Faculty Research Awards

In accordance with the contract, the MFA created an Internal Research Fund committee for the academic year 2026-27 to review proposals. The committee members are as follows:

CBA – Staci Kenno Pinkerton (Co-Chair)
CES – Klaus Friedrich
CHP – Ashlee Barnes
CLAE – Lee Eshelman (Co-Chair)
LIB – Jill Spreitzer
MFA Rep – Cindy Gillham
SACD – Thomas Provost
UDMPU – Diane Robinson-Dunn
ADMIN – Michele Favoretto

Please be aware of the following:

• The deadline for submission is January 15, 2026 at 11:59 p.m.
• All funds must be spent before June 30, 2027.
• There is currently no limit on requested funds; however only one proposal, as the Principal Investigator, is allowed per faculty during this 2026-27 cycle.
• Faculty who serves on the committee and submit a proposal will not be involved in any way in the review of his/her proposal.
• Proposals are funded based on available resources and merit. (The average grant was $5300 in 2021/22, $9,300 in 2022/23 and $8500 2023/24)
• The proposal and all supporting documentation must be electronically submitted through the UDM Cayuse Sponsored Projects Application.
• Ensure that you are following the naming convention for your project in Cayuse and the attachments should all begin with FRA-26_LastName. See the Cayuse User Instructions.
• CITI Program Conflict of Interest course completion required.
• Proposals must contain all items requested on the RFP and strictly adhere to instructions.
• Human Ethics compliance is reviewed by the Institutional Review Board (IRB). If applicable, IRB approval must be completed or pending by January 15, 2026.
• Progress Report: If you were awarded a 2025-26 FRA grant with a spending deadline of June 30, 2026, a Progress Report is required to be submitted with your new/continuing application for this year (2026-27). You will find a link to the Progress Report in Cayuse and a required document upload in the Attachments section.
  PLEASE NOTE: If the required Progress Report is not uploaded in Cayuse, your new application will not be submitted to the committee for review.

Please feel free to contact the committee co-chairs with questions or concerns. Thank you.