The 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.

Refer to the published UDRF-SI 2025-26 Guidelines for detailed information about proposal preparation, application requirements, and submission.

Applicants are required to submit an LOI on or before 10/14/2025 11:59 pm. (LOIs can be submitted as early as September 25, 2025.) Applicants who do not submit an LOI by the stated deadline will be ineligible to submit a full proposal. 

Full proposals are due on 11/07/25 11:59 pm.

Eligibility: 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.

Application Information: The UDRF-SI Proposal Template must be used for formatting the proposal which is submitted as a single PDF document. All components should be single-spaced using 11-pt Arial font with one-inch margins. Proposals must include: Title; Executive Summary; Project Description; References; Budget; Budget Justification, two-page NSF style biosketches for each PI; and Current & Pending Support for each PI.

Review Criteria:  University of Delaware Research Foundation grants are awarded based on eligibility and merit and administered by the UD Research Office. UDRF-SI proposals are first evaluated by UD faculty experts, and then by an administrative panel responsible for advancing research both within and across colleges. The UDRF Board of Trustees makes the final award decisions based on the input of this two-tiered review process. 

• Intellectual Merit (40%): Does the proposed work significantly advance domain knowledge, address one of the University’s strategic pillars, and enhance the PI’s research competitiveness?
• Collaboration (20%): Does the collaboration press the PIs into a novel research area requiring the expertise of both collaborators? 
• Mentoring Plan (10%):  Does the proposal include a substantive mentoring plan?
• 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?