VPR Programs
The Office of the Vice President for Research funds a wide array of internal support programs, from competitive postdoctoral fellowships to support for conferences to larger research grants. A few of the most popular programs include the following:
Igniting Research Collaborations (IRC)
The IRC Pilot must be a NEW collaboration of faculty from at least two different colleges. The maximum budget amount is $50,000. Typical awards are in the $25,000 - $30,000 range. Proposals are typically due in the spring.
“UKinSPIRE is intended to stimulate high-impact research projects in any discipline linking UK faculty and international collaborators, and to establish collaborations with new international partner institutions or add greater depth to existing institutional partnerships.”
“…provide recurring funds to support grant programs for research, scholarship, and creative works in areas of excellence that are not traditionally amenable to external funding.” This program does not fund faculty salaries, travel that is unrelated to the research project, routine office equipment or laptop computers. Grants have ranged from ~ $2,000 to ~ $10,000 over roughly 10 months.
We are pleased to announce a call for proposals for 2026-2027 CURATE (Celebrating University Research Across the Enterprise) awards. Funding for the CURATE program, provided by the Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR), is intended to further research, scholarship, and creative works in areas of excellence with fewer opportunities for external funding, such as the humanities.
CURATE funds can be requested via the proposal process described below for one of the two following purposes:
- Support of summer salary for eligible faculty
- Eligible faculty include those with at least a nine-month appointment whose academic year Research Distribution of Effort is between 10% and 50%
- Support for a broad range of research activities for eligible faculty, not including summer salary, unrelated travel, computers, office equipment, etc.
- Eligible faculty include those whose academic year Research Distribution of Effort is at least 10%
Funds for those proposals selected for an award will be available effective May 1, 2026, and must then be spent and fully posted by March 31, 2027. A final report to the OVPR must then be submitted by Oct.1, 2027. No-cost extensions to permit spending beyond March 31, 2027, are possible via discussion with College leadership, who will then transmit any such requests to the OVPR, who holds final authority.
Proposals must consist of the following:
- Cover page with the faculty member’s (or members’) name(s), rank(s), department(s), project title, and abstract (250 words or fewer).
- Collaborative proposals submitted by more than one faculty member are welcome. The PI and Co-PI(s) should be clearly indicated.
- One-page narrative describing the research, creative, or scholarly work to be undertaken, including the impact on the department(s) and the College.
- Budget with requested line items, and a brief justification for each line item. No specific format is required.
- List of current and pending support, including both external and internal funding sources, stating the amounts and available dates. No specific format is required.
- Brief statement of support from the PI’s department chair. This only needs to be one or, at most, two paragraphs.
Proposals are to be submitted as a single PDF file (with the items ordered as above) by Jan. 30, 2026 via this link.
The RPAs often offer seed grants and equipment grants to support research in their areas. Becoming a member and getting on the mailing list for relevant RPAs is the first step.
Provost Programs
The Office of the Provost offers a few research grant programs, including the Impact awards. Provost programs are announced by email, usually in the spring.
The International Center offers several professional development programs and awards programs in addition to grants and contracts, including the UKInSPIRE program, a joint effort with the Office of the Vice President for Research.