scope of internal funding mechanisms.
Limited Submissions Information
Limited Submission Opportunities (LSO) are extramural funding opportunities that limit the number applications submitted per institution. Researchers interested in submitting to a specific LSO must apply to an internal competition and be selected for full proposal submission to the opportunity's sponsor. Internal competitions help verify the eligibility of an applicant and ensure that another application has not already been selected to submit to a specific limited submission opportunity.
LSO Best Practices and Information
Request a No-Cost Extension (NCE)
If a funded Research Incentive Seed Grant project cannot be completed in the initial 12-month award period due to unusual circumstances, the Investigator can submit one no-cost extension request to be reviewed by the Office of the Vice President for Research (VPR). The VPR Office reserves the right to deny a NCE that does not meet the requirements of the Research Incentive Seed Grant Program and/or the NCE request guidelines.
External Funding Database (Pivot)
Pivot is a searchable database that offers a variety of valuable resources including funding and publishing opportunities, collaborator identification, scholarly profiles, and more.
Access pivot database
EDI External Funding Opportunities
The Vice President for Research Office has collected a list of extramural funding opportunities as part of our on-going commitment to support equitable, diverse, and inclusive research on our campus and in our broader communities.
Past Awardees
Grant award information is provided for the most recent fiscal year. Faculty award information is provided for all past awardees.
VPR Awardee Record
Questions? Contact us!
Please contact Tyler Matsamas at vprgrants@utah.edu with any questions regarding VPR Funding Opportunities, Limited Submissions, URC Programs, or other funding opportunities/programs.