Funding Opportunities

External Funding

The university provides access to database tools for use by University faculty and staff to search for external funding opportunities. These include federal, state, and local agencies in addition to private funding sources. More information can be found at the UA Research Gateway.


Internal UArizona Faculty Funding

The opportunities listed below are supported by units across the UArizona campus. If you have questions about one of these opportunities, visit the link and follow the unit’s site contact information.

Accelerate for Success

Accelerate for Success Grants are awarded to catalyze strategic transdisciplinary research programs-by creating teams, broadening partnerships, and supporting the proposed plan to result in proposal submission and successful funding. For FY21 there are three areas of focus, the implementation of the strategic plan, advancement of graduate and undergraduate research opportunities, and COVID-19 pandemic response.

Asset Development Program

Tech Launch Arizona's Asset Development funding helps advance inventions that aren’t yet ready to attract licensees or investors. In executing an Asset Development plan, we validate an invention's market potential and requirements and ready it for commercialization.

Confluencenter Director's Fund for Excellence

The Director’s Fund for Excellence awards are intended to provide critical support for short-term collaborative projects undertaken by UA faculty and graduate students in the Colleges of Fine Arts (CFA), Humanities (COH), or Social & Behavioral Sciences (SBS), especially projects that reflect an interdisciplinary orientation or a commitment to public outreach.

Confluencenter Faculty Collaboration Grants

Faculty Collaboration Grants are seed grants intended to support creative, interdisciplinary projects that result in outcomes enabling researchers to apply for other external funding to continue and expand the project. Faculty from the Colleges of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Behavioral Sciences can apply for these grants if they have creative, collaborative, and interdisciplinary research to pursue.

Core Facility Equipment Enhancement Fund

Core Facility Enhancement grants are available to augment scientific capacity through the acquisition of equipment for use by multiple investigators in university core facilities. Equipment with a total cost of $100,000 to $300,000 can be requested.

Faculty Seed Grants

Faculty Seed Grants provide awards of up to $15,000 for one-time support to "jump start" worthwhile projects that can be used to develop major proposals. The program provides two tracks for grant awards. The early career track focuses on developing the faculty member's independence. The mid career path provides an opportunity for a faculty member to take their research in a new direction.

Faculty Small Grants

The Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Institute Faculty Small Grants provide seed money of up to $3,500 provide seed money for larger projects, including those leading to proposals to external funding agencies. These grants may also be used for full-scale but inexpensive projects or parts of projects.

George H. Davis Travel Fellowship

The Fellowship supports promising tenure-track faculty members (in any field) in becoming more widely recognized for their work and more closely connected with colleagues, nationally and internationally. In particular, the fellowship defrays costs associated with invited participation in a national or international professional meeting, where the awardee will present research findings, scholarship, and/or creative activities.

Industry Engagement and Interdisciplinary Link Student Team Awards

These internal grants are designed to catalyze new, funded research between university researchers and industry, as well as augment competitiveness for mutual, collaborative university-industry teaming efforts to pursue external funding opportunities. “Industry” awards are intended to match a new UA industry sponsored agreement with a Graduate Research Assistantship to enable and prepare the graduate student to work in an industry environment, as well as to gain experience supervising and mentoring undergraduate students conducting the industry supported work.

International Research Grants

International Research Grants are designed to jump-start either international research done by transdisciplinary collaborations, or the development of new academic programs in collaboration with international partner institutions. Applicants may request up to $30,000.

Large Complex Proposal Grants

Funds are available from the UA's Research, Discovery & Innovation to support the preparation of large complex proposals. "Large" is generally defined as greater than $10 million total award. "Complex" is generally defined as requiring the participation of many units, industry, government agencies, international institutions, leasing of off-campus facilities, ITAR/export controlled activities, and/or other aspects requiring special attention. Funds are intended to supplement investments by participating units in the proposal preparation process.

Leveraging Grants

Offered through the Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Institute, these $1,000-maximum grants are intended to help prospective faculty PIs develop opportunities that have a clear return on SBS's investment.

Provost's Author Support Fund

The Provost's Author Support Fund is available to faculty or academic professionals whose workload description includes the expectation of research and publication, and who hold appointments in units reporting directly or indirectly to the Provost.

Research Professorships

The Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Institute funds Research Professorships every semester. This award releases the recipient from one course to conduct research on worthy projects in the social and/or behavioral sciences.

Equipment Enhancement Fund

Shared Equipment Enhancement grants are available to augment scientific capacity through the acquisition of equipment for use by multiple investigators. Proposed equipment total cost not to exceed $150,000. Equipment must be located in a core facility or in a shared, accessible space, and must have multiple committed users from at least two departments and preferably, from at least two different colleges.

Core Facilities Pilot Program

The CFPP is designed to support three key types of activity within the RDI-managed core facilities. The program provides funding to facilitate early stage research program creation and development to enable interdisciplinary investigator groups to incubate promising new research ideas that will lead to new extramural funding. These groups should address broad interdisciplinary themes, convene on a regular basis and include researchers from multiple disciplines across campus. This is a quarterly program

Udall Center Fellows Program

The Udall Center Fellows Program funds public policy research in partnerships with the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, BIO5 Institute, the Udall Foundation, and Research, Innovation, and Impact (RII). The funds fall under the categories of Social Sciences and Public Policy, Biosciences and Public Policy, Environmental Collaboration and Conflict Resolution, and other research interests pertaining to public policy.

Challenge Grants

Challenge Grants (New) focuses on high-risk, high-reward research opportunities. The application process is designed to limit institutional bias by awarding reviewed applications at random until funding is exhausted. Grant awardees will receive up to $50,000 over the course of the project period. Funding will be provided in two tiers with applications that meet the criteria and those that exceed the criteria.

Production Grants

Production Grants (New) provide grant opportunities across multiple fields and mediums. Applicants can request up to $10,000 (in justified cases up to $15,000) to aid in the production of original works such as producing a product, performance, or installation.