Funding Opportunities
Sign In/Sign UpThe University of Delaware Research Foundation Strategic Initiatives (UDRF-SI) program supports innovative, high-impact scientific research proposals that are likely to elevate the research prominence and the competitiveness of UD’s faculty researchers. In the past, UDRF-SI grants have been primarily in the fields of engineering and the natural and physical sciences. However, proposed work using scientific methods geared towards improving the PI’s research competitiveness for future external funding are eligible. Teams must include one untenured, tenure-track faculty Principal Investigator (PI) and at least one tenured faculty co-PI. Previous UDRF-SI grant PI recipients are ineligible. Collaborating tenured faculty who have received UDRF and/or UDRF SI funding in the past are eligible to again participate as co-PI. Faculty may apply to both the UDRF and UDRF-SI programs in a calendar year. However, only one award may be received per calendar year.
The Moore Inventor Fellowship supports scientist-inventors who create new tools and technologies with a high potential to accelerate progress in the foundation’s areas of interest: scientific discovery, environmental conservation and patient care. With the creation of the fellowship, which supports 5 fellows per year, the Foundation plans to encourage breakthroughs that accelerate progress for the next 50 years. Each fellow receives a total of $825,000 over three years to drive their invention forward, which includes $50,000 per year from their home institution as a commitment to these outstanding individuals.
Founded in 1982, the G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Foundation aims to advance knowledge in life sciences by sponsoring scientific research that will benefit mankind, realizing that true transformative breakthroughs usually occur after a thorough understanding of the fundamental mechanisms underlying natural phenomena. The foundation’s grants program seeks to support innovative, potentially transformative basic science projects in fields including immunology, microbiome, genomics, structural biology, cellular physiology and neuroscience. Grants last three (3) years.
The Blavatnik National Awards honor America’s most innovative young faculty-rank scientists and engineers. These awards celebrate the past accomplishments and future potential of young faculty members working in the three disciplinary categories of Life Sciences, Physical Sciences & Engineering, and Chemistry. Every year, one Blavatnik National Awards Laureate in each disciplinary category will receive $250,000 in unrestricted funds, and additional nominees will be recognized as Finalists.
The Centers for Innovation and Community Engagement in Solid Earth Geohazards are intended to catalyze, coordinate, and produce transformative research in the Earth processes that lead to solid Earth geohazards. Centers provide community-scale leadership in two areas: convergence and innovation in systems-level science, and community engagement to develop a diverse and inclusive workforce, as well as a well-prepared and informed public. Centers will be built around a compelling research challenge or theme of significant scale and complexity that would require a coordinated approach beyond what can be accomplished by a small team of researchers. The program will support basic research on Earth processes, as well as the development of new methods needed to advance the science. The program will help facilitate new collaborations within observational, experimental, theoretical and computational domains that will be essential to address the most exciting questions at the cutting edge of Earth science. This program does not support efforts to operationalize monitoring, forecasting, or prediction of hazards, though partnerships could provide support for these activities. Centers will also meaningfully improve the national welfare through bold and creative activities that broaden participation of underrepresented groups, develop a culture of equity and inclusion, and advance the geoscience workforce. The program’s focus on societally relevant problems provides a platform to engage and train students and postdocs from communities that have been underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
