2025-2026 Research Instrumentation Fund (RIF)
Deadline: 11:59pm (MST) on Thursday, January 8th, 2026. Applications for the RIF program are due on the second Thursday of January each year.
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. RIF only awards research instrumentation requests that fall into one of the below categories:
- Requests for new research instrumentation that will be leveraged to pursue external funding within one year of equipment installation.
- Requests for new research instrumentation that will increase competitiveness of an external funding proposal that was recently denied funding due to lack of specific research instrumentation or data produced by that instrumentation. Application must include specific details on how equipment will increase competitiveness. For example, this is best demonstrated through external reviewer feedback or other direct commentary from the funder.
- Requests for upgrading or replacing existing, on-campus research instrumentation that poses a safety/security risk to the UofU community.
- Requests for upgrading or replacing existing, on-campus research instrumentation that is outdated, non-functional.
Funding decisions are based on merit of the proposal, demonstrated need, impact of the equipment on the U of U research community, likelihood that equipment purchase will be leveraged to secure extramural funding, and availability of funds.
Applications for the 2025-2026 RIF cycle are due by 11:59pm (MST) on Thursday, January 8th, 2026. Interested applicants should thoroughly review all FY26 RIF Guidelines before preparing an application. Questions about this program should be directed to Whitney MacKay.
Faculty Small Grant Program (FSGP) – FY26 Cycle
Deadline: 11:59pm (MST) on Thursday, December 4th, 2025. The FSGP has one cycle per fiscal year. This is to maximize available funding for the program and provide potential applicants with substantial time to prepare their application. Applications for the FSGP are due the first Thursday in December each year.
The Faculty Small Grant Program (FSGP) provides grants of up to $10,000 over 1 year to support scholarly publications and creative research. Scholarly activity is defined as a work of scholarship that is peer reviewed and publicly disseminated. Examples of scholarly activity should demonstrate discovery and/or integration of new knowledge, technologies, methods, or materials. Creative research activity is defined as original contributions to an investigator’s field of study that are produced through writing, creating, composing, designing, recording, performing, curating, etc.
The Faculty Small Grant Program will have a tiered funding option. Total budget requested must align with one of the following tiers:
- Tier 1: Up to $3,500
- Tier 2: Up to $5,000
- Tier 3: Up to $10,0000
Applications for the 2025-2026 cycle are due by 11:59pm (MST) on Thursday, December 4th, 2025. Interested applicants should thoroughly review all FY26 FSGP Guidelines before preparing an application. Questions about this program should be directed to Whitney MacKay.
2025-2026 Distinguished Research Award (DRA)
Deadline: 11:59pm (MST) on Thursday, December 11th, 2025. DRA nominations are due the second Thursday of December, annually. Nominations must be submitted using InfoReady. Late nominations will not be accepted.
The Distinguished Research Award (DRA) is a prestigious faculty award designed to recognize outstanding achievements in research by three University of Utah faculty members each year. This prestigious research award provides the faculty member with a $10,000 grant to pursue research and/or creative pursuits and recognition at the UofU Commencement. Nominees are evaluated on the impact and significance of their career research or scholarly work to their field, as well as to the improvement and enrichment of the human condition. Nominations are accepted once per academic year.
Nominations for the 2025-2026 cycle are due by 11:59pm (MST) on Thursday, December 11th, 2025, and must be submitted using this submission link. Please thoroughly review all FY26 DRA Guidelines before preparing a nomination. Questions about this program should be directed to Whitney MacKay.
2025-2026 Faculty Fellow Awards (FFA)
Deadline: 11:59pm (MST) on Thursday, October 2nd, 2025.
The Faculty Fellow Awards (FFA) provide awarded faculty members one semester of full release time (from teaching and administrative tasks) at full salary for scholarly and creative projects. Scholarly activity is defined as a work of scholarship that is peer reviewed and publicly disseminated. Examples of scholarly activity should demonstrate discovery and/or integration of new knowledge, technologies, methods, or materials. Creative research activity is defined 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 2024-2025 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.
The FFA program accepts applications once per year. The FFA application process is two steps:
- Faculty submit their applications via InfoReady on or before the first Thursday of October. The deadline for step 1 of the FY26 FFA program is 11:59pm (MST) on Thursday, October 2nd, 2025.
- Colleges submit their top 10 applications (with a ranking letter) on or before the last Thursday in October. The deadline for Step 2 of the FY25 FFA program is 11:59pm (MST) on Thursday, October 30th, 2025.
Interested applicants should thoroughly review all FY26 FFA Guidelines before preparing an application. Questions about this program should be directed to Whitney MacKay.
2025-2026 University of Utah Research Foundation (UURF) Interdisciplinary Research Initiative
Track 1 deadline: 11:59pm (MST) on Thursday, October 23rd, 2025.
Track 2 deadline: 11:59pm (MST) on Thursday, March 19th, 2026.
The 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. For purposes of this RFP, use-inspired research is driven by the potential use of the knowledge it generates.
Applications must be submitted by teams with personnel from two or more different units. Teams should focus on bringing together researchers from different fields-of-study, departments, colleges, units, and other intellectual or organizational divides to pursue groundbreaking use-inspired research. Industry and philanthropic partners can be considered as units of participation.
The program has two tracks:
Track 1: Seed Grants
- Track 1 provides a smaller amount of funding and is designed to support early stages of a research project. Seed grants are typically awarded for the first phases of a project.
- The total requested budget from the UURF is up to $50,000. Matching funds are required and must equal or exceed 30% of the requested budget.
- Example: If a Track 1 project requests the full $50,000 in UURF funding, the award breakdown would be $35,000 in UURF funds and $15,000 in matching funds.
- Full funding from the UURF provided up front.
- Deadline: 11:59 PM MST on Thursday, October 23rd, 2025.
- Apply for Track 1 here via InfoReady
Track 2: Large Impact Grants
- Track 2 provides a larger amount of funding and is designed to significantly expand or scale-up existing work for broader impact or application. Large impact grants are not typically awarded for the first phases of a project but will be applicable once a project has mature data, etc. and is ready to be scaled up.
- The total amount of funding provided from the UURF is up to $250,000. Matching funds are required and must equal or exceed 30% of the requested budget.
- Example: If a Track 2 project requests the full $250,000 in UURF funding, the award breakdown would be $175,000 in UURF funds and $75,000 in matching funds.
- 50% of UURF funding is provided at time of award. Awardees must submit progress report at halfway point. Remaining 50% is contingent on approval of progress report.
- Deadline: 11:59 PM MST on Thursday, March 19th, 2026.
- Apply for Track 2 here via InfoReady
