Internal Funding Opportunities

University-wide funding opportunities

Bridge Funding Program (BRIDGE)

The Bridge Funding Program provides modest financial support for faculty research and scholarship during times when externally funded research programs are between grant cycles.

Deadline: Open Deadline

Maximum amount: $100,000 including 30% match


Eastman Residency for the Arts and Humanities

Deadline: February 16, 2024

Residency of one to three weeks, $500 travel stipend.


Faculty Research Support Program—External Resubmission (FRSP-ER)

FRSP-Seed Funding and FRSP-External Resubmission have replaced the Indianapolis campus program “Research Support Funds Grant (RSFG)”. Supports innovative research projects that were previously submitted for, but did not receive, external funding from federal, state, international, or private nonprofit entities and whose likelihood of funding on resubmission would increase with the acquisition of additional data or proof of concept.

Deadline: Open Deadline

Maximum amount: $50,000


Faculty Research Support Program—Seed Funding (FRSP-SF)

FRSP-Seed Funding and FRSP-External Resubmission have replaced the Indianapolis campus program “Research Support Funds Grant (RSFG)”. Supports new, innovative research projects that have not previously submitted for external funding.

Deadline: TBD

Maximum amount: $50,000


Grant-in-Aid of Research and Creative Activity (GIA)

Interim support for faculty research and scholarship to help initiate new research and creative activities and supply modest support at unusually critical times.

Deadline: Open Deadline

Maximum amount: $3,000


IU Presidential Arts and Humanities Program

Supports path-breaking work in arts and humanities areas. Funding is available through four programs.

Deadline: See specific programs.

Funding varies


IU Research and Creative Activity Conference Grant

IU Research and Creative Activity Conference Grants, sponsored by IU Research, provide IU faculty the opportunity to apply for matching funds to curate and host an innovative conference on an IU campus. The purpose is to convene scholars from other institutions around the country and the world with IU faculty and students to explore novel ideas and initiatives, expand scholarly networks, and build new research and creative activity partnerships.

Deadline: Open deadline

IU Research will provide up to $15,000. As a condition of award, proposals must include confirmation of secured funds, or written confirmation of firmly committed funds, equivalent to a minimum of 50% of the requested amount.

Without stated exceptional circumstances, support for conferences convening existing university organizations or academic societies or associations are not eligible.


IU Research Equipment Fund (IU-REF)

The IU-REF provides support for purchasing new research or creative activity equipment, for repairing or upgrading existing equipment, and for datasets at IU university-wide that are strategically necessary to support high-quality research, attract and retain research faculty, and generate external funding for IU Research. The IU-REF program includes the Bloomington, Indianapolis, School of Medicine, and all five regional campuses. All requests to IU Research should be more than $5K (after the required cost-share is secured). There is no maximum request.

Deadline: Open deadline


NIH New and Early-Stage Investigator Writing Cohort Program

Provides investigators intensive mentoring and support in the preparation of NIH Research (R) grant applications in the social or behavioral sciences.

Deadline: TBD


Public Arts and Humanities Project

Deadline: November 10

$25,000 maximum


Social Sciences Research Funding Program

Supports new innovative research projects that foster excellence in the social sciences and advance IU’s national and international reputation. Projects may be initiated by individual faculty members or collaborative, as long as the lead PI is in the social sciences.

Deadline: October 16, 2023

Typical budget for each project will be $20,000 to $35,000 with a maximum award of $50,000 per project.


Bloomington funding opportunities

Competitive funding programs

DoD Biguans - Grant Writing Support Program for DoD Grant Submissions

The Department of Defense Bìguāns (DOD Bìguāns) Funding Program supports individuals and multi-disciplinary teams to write and submit proposals to the Department of Defense. PI's may target any DoD funding mechanism and are encouraged to consider the Peer Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP) which supports projects focused on research that extends beyond the warfighter, military, and veteran populations.

Deadline: February 1, 2024

Varies by category


Enhanced Mentoring Program with Opportunities for Ways to Excel in Research (EMPOWER)

The Enhanced Mentoring Program with Opportunities for Ways to Excel in Research (EMPOWER) provides support to IU Bloomington faculty who are historically underrepresented and/or excluded populations in their discipline.

Deadline: TBD

Varies by category


Faculty Assistance in Data Science

The Program for Faculty Assistance in Data Science (FADS) is designed to provide access to expertise and assistance in advanced data analytics, data visualization, and database development for the purpose of catalyzing faculty research. This program pairs faculty in any discipline with graduate students pursuing a M.S. in Data Science (MSDS) through the Luddy School of Informatics for summer research internships.

Deadline: January 22, 2024

N/A


Open Access Article Publishing Fund

Deadline: Funding for the 2023-2024 academic year is now available. The apply button is listed at the bottom of the page. Please note that IU Libraries has ongoing pilots in place for no-fee open access publishing with publishers including PLOS (all 12 journals), Cambridge (all gold and hybrid journals) and Wiley (hybrid journals). If applicable to your research you should use these pilot programs instead of the OA Fund. Researchers can visit https://guides.libraries.indiana.edu/OApublishing for more information or contact Willa Tavernier at wtavern@iu.edu.

Maximum amount: $2,000


Nominations required

Distinguished Faculty Research Award and Lecture (DFRL)

The Distinguished Faculty Research Award and Lecture recognizes the research achievements of an IU Bloomington faculty member whose work makes important contributions to society.

Deadline: October 3, 2023

Award amount: $5,000


The Luther Dana Waterman Professorship

The Luther Dana Waterman Professorship supports an outstanding early-career professor working in the sciences, broadly defined.

Deadline: August 2025

Award amount: $25,000 per year for five years


Indianapolis funding opportunities

Competitive funding programs

Enhanced Mentoring Program with Opportunities for Ways to Excel in Research (EMPOWER)

EMPOWER provides support to Indianapolis faculty who are historically underrepresented and/or excluded populations in their discipline. The program helps these faculty become successful in sponsored research and scholarly activity and achieve significant professional growth and advancement.

Deadline: November 27, 2023

This program is campus-specific. Contact Etta Ward (emward@iupui.edu) and copy resgrnt@iu.edu with questions.


IAHI Research and Creative Activity Grant Program

The IAHI Research and Creative Activity Grant Program exists to support campus-wide attainment of excellence in research and creative activity in the arts, humanities, and qualitative social sciences. The program is intended to stimulate existing and new research and creative activity and to support faculty in becoming competitive in securing external funding and sponsorship.

Deadline: April 8, 2024

Research and Creative Activity Grants provide up to $10,000 for research travel, equipment, materials, space, research assistant support (max $1500), summer salary, etc.


IAHI Summer Academy Fellowship Grant

The IAHI Summer Academy Fellowship supports IUPUI researchers who wish to participate in the IAHI Summer Academy, an intensive and immersive program focused on aiding scholars in accelerating sustainable major projects that integrate arts, humanities, or qualitative social science approaches into their core research agenda. Summer Academy Fellows participate in a full-time, three-week academy that provides them the time, space, and support to advance their work.

Deadline: April 1, 2024

$5000 in financial support in the form of salary for each member of a collaborative research team (up to three co-applicants) who is employed by IUPUI.