Internal Funding
UURF INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH INITIATIVE
FY26 Deadlines:
Track 1: 11:59 PM, on Thursday, October 23rd, 2025
Track 2: 11:59 PM, on Thursday, March 19th, 2026
Award Amount:
Track 1: up to $50,000
Track 2: up to $250,000
Description:
The University of Utah Research Foundation (UURF) Interdisciplinary Research Initiative is designed to produce use-inspired research and outcomes that will address national priorities, global competitiveness and strong economic futures. Proposals must be aligned with one or more of the 24 emerging priority areas outlined in the VPR strategic plan. The primary outcome for this program is to support investigators in producing external funding proposal submissions. Exemplary proposals will be focused on use-inspired research and demonstrate a clear timeline and proposal development plan for extramural submissions.
FACULTY SMALL GRANT PROGRAM (FSGP)
FY26 Deadline:
11:59pm (MST) on Thursday, December 4th, 2025
Award Amount:
up to $10,000
Description:
The Faculty Small Grant Program (FSGP) provides grants of up to $10,000 over 1 year to support scholarly publications and creative research.
FACULTY FELLOW AWARDS (FFA)
FY26 Deadlines:
Step One: 11:59pm (MST) on Thursday, October 2nd, 2025
Step Two: 11:59pm (MST) on Thursday, October 30th, 2025
Award Amount:
$15,000 is provided to awardee's department to offset cost of release.
Description:
The Faculty Fellow Awards (FFA) provide a semester of full release time (from teaching and administrative tasks) at full salary to eligible faculty for scholarly or creative research projects. $15,000 is provided to the awardee’s department to defer the cost of the release time.
DISTINGUISHED RESEARCH AWARDS
FY26 Deadline:
11:59pm (MST) on Thursday, December 11th, 2025
Award Amount:
Up to $10,000
Description:
The Distinguished Research Award (DRA) is a prestigious faculty award designed to recognize outstanding achievements in research by three University of Utah faculty each year.
RESEARCH INSTRUMENTATION FUND (RIF)
FY26 Deadline:
11:59pm (MST) on Thursday, January 8th, 2026
Award Amount:
Up to $250,000
Description:
The Research Instrumentation Fund (RIF) provides support to faculty and core facilities necessary research instrumentation purchases and upgrades/replacements. Research instrumentation purchased with RIF funds is meant to be shared as broadly as possible and must be used to facilitate externally funded research and scholarship.
1U4U COLLABORATIVE SEED GRANT PROGRAM
FY26 Deadline:
11:59pm (MST) on Thursday, February 26th, 2026
Award Amount:
Up to $50,000
Description:
The 1U4U Collaborative Seed Grant Program supports cross-campus/cross-disciplinary research teams to solve the greatest challenges facing our local, national, and global communities. The goal of 1U4U is to incentivize researchers from different disciplines to collaborate. Exemplary proposals will focus on bringing together researchers from different fields-of-study, departments, colleges, units, and other intellectual or organizational divides to pursue groundbreaking research. For 2025-2026, the theme of the 1U4U Seed Grant Program is Mental and Behavioral Health.
HIGH TECH WEST - PITCH COMPETITION
FY26 Deadline:
11:59pm on Sunday, October 26, 2025
Award Amount:
Varies by project.
Description:
Formerly known as the Remote & Austere Conditions (RAC) Grand Challenge, High Tech West is an expanded, multi-day pitch event that unites leading research experts, industry partners, and legislative representatives to explore groundbreaking technologies, innovative ideas, and holistic solutions to tackle pressing challenges our country faces. Full details about this program are coming soon!
REQUEST A NO-COST EXTENSION
If a VPR-sponsored project cannot be completed in the initial award period, the Investigator may submit a single no-cost extension request to be reviewed and approved by the VPR. NCE requests must be submitted using the webform found below.