Collaborative Research Support Program

Program Description

The Collaborative Research Support Program, funded by the University of Utah Research Foundation, will support interdisciplinary groups of researchers to prepare grant proposals for large group research. This program is for the preparation of the proposal itself. Groups should include five or more faculty researchers and seek funding resulting in direct costs of over $1M/year (total costs approximately $1.5M/year). Collaborations with on and off campus researchers, industry, and government agencies are encouraged.

The Collaborative Research Support Program is distinct from the university’s other intramural programs supporting research. To request equipment necessary for a research project, a proposal should be submitted to the Research Instrumentation Fund competition. The Seed Grant program is intended to support the collection of pilot data needed for submission of an extramural research grant. Proposals requesting support for commercialization of a research finding should be directed to the Technology Commercialization Program.

Preference will be given to programs that:

  1. Have strong potential to generate large extramural funding.
  2. Build on existing university research strengths.
  3. Facilitate future strategic research directions.
  4. Incorporate a strong collaborative research team from multiple departments and colleges.
  5. Have the potential for high positive impact on society.

Applicant Eligibility

Applications are accepted at any time during the year. The Principal Investigator must be a tenured Professor in residence at the University of Utah at the time of application with an appointment of at least 0.75 FTE. The remainder of the team may include researchers at the University of Utah, other universities, industry, etc. However, salary or funds to buy out classes can be provided only for University of Utah employees.

Proposal Submission

Proposals can be submitted at any time throughout the year. One hard copy of the proposal should be submitted electronically to the Vice President for Research office (ATTN: Angela Allen). Within 1-2 weeks, you will be contacted for an interview time where you will be asked to present your project and discuss funding needs.

  1. Project Description (3-5 pages): The project description should include, in this order:
    1. Contact information for all members of the team
    2. Proposed collaborative research:
      1. Background and existing research (what preliminary results are available for the proposal?)
      2. Proposed work to be done if the extramural proposal is funded (objectives of the proposal)
      3. Future / long term research direction
      4. Impact of this research (technical contributions, societal benefit, career growth for the participants or others, benefit to the university, etc.)
    3. Team: Who will be involved at this university and others? Briefly describe their skills relative to the project and their current and past collaborations relative to the project.
    4. Extramural Proposal: Provide a specific plan for development of extramural proposal. A specific target date for submission should be specified.
      1. Program: Indicate from which extramural support program you will be seeking support. Which grant submission deadline will you be targeting? What is the approximate budget level of the proposal to be developed?
      2. Work Plan: Give a detailed time line of the proposal preparation. Who is doing what when? What additional support do you need (and when) from the grant writers?
      3. Pre-Review: Who will read and comment on your proposal before it is submitted? (Having a colleague pre-review your grant significantly increases its likelihood of being funded.)
    5. Resources needed for the project if the proposal is funded (matching funds, space, etc.)

    Note: It is important that you consult the Technology Transfer Office before disclosing details of any research that may be patentable. Any confidential information in this proposal must be clearly identified by marking as “Confidential” at the top and bottom of each page and where the confidential information appears.

  2. Budget (1-2 pages)

    Awards will include a ‘grant of time’ of the University of Utah Collaborative Grant Writing Officers and up to $50k in additional support.


    Collaborative Grant Writing Officers are available to help coordinate the team proposal preparation, work with the team to review and adapt the proposal to be responsive to the call for proposals, help identify additional personnel to complete or augment the team, and to collect and submit university and external paper work including biographies, current/pending support, facilities, budgets, etc.


    $50k in funding is available for salaries and fringe benefits of post doctoral fellows, students, technicians, and other non-faculty project personnel, technical supplies, (minimal) equipment, travel (for university of non-university personnel if directly in support of proposal preparation), and miscellaneous expenses. Funds can also be used to ‘buy out’ teaching time of key team members to provide sufficient time for proposal preparation.


    The team should describe the budget that is needed, in detail, including justification of each element of the budget and how it applies to the development of the proposal, when the funding is needed (particularly for proposal preparation that crosses fiscal years). The budget should also include specific requests for grant writer time, with dates.

  3. Current and Pending Support

    Complete for each Principal Investigator and co-Investigator. Use additional page for each if necessary.

  4. Biographical Sketches
    Complete for each Principal Investigator and co-Investigator. Do not exceed two pages for each.
  5. Letters of Support

    Letters of support are not needed at the time of proposal. Before the project is funded, letters of support will be needed from anyone providing support for the proposal, including off campus researchers, companies, department chairs allowing faculty buy out or released time, etc.

    Please include a list of all faculty and their deans and department chairs, as well as contact information for all off-campus participants at the time of proposal.

Proposal Evaluation

Applications will be reviewed by the Vice President for Research, Associate Vice Presidents for Research in consultation with the deans and/or department chairs or equivalent of the faculty involved. Additional faculty members may be added on an ad hoc basis by the Vice President for Research. Applicants will be informed of the panel's recommendations within 4 weeks of the interview meeting.

Review Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated using this set of criteria:

  1. Is there strong potential to generate large extramural funding?
  2. Does the proposal build on existing university research strengths?
  3. Does the proposal facilitate future strategic research directions?
  4. Does the team have the expertise to compete effectively for the extramural funding?
  5. Does the team demonstrate strong collaborative between multiple departments and colleges?
  6. Does the research have the potential for high positive impact on society?
  7. Are the resources needed for a competitive proposal available?

Grant Administration

The Principal Investigator is responsible for the administration of grant funds. In particular, he/she must be certain that over-expenditures do not occur.

The PI is responsible for meeting with the AVP for Research periodically as defined in the work plan for the proposal preparation to ensure that the work is progressing as planned.

Reporting Requirement

Successful applicants must produce a new proposal for extramural funding , which is considered the final report for this project.

If you have any questions about the program in general, please contact Dr. Cynthia Furse, Associate Vice President for Research (801.581.7236).

If you have any questions about applying for this program, please contact Angela Allen, Office of the Vice President for Research (801.581.7236).