The University of Delaware Research Foundation, Inc. (UDRF) is a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization supporting fundamental research in all science, engineering, and social science fields. Although an independent corporation, it is chartered primarily to support the University's research mission. The primary objective of the UDRF grant program is to improve a Principal Investigator's research competitiveness for future external funding. Additionally, the program seeks to further the professional development of the recipients and advance the University’s research prominence. 

Refer to the published UDRF 2024-25 Guidelines for detailed information about proposal preparation, application requirements, and submission.

Applicants are required to submit an LOI on or before 12/4/2024 11:59 pm. Applicants who do not submit an LOI by the stated deadline will be ineligible to submit a full proposal. 

UDRF-SI Webinar: Thursday, November 21, 2024 1:00-2:00 pm. Register for the webinar here. 

Full proposals are due on 01/17/2025 11:59 pm.

Eligibility: UDRF grants support proposals from untenured, tenure-track faculty only. Tenured faculty are ineligible as Principal Investigator (PI) but may serve as co-PI. Previous UDRF award recipients are ineligible as PI but may serve as co-PI. Faculty may apply to both the UDRF and UDRF-SI programs within a calendar year. However, only one award may be given per calendar year.

Application Information: The UDRF Proposal Template must be used. All components should be single-spaced using 11-pt Arial font with one-inch margins. Additional information such as References, Budget Justification, PI and co-PI NSF-style Biosketches, and PI and co-PI NSF-style Current & Pending Support should be combined with the proposal template and submitted as one PDF document. Incomplete applications will be returned without review.

Review Criteria:  University of Delaware Research Foundation grants are awarded based on eligibility and merit and administered by the UD Research Office. UDRF proposals are evaluated by a committee of external reviewers. The UDRF Board of Trustees makes the final award decisions based on the recommendations of the review committee. 

• Intellectual Merit (30%): Does the proposed work significantly advance domain knowledge and enhance the PI’s research competitiveness?
• Broader Impacts (15%): Does the proposed work have the potential to benefit society and contribute to the achievement of specific, desired societal outcomes?
• Incremental vs. New Idea (15%): Does the proposed work press the PI into a novel research area? New research directions for the PI are particularly encouraged. 
• Feasibility (10%): Likelihood of completion within one to two years.
• Likelihood of Future External Funding (20%): Does the proposal articulate clear achievable goals which will likely attract new external funding? (e.g., NIH, NSF, DoE, DoD, USDA, State, Foundations, Private Sector, etc.)?
• Clarity of Presentation (10%): Proposals are reviewed by generalists in the area/discipline; hence clarity of presentation is of great importance.