The Office of the Vice Provost for Research is pleased to announce three new funding opportunities as part of a restructured University Research Foundation (URF). The goal of the new programs is to optimize resources for Penn faculty to create new knowledge.

The reconfigured URF will offer three grant opportunities: Research Grants, Impact Seminar Grants and Research Opportunity Development Grants. There will be two solicitations for these grant applications each year with the same deadlines.

URF Research Grants will continue, as in the past, with awards up to $50K. Conference support up to $3K will also continue.

URF Impact Seminar Grants will make awards up to $20K for support for a cross-school, cross-disciplinary event to be held on Penn’s campus within a year of the award. Funding for this award can be used to augment an already scheduled University event. The event—which can be a symposium, forum or conference—should occur over one to two days and be open to the entire Penn community. It should highlight the scholarship of Penn faculty and bring distinguished scholars to Penn’s campus, with a particular focus on the University’s distinguishing strength in integrating knowledge. Documented school and/or department matching funds are required.

URF Research Opportunity Development Grants (RODG) assist teams of interdisciplinary investigators in exploring new fields and creating competitive proposals to support substantive new research programs. Teams must include faculty from multiple departments and/or schools and aim to increase Penn’s impact in an emerging field by identifying and securing the necessary resources to continue pursuing their research.

The RODG program offers two grant awards with distinct terms and expected outcomes. A Phase 1 grant would typically lead to a Phase 2 grant.

Phase 1: Topic Exploration and Team Formation Grants will range from $2K to $10K for one year in support of information exchange and benchmarking to explore the potential of new and emerging fields. Examples of funded activities could include workshops, conferences and task forces.

Phase 2: Research Development Grants will range from $50K to $200K for two years in support of collaborative preliminary research to provide the outcomes necessary for successful substantive proposals in targeted emerging areas of external support for team research. Examples of funded activities could include pilot studies, research consumables, postdoc support and website development. In some limited situations dedicated administrative support would be allowable. Expected outcomes would be a new proposal in an emerging research area, co-authored publications, joint presentations and workshops. Documented matching department and/or school funds will be considered positively.

Disciplines for all award programs: Biomedical Sciences, Humanities, Natural Sciences and Engineering, Social Science and Management.

Budget: Each program has separate budget requirements.

Eligibility for all award programs: Eligibility is limited to Penn assistant, associate and full professors, in any track. Instructors and research associates must provide a letter from their department chair establishing that the applicant will receive an appointment as an assistant professor by the time of the award. Assistant professors must submit a letter from their department chair describing their research independence. Adjunct faculty are not eligible to apply. Awards must be expended on University of Pennsylvania facilities, equipment and/or associated University technical staff and undergraduate students.

Detailed information including application materials can be found at http://www.upenn.edu/research/smarts/university_research_foundation/

This article is related to Fall 2015: University Research Foundation Awards and Conference Support Awards