One of the core missions of the Provost’s Office is to support Wake Forest University faculty in their research and scholarly endeavors. In support of this mission, a number of funding opportunities are available through the Provost’s Office.
Research Funding
The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) has a variety of opportunities available to advance your research.
The Provost’s Fund for Academic Innovation
The Provost’s Fund for Academic Innovation is designed to promote innovation in the curriculum or the learning environment. This fund places special emphasis on new or creative ways to use the curriculum or the learning environment to advance Wake Forest’s three core academic priorities: (1) building the best faculty of teacher-scholars in the world, (2) bringing the right students and mix of students to Wake Forest and supporting them appropriately while they are here, and (3) creating a vibrant campus with the kind of intellectual climate that capitalizes fully on our many opportunities for faculty-student engagement.
Specific guidelines and the application for the Provost’s Fund for Academic Innovation may be found online and should be submitted to Christina Soriano, Vice Provost for the Arts & Interdisciplinary Initiatives. The first deadline is October 1, the second deadline is April 1.
Provost’s Fund for Academic Excellence
The Provost’s Fund for Academic Excellence provides 2:1 matching grants of up to $10,000 for endeavors that showcase and reinforce Wake Forest’s teacher-scholar ideal. Priority is given to proposals that facilitate cross-disciplinary intellectual engagement between faculty and students and those that recognize the academic excellence of our faculty and develop scholarly themes and emerging academic and pedagogical issues. Funding can be spread over one or two years. The fund will provide a match for speakers, workshops, artists-in-residence, tutorial grants and conferences that facilitate intellectual community at Wake Forest University by supporting research, teaching, curricular development and/or creativity.
Specific guidelines and the application for the Provost’s Fund for Academic Excellence may be found online and should be submitted to Christina Soriano in the Office of the Provost. The first deadline is October 1, the second deadline is April 1.
Provost’s Grant for Academic Excellence
Provost’s Grant for Academic Excellence provides 2:1 matching grants up to $1,500 that support small scholarly, pedagogical and creative efforts that facilitate academic excellence and intellectual community at Wake Forest University. Faculty are invited to submit a 2 page proposal that: describes the actual project and its intellectual significance; details anticipated participants and commitments already secured; and explains goals and expected outcomes. The proposal must be signed by the dean and the applicant’s chair if submitted from a College faculty member. There is no deadline for this application process; awards will be made on a rolling basis. For more information contact Christina Soriano.
Provost’s Fund for a Vibrant Campus
This fund will provide 2:1 matching funds of up to $5,000 for speakers, artists, or performers whose visit to Wake Forest will help foster a vibrant campus and facilitate the intellectual and creative community at Wake Forest University. Any event supported by this fund should be open to students, staff, faculty, and the larger Winston-Salem community.
Specific guidelines and the proposal request may be found online. To submit a completed application, please contact Christina Soriano in the Office of the Provost.
International Faculty Funding Opportunities
Funds for International Scholars
Limited funding is awarded for the fall and spring semesters to support linkages between Wake Forest University and International Scholars. These linkages may include invitations to international scholars for presentations, lectures, short research projects, or other types of collaboration.
Funds for an International Conference
Limited funding is awarded for the fall, spring or summer to support an international conference or colloquium. The event should focus on global issues, bringing together scholars with an interdisciplinary and international perspective. The funds are intended to defray administrative and logistical costs associated with hosting the event, exclusive of accommodations and transportation for participants.
Pilot Research Grants (PRG)
These are single investigator funds for up to $10,000 and the primary purpose is to provide the scholar with support to gather preliminary data to make an external proposal competitive. Proposals are reviewed by the Research Advisory Council, a group of faculty from each Division in the College as well as representatives from each professional school and
the Graduate School.
The fall deadline is the third Friday in October, and the spring deadline is the third Friday in February.
Collaborative Pilot Grants (CPG)
One call for proposals per year, at the beginning of March. These are multi-investigator funds for up to $20,000 and the primary purpose is to provide the scholars with support to gather preliminary data to make an external proposal competitive. This must include a collaborator from the Medical School or from outside of WFU.
Provost’s Fund for Faculty Travel
The Provost’s Fund for Faculty Travel provides supplementary travel support for faculty participating in an academic conference, a diversity and inclusion event, or other select professional events by presenting or discussing a paper/film/project or chairing a session. The intent of the fund is not merely attendance at a conference.
Awards are available to all full time faculty in all schools and colleges. Approval by the department chair or dean is required.
The department chair or dean may recommend use of these funds for other non-conference research related travel. Faculty members will be required to provide a brief description of research related travel.
This is not a competitive fund and every effort will be made to reimburse eligible expenses. To ensure that funding is available, faculty should submit the appropriate Provost’s Fund for Faculty Travel Form (College and Library) or Provost’s Fund for Faculty Travel Form (Professional Schools) to the Office of the Provost by March 1. Faculty will be notified by March 15 if funding is not available. Submissions received after March 1 will be subject to funding availability.
Since this is supplementary travel support, departmental funds should be exhausted before requesting funding from the Provost Office. The Provost’s Fund for Faculty Travel is limited to $2,000 per academic year for College and Library faculty. Faculty in the professional schools are eligible for a match of up to $1,500 per academic year.
Slavery, Race, and Memory Project Grant Funding
The Slavery, Race, and Memory Project is a project designed to guide the research, preservation, and communication accurately depicting the institution of slavery in the United States, and the University’s relationship to slavery and its implications across WFU’s history. The aim is to learn from the full truth of our past, take action to address past and present inequities in our community, and make our learnings available to other institutions and the public. The project aspires to be an intensive and sustained effort involving a series of conferences, public conversations, national speakers, artistic and cultural performances that will run through the 2019-20 academic year.
Faculty Course Enhancement Grant
The SRMP will award grants to support University faculty to enrich existing courses that examine universities and their relationship to slavery and enslaved persons. These grants will also support courses that examine the role that universities played during the Jim Crow era and relationships between universities and their neighboring communities in the modern era. These grants will be available to faculty in the College or our Professional and Graduate Schools. Course enhancements might include travel to a historical site, funds for a special speaker for a course, tickets/transportation to off-campus events, etc. Course enhancement grants may not exceed $750.
Campus-wide Engagement Grant
The SRMP will award grants for students, staff, and faculty to develop and host programs, mini-symposia, lectures, and other opportunities on campus related to the mission of the project. The goal would be to spur collaborative, interdisciplinary projects that would pilot new ways of integrating scholarly research related to slavery, race, and memory into campus life and culture, as well as inspire more students and faculty to become interested in these subject areas. Campus-wide engagement grants may not exceed $1000.00.
Please note: Applications must be received 4 weeks prior to event and/or program date to be considered.
Guidelines for SRMP Grants:
- Applicants must be Wake Forest University students, staff or faculty.
- Some proposals will be funded in full, others in part.
- Proposals may call for symposia, multi-day conferences, speakers, performers, artists, etc.
- Proposals may request funding for equipment, marketing, venues, transportation and other materials or fees etc.
- The funding range does not include an outside-speaker honorarium. If your proposal involves one, please make a note in your application for review.
- Students may apply individually or as leaders of student organizations.
- Faculty and staff may apply individually or on behalf of a department, center, institute, program, etc.
- Preference in grants will be shown to unique proposals that achieve the goals of the SRMP and are open to all members of the Wake Forest community.
T-CART (Technology-engaged Creative Activity, Research, and Teaching) Grants
T-CART (Technology-engaged Creative Activity, Research, and Teaching) includes two annual grants: the Summer Technology Exploration Program (STEP) grant, which supports faculty looking to incorporate technology into their curriculum and the WakerSpace Faculty Fellow grant, which will be awarded to Faculty to explore technology that exists in the WakerSpace. Both grants provide funding for faculty to explore technology that enhances the teaching and learning process.
A summer stipend up to $2,500 for faculty and an additional technology fund up to $1,000 can be requested. Some examples of technology and supply expenses could be, but are not limited to; hardware, software, and materials. Evaluation of STEP proposals will be carried out by faculty from the Committee on Information Technology, with input from Information Systems. Evaluation of WakerSpace Faculty Fellow proposals will be by current and previous WakerSpace Faculty Fellows and the Director of the WakerSpace.
Submit this form by Friday, February 17, 2023. Grant recipients will be announced by Friday, March 3, 2023.
If you have any questions, please contact Brianna Healey, healeyb@wfu.edu.
Blended and Online Learning Development (BOLD)
Under Review: AY 2022/2023
Program for Leadership and Character Grants
With the support of a completely external grant from the Lilly Endowment and the Kern Family Foundation, the Program for Leadership and Character is offering a variety of grants to support faculty and departments who wish to promote character development and/or character-centered leadership development, broadly understood. Grants are available for faculty and departments in the College and Professional Schools.
Departmental Grants:
Departmental grants (up to $3,000) provide funds for an academic department, program, or school to engage leadership and character creatively with faculty, students, and staff. These one-year grants could support a variety of activities, including but not limited to:
- providing honoraria and/or travel for visiting speakers to discuss leadership and character within a particular discipline or profession
- providing honoraria and/or travel for visiting speakers to discuss leadership and character within a particular discipline or profession
- hosting departmental workshops or colloquia on leadership and character
- supporting relevant professional development opportunities to faculty and staff
- organizing student programming (films, discussions, field trips, museum visits, performances, etc.) related to leadership and character
- covering conference registration and travel for faculty, staff, or students who wish to attend a related conference or present relevant research
- funding student research assistants to pursue related projects
- offering incentives for students participating in learning science research related to leadership and character
An online application for this grant will open in spring of 2023. Grant recipients should plan to submit grant reports on or before June 30, 2024. For updates, regularly check the Program for Leadership and Character’s website.
Course Development and Redesign Grants:
Course development and redesign grants support individual faculty in the College or Professional Schools who are interested in integrating character development and/or character-centered leadership development into their disciplinary or interdisciplinary offerings. Through a partnership with the Center for the Advancement of Teaching, recipients will have the opportunity to learn more about intentional course design, apply research-based strategies to support the holistic development of students, and work with faculty and staff experts to design and assess new courses or modules. Applications are encouraged from faculty who wish to approach leadership and character from a variety of disciplines, professions, traditions, or perspectives.
Grants are available in two forms:
Course Development Grants ($4,000) to develop a new course
Course Redesign Grants ($1,000) to redesign a course or develop a new course module or unit
Grant recipients will be expected to attend a 3 day summer course development workshop, usually held in July. Recipients will continue to design their course or unit on their own and share ideas and feedback with fellow recipients. Recipients will be expected to submit a copy of a new/revised syllabus and a brief report by the end of the summer and complete a brief survey and reflection about what they learned throughout the process by mid-August. An online application for this grant will open in spring of 2023. For updates, regularly check the Program for Leadership and Character’s website.