Aug 1 - Oct 2
New Internal Funding Opportunity: Faculty Fellow Awards (FFA)
Intramural Funding
Program Description
The Faculty Fellow Awards (FFA) provides faculty members one semester of full release time (from teaching and administrative tasks) at full salary for scholarly and creative 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.* Departments of awarded faculty will receive up to $15,000 to defer the cost of the awardee’s release time.
The semester of leave must take place in the next academic year. Individuals applying to the 2025-2026 cycle would apply for Fall 2026 or Spring 2027 as their requested semester of leave.
The FFA requires a one-semester release. As a university wide program, a one-semester release has different interpretations at the college and unit level. On a 2/2 teaching load, a one-semester release is a two-course reduction, whereas on a 1/1 teaching load, it is a one-course reduction. For clinical faculty, it is a reduction in clinical hours which varies significantly based on the nature and form of clinical hours in the unit. Faculty should consult with their unit head prior to applying to confirm expected teaching release.
*Listed definitions of scholarly and creative research work are not meant to be comprehensive. Questions about whether your research/creative work would qualify for the FFA Program should be directed to vprgrants@utah.edu.
FY26 Deadline: 11:59pm (MST) on Thursday, October 2nd, 2025
Apply here via InfoReady
The Faculty Fellow Awards (FFA) provides faculty members one semester of full release time (from teaching and administrative tasks) at full salary for scholarly and creative 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.* Departments of awarded faculty will receive up to $15,000 to defer the cost of the awardee’s release time.
The semester of leave must take place in the next academic year. Individuals applying to the 2025-2026 cycle would apply for Fall 2026 or Spring 2027 as their requested semester of leave.
The FFA requires a one-semester release. As a university wide program, a one-semester release has different interpretations at the college and unit level. On a 2/2 teaching load, a one-semester release is a two-course reduction, whereas on a 1/1 teaching load, it is a one-course reduction. For clinical faculty, it is a reduction in clinical hours which varies significantly based on the nature and form of clinical hours in the unit. Faculty should consult with their unit head prior to applying to confirm expected teaching release.
*Listed definitions of scholarly and creative research work are not meant to be comprehensive. Questions about whether your research/creative work would qualify for the FFA Program should be directed to vprgrants@utah.edu.
FY26 Deadline: 11:59pm (MST) on Thursday, October 2nd, 2025
Apply here via InfoReady