Funding Opportunities: College, University, and System 

College Level

CEDC Strategic Initiatives Seed Fund 

The college has set aside discretionary funds to provide seed support for new ideas that innovatively contribute to the goals of our strategic plan in any way. Full-time faculty and staff may submit a proposal at any time. It should include a (maximum) one-page description of: the idea, how it contributes to our strategic plan, how it would be sustained (programmatically and in terms of resources) if applicable, how success would be assessed and communicated, and a brief budget. Proposals that leverage EDC funds to obtain extramural support are particularly welcome. The total amount requested should not exceed $6K, and a minimum 1:1 matching from departments or programs is required for any effort that is limited to a specific department or program. Recipients of department specific efforts will be expected to communicate the results of their initiative across the college to promote diffusion of good ideas more broadly. Cross-college efforts do not require matching. Proposals should be submitted to the Dean, with a copy submitted to the college administrator. Approximately $30,000 will be budgeted annually by the Dean for these funds.

University Level 

ORS Funding Opportunities

ORS has three funding programs to encourage and support creative activities on the downtown campus. The funds are to increase faculty productivity and to enhance CU Denver’s reputation. The Arts and Humanities Seed Grant Program specifically supports projects with at least one faculty member who engages in research, scholarship, or creative work in the arts and/or humanities. The Convergence Research Seed Grant Program supports planning, team formation, and proposal development for high-risk/high-payoff research, projects with larger societal impact, convergent research approaches, engagement of broad stakeholder communities, and the adoption of innovative team science formations. The Open/All-Disciplines Seed Grants Program supports initial research activities for collecting initial data, archival material, and community engagement activities necessary to complete an external grant application.

Center for Faculty Development and Advancement

Early-Career Professional Development Grant (ECPD)

ECPD (Early-Career Professional Development) grants provide support to tenure-track faculty at the University of Colorado Denver (downtown) for activities that advance them toward tenure.  Funded activities can include attending professional conferences, hiring a research assistant, or buying books/software. The funding limit is $500/year, and evidence of matching funds from the faculty member’s school/department is required.

Faculty Success Program Grant

This opportunity is for one of eight fully-funded spots in the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity’s Faculty Success Program, an intensive, 12-week virtual boot camp that uses empirically tested methods, coaching, peer discussions, and accountability tools to help academics thrive in their careers and achieve healthy work-life balance. Some of the program’s aims include: to set achievable professional and personal goals and a realistic plan to meet them; to establish a consistent and sustainable daily writing routine; to develop a publication profile that exceeds the institution’s promotion criteria; to master best practices in academic time management; to collaborate effectively with colleagues and administrators; and to enjoy a full life beyond campus.

Center for Excellence in Teaching & Learning Arts Grants

Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) Teaching Innovation Grants support faculty exploration, implementation, and evaluation of new and emerging pedagogies, practices, and technologies, with attention to specific trends and research that are of critical importance to students, faculty, and staff at CU Denver.  There are three categories: Technology Innovations, which focus on academic, social and/or other emerging technologies; Pedagogy and Teaching Practice Innovations, which focus on everything from a technique for a class to formal pedagogical frameworks; and Professional Learning Opportunities, which focus on professional growth.

Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (CCTSI) Funding Opportunities

Each year, the CCTSI awards more than $2 million in pilot grants, microgrants, and pre-doctoral and post-doctoral research scholar awards. Pilot grants provide one-year pilot awards to encourage cross-disciplinary and collaborative research in clinical and translational science. Microgrants can be used by junior investigators to purchase CTRC services for research protocols conducted at University of Colorado Hospital, Children’s Hospital Colorado and the Perinatal CTRC. KL2 career development grants to junior faculty and TL1 fellowships to pre-doctoral and post-doctoral trainees are available.

CU System Level 

CU Next: the CU Next Award aims to reduce technology-related and other barriers for individual and small groups of faculty pursuing projects that campus or department funding cannot cover (e.g., hardware, software, programming, vendor contracts). This initiative requires that faculty from at least two campuses are cooperating in the project and that there is campus commitment to the project.

President’s Fund for the Humanities (PFH): This award promotes the research and scholarly activities of faculty in the arts and humanities at CU by supporting dynamic and innovative research and creativity in the arts and humanities. Successful proposals for the PFH program describe a well-developed scholarly or creative project rooted in the arts and humanities with clear and feasible outcomes.