Internal Grant Programs

The Office of Research offers a suite of programs to support research and creative activities and the dissemination of results.

One of the goals of the internal grant programs is to strengthen and reinforce best practices in grant writing and submission. Therefore, applications are expected to follow the published program guidelines and proposal requirements. Proposals that do not meet these expectations will not be reviewed. Deadlines are enforced. Research Development staff, who are not part of the review process, are available for consultation about your application.

Research Assistance Fund

The Research Assistance Fund (RAF) supports a wide variety of activities, including conference travel for presenting your research. The awards are intended for immediate needs not supported through other campus funding. $2,500 maximum. See complete program information below.

Research Assistance Fund (RAF) Details

Program Summary

The Research Assistance Fund provides small grants for conducting and disseminating research and creative work. The program typically opens in mid-July and continues while funds last, usually mid-May.

Award Maximum

Beginning July 1, 2023, the maximum award is $2,500.

Eligible Applicants:

  • UWM faculty and staff who conduct research and are employed at least half-time.
  • UWM faculty and staff who are not the Principal Investigator on a current UWM Discovery and Innovation Grant (DIG) or Advancing Research and Creativity (ARC) award.

Note: Co-applicants are not allowed.

Ineligible Applicants

Those who received a RAF award between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023.

  • UWM faculty and staff who are the Principal Investigator on a current UWM Discovery and Innovation Grant (DIG) or Advancing Research and Creativity (ARC) award.
  • Administrators with positions at the dean level or higher.
  • Post-doctoral researchers.
  • Students.
  • Recent hires with uncommitted start-up funds of $20,000 or more.
  • Those who are on notice of non-retention or who have accepted offers at other institutions.
  • Visiting scholars who are not UWM employees.

Examples of Eligible Project Expenses

  • Conference/workshop/exhibition fees (remote or in-person) or travel to these events where you are presenting your research, artistic, or curated cultural works.
  • Conference/workshop/exhibition fees (remote or in-person) or travel to these events where you have an official administrative role as an officer or conference planner.
  • Travel to conduct research.
  • Subvention fees, open access fees, page charges, etc. Note that publications that result in revenue will require a Royalty Sharing Agreement. Contact your Divisional Finance Officer for more information.
  • Updating webpages to disseminate results.
  • Materials and supplies, user fees, and purchase of services for use related to a research project.
  • Participant incentives.
  • Equipment other than computers for use related to a research project.
  • Specialized software.
  • Hourly graduate and undergraduate students for assistance related to a research project.
  • Equipment service and repair if related to a research project.
  • Proposal writing assistance where subject expertise is needed.
  • Consultant fees for developing an evaluation plan required for an external grant.

Ineligible Expenses

  • Course releases, academic-year salary, summer salary, sabbatical salary.
  • Curriculum development.
  • Service projects that do not have a research component.
  • Computers.
  • Cost-sharing on other grants.
  • Training/workshops/professional development
  • Student- and postdoc-led research
  • Student and postdoc travel
  • Consultant fees for research administration (e.g., budget development, proposal submission, post-award accounting, program administration, project management)

Limit on Number of Applications

  • Applicants may submit only one request per cycle for funding to this program.
  • Those who were funded last year must wait until after July 1, 2024 to apply.
  • Those who receive an award this year are ineligible to apply next year.

Deadlines

Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis until funds are exhausted. Unless additional information is needed upon review, applicants will be notified of funding decisions within six weeks of submission. Application submission well in advance of a specific event date is strongly encouraged.

Use of Funds

Awardees are expected to use the funds for the purpose stated in the application. If the award cannot be used for the original purpose (e.g., a conference is cancelled), please contact Kathleen Koch (kjk@uwm.edu). Any residual balances in the awards will be returned to the Office of Research to be allocated during the next award cycle.

Online Application

Apply for the Research Advancement Fund. See Request for Applications for required information.

Review Process

A two-stage review and selection process will be used as follows.

Stage 1: Administrative Review

Applications will be screened for completion. Applications may be returned for additional information.

Stage 2: Desk Review and Award Decision

Senior Staff in the Office of Research will conduct a desk review of each applicant; neither an internal nor external review panel will be convened. Funding requests that do not meet program eligibility criteria will be denied. Funding requests that meet the criteria may receive partial or full awards. All funding decisions are final; appeals are not allowed.

 

Discovery and Innovation Grant

The Discovery and Innovation Grant (DIG) program supports initial stages of research with the intent of making projects more competitive for completion or expansion through external funding. Applicants must demonstrate that the work is not just an incremental extension of their current or past projects or the field in general. Recipients are expected to submit external grant proposals within three years of the start of funding for at least three times the DIG budget. Proposals are externally reviewed. $80,000 base award. See complete program information below.

Discovery and Innovation Grant (DIG) Details

Program Summary

Seed funding program to support high-quality, innovative research projects that have strong potential for external funding. The application system typically opens in late August and closes at the October deadline.

Eligible Projects:

  • Early-stage research projects in need of seed funding for data collection, archival work, and establishing proof-of concept.
  • Have a 12- to 18-month timeline.
  • Will lead to the submission of competitive proposals for externally funded—and thereby self-sustaining—individual and collaborative research through grants, fellowships, or university/industry partnerships.

Award Maximum

  • Single PI project: $80,000 (direct costs) for a single PI project.
  • Multiple investigator project: additional $8,000 (direct costs) for each co-PI and maximum of two co-PIs. External co-PIs/collaborators may be included to qualify for the higher limit; any compensation to external personnel will take the form of payment for service.

Eligible Project Expenses

  • Salary/Course Release: One course release per UWM PI or Co-PI per award (faculty only) OR summer salary supplement (limited to $8,000) per UWM PI or Co-PI per award (faculty only).
  • UWM Personnel: Post-docs, research assistants, other staff, and students.
  • Non-UWM Personnel: Payments to non-UWM personnel or agencies on a fee-for-service basis.
  • Other Expenses such as materials and supplies, travel, user fees, purchase of services.

Eligible Applicants

  • Must have UWM faculty or academic staff appointments, Principal Investigator (PI) status, and the expectation of a continuing appointment. Lead PIs may submit only one proposal per application cycle, although they can be Co-PIs on other proposals.
  • Are not the PI or co-PI on a UWM Discovery and Innovation Grant (DIG) award that began July 2021, 2022 or 2023.
  • Are not the PI on an open/active UWM Research and Creative Activities Support (RACAS) or Advancing Research and Creativity (ARC) award.
  • Are not applying for an ARC award in this cycle. (In the same application cycle, you may be a PI for a DIG or ARC proposal, not both.)
  • Agree to contribute at least 10% time to the project. Co-PIs who receive summer support or a course release must also contribute at least 10% time to the project.

Complete program information is listed in the DIG Request for Proposals.

Online Application

You can apply for the Discovery and Innovation Grant using the DIG Online Application.

Review Process

The DIG program employs a four-stage review and selection process:

Stage 1: Administrative Review

Applications will be screened for completion and compliance with formatting requirements. Late, incomplete and/or non-compliant applications will not be accepted.

Stage 2: Scientific/Scholarly Review

All applications are externally reviewed for scientific/scholarly merit according to the following criteria:

  • Significance/Impact: Potential impact of results on the field or society.
  • Research Plan: Approach, design, methodology, timeline, resources, and assessment are effective and feasible to accomplish the aims.
  • Innovation: Novelty or creativity of the research.
  • Outcomes and Dissemination: Anticipated project results and how they will be communicated.
  • Quality of Writing: Proposal is clearly and carefully written.
  • Potential for External Funding: Potential of proposal to be competitive for extramural funding.
  • Value of Collaboration (Multi-investigator projects only): Multiple investigators facilitate accomplishment of aims and strengthen the project.
Stage 3: Meetings with potential awardees

The DIG program director will meet with all potential awardees to assess current commitments and readiness for beginning the project, discuss budget, and request additional information if needed.

Stage 4: Award Selection

Funding decisions are made by Office of Research leadership based on final ratings and reviewer comments, meetings with the potential awardees, past performance on internal awards, submission of final reports for previous internal awards, and representation of disciplines across the award portfolio.

Expectations for subsequent proposals

Proposals for subsequent external funding or commercialization opportunities should be submitted within three years of the start of DIG funding for at least three times the DIG award amount.

DIG Funding Cycle

  • Submission deadline: Mid-October (see yearly RFP for exact date)
  • Final review: January-February
  • Award announcement: By mid-April
  • Funds available: July

Questions?

Program Officer Technical Assistance
Kathleen Koch Shane Dunlap
(414) 229-3699 (414) 229-3160
kjk@uwm.edu jsdunlap@uwm.edu

 

Advancing Research and Creativity

The Advancing Research and Creativity (ARC) program supports meritorious research and creative projects across all disciplines at UWM. Proposed projects may be at various stages of development. Awards are expected to result in scholarly, scientific, and artistic products that will increase the national and international recognition of the awardees, their programs, and the institution. Proposals are externally reviewed. $12,500 base award. See complete program information below.

Advancing Research and Creativity (ARC) Grant Details

Program Summary

Support for research and creative projects at various stages of completion. Subsequent external funding for the project is desirable, but not required and will not affect the award decision. The application system typically opens in late August and closes at the October deadline.

Award Maximum

  • Single PI project: $12,500 (direct costs) for a single PI project.
  • Multiple investigator project: additional $8,000 (direct costs) for each co-PI and maximum of two co-PIs. External co-PIs/collaborators may be included to qualify for the higher limit; any compensation to external personnel will take the form of payment for service.

Eligible Project Expenses

  • Salary/Course Release: One course release per UWM PI or Co-PI per award (faculty only) OR summer salary supplement (limited to $8,000) per UWM PI or Co-PI per award (faculty only).
  • UWM Personnel: Hourly students; partial funding for UWM staff; some multi-investigator projects may be able to support a one-semester Research Assistant appointment.
  • Non-UWM Personnel: Payments to non-UWM personnel or agencies on a fee-for-service basis; consultants are limited to 50% of the budget.
  • Other Expenses such as materials and supplies, travel, user fees, purchase of services.

Eligible Applicants

  • Must have UWM faculty or academic staff appointments, Principal Investigator (PI) status, and the expectation of a continuing appointment. Lead PIs may submit only one proposal per application cycle, although they can be Co-PIs on other proposals.
  • Are not the PI on a UWM Advancing Research and Creativity (ARC) award that began July 2021, 2022 or 2023.
  • Are not a PI or co-PI on an active/open UWM Research Growth Initiative (RGI) or Discovery and Innovation Grant (DIG) award.
  • Are not applying for a DIG award in this cycle. (In the same application cycle, you may be a PI for a DIG or ARC proposal, not both.)
  • Agree to contribute at least 10% time to the project. Co-PIs who receive summer support or a course release must also contribute at least 10% time to the project.
  • Have satisfied the terms and conditions of previous internal awards, including submission of final reports.

Types of Projects Not Funded by the Program

  • Curriculum development projects, including textbook development.
  • Service projects.
  • Product development or commercialization.

Complete program information is listed in the ARC Request for Proposals.

Online Application

You can apply for the Advancing Research and Creativity grant using the ARC Online Application.

Review Process

The ARC program employs a four-stage review and selection process:

Stage 1: Administrative Review
Applications will be screened for completion and compliance with formatting requirements. Late, incomplete and/or non-compliant applications will not be accepted.

Stage 2: Scientific/Scholarly Review
All applications are externally reviewed for scientific/scholarly merit according to the following criteria:

  • Significance/Impact: Potential impact of results on the field or society.
  • Research Plan: Approach, design, methodology, timeline, resources, and assessment are effective and feasible to accomplish the aims.
  • Outcomes and Dissemination: Anticipated project results and how they will be communicated.
  • Quality of Writing: Proposal is clearly and carefully written.
  • Value of Collaboration (Multi-investigator projects only): Multiple investigators facilitate accomplishment of aims and strengthen the project.

Stage 3: Meetings with potential awardees
The ARC program director will meet with all potential awardees to assess current commitments and readiness for beginning the project, discuss budget, and request additional information if needed.

Stage 4: Award Selection
Funding decisions are made by Office of Research leadership based on final ratings and reviewer comments, meetings with the potential awardees, past performance on internal awards, submission of final reports for previous internal awards, and representation of disciplines across the award portfolio.

ARC Funding Cycle

  • Submission deadline: Mid-October (see yearly RFP for exact date)
  • Final review: February-March
  • Award announcement: By late April
  • Funds available: July

Questions?

Program Officer Technical Assistance
Kathleen Koch Shane Dunlap
(414) 229-3699 (414) 229-3160
kjk@uwm.edu jsdunlap@uwm.edu

 

Finish Line

The Finish Line is a pilot program intended to increase competitiveness of proposals being resubmitted to federal sponsors in the categories of Research and Public Service. Funding is provided for work that is needed to address written review concerns. Applicants are required to share scores and comments from previous proposal submission(s). The performance period for all Finish Line awards will be no more than 12 months in duration.

Finish Line Awards Details

    Program Summary

    The Finish Line program is designed to help high-scoring, but unfunded, external grants be successful upon resubmission.

    Eligible Applicants:

    • UWM researchers who have submitted a proposal to a federal sponsor as a Principal Investigator within the previous 18 months, received very strong scores, but have not been funded
    • Will be resubmitting to the same Funding Opportunity Announcement

    Ineligible Applicants

    • Post-doctoral researchers
    • Students
    • Those who are on notice of non-retention or who have accepted offers at other institutions.

    Ineligible Funding Opportunities

    Limited submission funding opportunities (where a sponsor limits the number of applications that can be submitted by an institution) are excluded from the Finish Line program.

    Examples of Eligible Expenses

    • Participant incentives
    • Materials and supplies
    • User fees and purchase of services (NOTE: Sub-awards are not allowed, but external collaborators may be compensated through mechanisms such as a Payment to Individual Request or an Academic Support Service Agreement.)
    • Course release or summer salary (must be strongly justified)
    • Hourly graduate and undergraduate students
    • One semester of RA support
    • Professional writing assistance

    Ineligible Expenses

    • Sabbatical salary.
    • Cost-sharing

    Limit on Number of Applications

    • Applicants may submit only two requests for funding per fiscal year.

    Limit on Number of Awards

    • One per fiscal year

    Deadlines

    Applications will be accepted until funds are exhausted. Funding decisions will be made approximately eight weeks after application submission.

    Online Application

    Apply for the Finish Line program. See Request for Applications for required information.

    Review Process

    Administrative Review

    Applications will be screened for completeness and may be returned for additional information.

    Panel review

    Applications will be reviewed by a panel of associate deans. All applications will be scored and include brief review comments. The panel will meet to make recommendations for awards based on the following criteria:

    • Necessity of Finish Line funding
    • Feasibility of the project revision plan
    • Overall merit– Assessment of success upon resubmission based on information such as numerical scoring of original proposal, original review comments, and feedback from the Program Officer
    Teleconference

    Short teleconferences will be scheduled with those recommended for funding to discuss final budgets and establish a date for proposal resubmission. This discussion will include the availability of other funding sources for the work, including start-up funds.

    Final decision

    The Vice Provost for Research and Dean of the Graduate School, the Associate Vice Provost for Research, and the program administrator will make final funding decisions based on recommendations and comments of the review panel, the feasibility of the revision plan, and the cost of revision.

    Award notification will occur within six to eight weeks of the review panel.

    All funding decisions are final, appeals are not allowed.

    Questions?

    Program Officer Technical Assistance
    Kathleen Koch Shane Dunlap
    (414) 229-3699 (414) 229-3160
    kjk@uwm.edu jsdunlap@uwm.edu

 

Support for Undergraduate Research Fellows (SURF)

The SURF program is designed to foster faculty-student research collaborations, and, as such, we are particularly eager to fund work through which students have the opportunity to engage in thoughtful and progressively sophisticated work central to the overall research program of the principal investigator. Contact Kyla Esguerra at kylam@uwm.edu with questions.

Support for Undergraduate Research Fellows (SURF) Details

The Support for Undergraduate Research Fellows (SURF) program is designed to foster faculty-student research collaborations. Faculty and academic staff can apply for the awards to provide an hourly wage for undergraduate students working as research assistants. Students will be paid as hourly employees.

 

Research Recognition Awards


The following awards recognize and encourage UWM faculty early in their careers whose research, scholarly, or creative activity have shown potential to achieve distinction in their academic disciplines or honor veteran researchers who have a long history of significant contributions to their fields of research.

Office of Research/UWM Foundation Research Awards

First awarded in 1979, the annual Office of Research /UWM Foundation Research Awards recognize and encourage UWM assistant and associate professors who have shown the potential to achieve distinction in their academic disciplines through scholarship, creative activity, and the dissemination of knowledge.

Departments/programs are encouraged to nominate a faculty member for an award. In addition to providing a means of honoring outstanding researchers, these awards recognize our collective commitment to academic research and to the importance of UWM‘s research mission.

Eligibility

  1. Open to assistant and associate professors.
  2. Full professors and Distinguished Professors are ineligible.
  3. Previous research awardees are ineligible.
  4. One individual may be nominated from a single department or program.

Nomination

The nomination materials should include a letter of nomination from a dean, department chair, or multidisciplinary program director; two letters of support; and an up-to-date vita. You may secure letters of support from UWM faculty members or from colleagues outside UWM. If you wish to submit or quote from confidential letters written for another purpose, you must first secure the permission of the author(s).

A call for nominations is sent to campus each Spring from the Office of the Vice Provost for Research.

Selection

The Committee of UWM Distinguished Professors reviews the nominations and makes recommendations to the interim vice provost for research for the final selections. The individuals selected as recipients receive a $1,500 award and will be honored at the fall UWM Awards Ceremony.

Office of Research Senior Faculty Awards

The UWM Research Foundation, in collaboration with the Office of Research, has established the UWM Research Foundation Senior Faculty Awards, designed to recognize researchers who have a long history of significant contributions to their field of research.

We encourage you to consider nominating a member of your department/program for an award. In addition to providing a means of honoring outstanding researchers, these awards recognize our collective commitment to academic research and to the importance of UWM‘s research mission.

Eligibility

  1. Open to full Professors.
  2. UWM Distinguished Professors are ineligible.
  3. Previous awardees are ineligible.
  4. Only one individual may be nominated from a single department or multidisciplinary program.

Nomination

The nomination materials should include a letter of nomination from a dean, department chair, or multidisciplinary program director; two letters of support; and an up-to-date vita. You may secure letters of support from UWM faculty members or from colleagues outside UWM. Submission of or quotation from confidential letters written for another purpose require permission of the author(s).

Selection

The Committee of UWM Distinguished Professors will review the nominations and make recommendations to the Vice Provost for Research for the final selections. The individuals selected as recipients receive a $1,500 reward and will be honored at the fall UWM Awards Ceremony.

Research in the Humanities Award (Biennial)

The Office of Research offers the Research in the Humanities Award which recognizes outstanding scholarship and research in the Humanities within the past two years.

The award recipient will have demonstrated a comprehensive grasp of the subject(s) of inquiry and research and will have made a substantive contribution to humanistic thought through a monograph or other scholarly publication during the two years prior to the award year.

In each odd-numbered year, the Office of Research solicits award nominations of faculty members in the Humanities (see below for eligible departments). The faculty member selected for the award is honored at the Fall Awards Ceremony and receive a $1,500 prize.

Eligibility

  • Humanities faculty members in the following departments: African and African Diaspora Studies; Ancient & Modern Languages, Literatures, and Cultures; Art History; Communication; English; Global Studies; History; Linguistics; Literatures, and Cultures; Philosophy; Spanish and Portuguese; Translation and Interpreting; Women’s and Gender Studies.
  • Author of monograph or other scholarly publication that was published during January 1, 2021, through December 31, 2022.

Nomination

The nomination materials should include a letter of nomination; two letters of support; an up-to-date vita and a copy of the monograph or other scholarly publication. Calls for nomination are generally issued in February of each award year, with a March deadline.

Outstanding Creative Research Achievement Award (Biennial)

The Outstanding Creative Research Achievement Award recognizes a UWM faculty member for achieving significant artistic or creative contribution to their field or discipline within the past three years. The recipient will receive $1,500 and be honored at the Fall Awards ceremony. The award is offered biennially in rotation with the award that recognizes scholarly monographs in the humanities.

Eligibility

Any tenured or tenure-track faculty member of the University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee is eligible to be nominated for this award. Evidence of artistic or creative accomplishment (significant advancement of knowledge, technique, or creative expression) must be in a form that is appropriate to the nominee’s professional field/discipline.

Selection

A panel composed of the Vice Provost for Research; Associate Deans in the College of Arts and Architecture, the College of Letters & Science (AD for Humanities), and the chair of the Arts and Humanities divisional committee will make the final selection.

Nominations

The nomination materials should include a letter of nomination and an up-to-date vita. Calls for nomination are generally issued in January of each award year, with a March deadline.