Funding to support rich projects and building communities of scholars
Application Deadlines:
Monday, April 15, 2024 (for funding to be used by July 3, 2024 – June 1, 2025)
View our 2023-2024 Collaboratory Groups.
About
C21 believes that the complex challenges we face in the 21st century are best met through collaborations across areas of expertise and experience, and that the humanities are a vital part of addressing these challenges.
Collaboratory funding is an opportunity to bring together teams of scholars across disciplines, across university and community partnerships, and across emerging and established scholars (students / staff / faculty) to inspire the generation of new ideas.
New this year: There are two levels of collaboratory funding.
- Working Groups. These are collaboratives that aim to gather for ongoing discussions, networking, and idea generation. They do not necessarily have a full project in mind yet.
Working Groups receive $500 which might be used to support:- A speaker
- Hospitality
- Books/supplies
- Collaborative Projects: These are collaboratives that have a specific project in mind. These collaboratives are eligible for up to $10,000 in funding, which is designed to be seed funding for teams to establish proof of concept / research legwork to apply for/find additional funding or sustainable support structures. C21 staff can also provide additional in-kind support in arranging talks, making connections, and sharing communications etc.
Goals for Collaborative Project teams might include:
- Creating a new curricular element such as a minor, certificate program, or micro-
credential offering at UWM - Designing / Researching a new course to be team taught across disciplines
- Designing / Holding a symposium or series of events Researching / Writing an interdisciplinary grant project / proposal
Initiatives / goals of Collaboratories might include:
- Creating a sustainable network of people interested in a given research area
- Creating a new curricular element such as a minor, certificate program, or micro-
credential offering at UWM - Designing / Researching a new course to be team taught across disciplines
- Designing / Holding a symposium or series of events – note that C21 reserves spring semester to assist with Collaboratory-related events.
- Researching / Writing an interdisciplinary grant project / proposal
Eligibility/Requirements
- All collaboratories must include researchers from more than one unit (i.e., department, division, or college) and at least one person from the humanities.
- All collaboratives are encouraged to pursue a broad diversity in their membership, including students, academic staff, and community members. Working Groups will have a PantherList created for them through C21 – with an open subscriber button available on the C21 website.
- All collaboratories will be expected to meet at least once a month. C21 will make space available on the 9th floor of Curtin Hall.
- All collaboratories are expected to write reports on all activities at the end of the year.
- Collaborative Project funding is implementation funding to be used within the year it is granted. Former collaboratory groups that have received similar funding twice are eligible for Working Group funding.
- Collaborative Project teams must apply for at least one external or internal grant per year. C21 and the Office of Research will assist as needed with grant preparation.
- While an academic product (essays, articles, books, exhibits etc) might be a goal of a Collaborative Project group, teams are expected to tell the story of their efforts to a broad audience. This might be through newsletters, podcasts, public presentations.
How to Apply
Proposals, which should not exceed 1000 words, should answer the following questions:
Working Groups
- What question or challenge is the group addressing?
- What is the organizing logic for the composition of the group’s members (e.g., why these members?)
- What activities will the Working Group pursue and when (timeline)?
- How do you plan to spend the $500?
Collaborative Projects
- What question or challenge is the group addressing?
- What is the organizing logic for the composition of the group’s members (e.g., why these members?)
- What activities will the Collaborative Project members pursue and when (timeline)?
- Which grants (names / descriptions) will the Collaborative Project group apply for and what assistance might be needed?
- What are the anticipated outcomes of the Collaborative Project and how will success be measured?
- How does the group plan to make its story/progress of the Collaborative Project known to a broad audience?
- What are the estimated costs (and timeline for expenditures by month)? What assistance might the Collaborative Project team need from C21 staff?
Each Working Group or Collaborative Project team should identify a lead, UWM principal investigator (PI), who will be responsible for receiving and disbursing funds (from their home department) and for reporting on the group’s activities.
Proposals can be submit through this form (Please note: new form added 11/14/22).
Questions?
C21 strongly encourages questions and inquiries in advance of proposals, the deadline for applications is April 15th, 2024. Proposals should be submitted through the Google Form platform accessible at this link. Questions should be submitted to c21@uwm.edu.
This program is sponsored by the UWM College of Letters and Science.