2025-2026 Internal Awards Are Now Open

The Division of Research is pleased to announce the following awards for the 2025-2026 academic year (pending availability of funding):

1. Awards for Excellence in Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity
2. New Faculty Research Program
3. Small Grants Program
4. Grants to Enhance and Advance Research (GEAR)
5. Equipment Grants
6. Bridge Funds Program
7. National Center and Team Science Planning Award

Awards for Excellence in Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity

Deadline for Nominations: Monday, January 19, 5 p.m.
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Awards of $8,000 each will be made to six faculty, two each at the Assistant Professor, Associate Professor and Professor levels. Priority will be given to accomplishments while in service to the University. Nominations are sought from all units across campus but should be limited to those individuals who are clearly exceptional. An individual can receive an award only once at any level. Faculty who have won an Award for Excellence in Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity at any level may not be nominated again.

New Faculty Research Program

Deadline for Proposals: Friday, October 31, 5 p.m.
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The New Faculty Research Program aids faculty who recently received their terminal degree and who have not had previous support, exclusive of that as a student or a postdoctoral fellow. Grants up to $10,000 will be awarded to individual faculty members, as part of the University of Houston's efforts to support research and scholarly activity that constitute an integral part of the University’s Research program.

Small Grants Program

Deadline for Proposals: Friday, October 31, 5 p.m.
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The purpose of the Small Grants Program is to provide funding for unique or unusual research and scholarly projects not routinely supported by departments or colleges or not currently funded from external sources. Preference will be given to proposals from faculty who presently have limited alternative sources of funding and to proposals that have partial financial support from their department or college. Up to $10,000 per year may be requested.

Grants to Enhance and Advance Research

Deadline for Pre-proposals to Colleges: Friday, October 31, 5 p.m.
Deadline for Full Proposals to DOR: Friday, January 30, 5 p.m.
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The Grants to Enhance and Advance Research (GEAR) program is designed to increase and diversify research funding at UH. Funds for this program are derived from the indirect costs of funded research awards. The GEAR program seeks bold new ideas, showing clear evidence of high likelihood of securing extramural grant funding in the short term and viability as a research program in the long-term. Funding requests may range from $10,000 to $40,000 depending upon the type and scope of research. 

Equipment Grants

Deadline for Pre-Proposals to DOR: Monday, December 1, 5 p.m.
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The purpose of the Equipment Grants program is to support research labs and groups with modern equipment considered necessary for preparing competitive external research proposals. About 70% of the awards will be allocated for proposals in the University's research priority areas. Another 30% will be for any relevant area selected by an investigator. Proposals will be considered for small equipment grants and can range up to $50,000.

Bridge Funds Program

Deadline for Proposals: Rolling
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The purpose of the Bridge Fund Grant program is to ensure the continuation of research projects that have the highest likelihood of restoring external funding. It is intended to support full-time tenured faculty, or in rare cases tenure-track faculty, who have no other source of funds, and who can demonstrate that their programs have a reasonable likelihood of renewed funding. A total of $200,000 has been allocated for 2025-2026.

National Center and Team Science Planning Award

Deadline for Proposals: This is a rolling deadline and submissions will be accepted through August 31, 2026, or until the funds are exhausted.
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President Khator’s strategic plan to Build a Research Powerhouse that Impacts our Region & the World calls for a doubling of our research expenditures from $200 million to $400 million within the next five years. To achieve the doubling of research expenditures, national centers and large interdisciplinary projects are critical. The Division of Research recognizes the significant effort of applying for large multi-investigator grants and offers this internal planning grant to prepare for such an application. 

The funding is intended to provide up to 18 months of support to teams of researchers led by a UH faculty member to prepare for the submission of a proposal to a targeted funding opportunity. A Letter of Intent is required no later than two weeks prior to the submission of the planning grant proposal.