Grant Opportunities

All grant applications are due in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Office (202 Catt Hall) on the dates indicated. Include your name in the title of the data file.For more information on grant applications, please email las-ad-assistant@iastate.edu.

All grants will be awarded on a competitive basis.

Upcoming Grant Opportunities

LAS Funded Opportunities

ISU Funding Opportunities Submitted Through LAS

Other Funding Opportunities

Information about External Funding Opportunities

LAS Funding Opportunities

LAS Frontier Science Fund
LOI Due January 17, 2024

The Frontier Science Fund advances and accelerates high-risk, high-reward scientific research projects in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.

Contact:  Potential applicants are encouraged to reach out to Associate Dean for Research Jo Anne Powell-Coffman with any questions.

LAS Humanities Scholarship Enhancement Initiative (HSEI)
February 1

The LAS Humanities Scholarship Enhancement Initiative is a research initiative designed to encourage and assist LAS humanities faculty seeking to enhance their scholarly productivity and impact by funding course releases awarded through a competitive process. Criteria for funding of LAS HSEI proposals will include evaluation of the merit of the research, its potential impact on scholarly productivity, and its potential to enhance areas of research excellence in the college.

Interested faculty should prepare a proposal which includes verification that the investigator’s academic chair has approved the course release as well as a departmental cost-share commitment of at least $1,000 professional development funding in support of this specific effort.

LAS Research & Travel Grants
FY25 & FY26 – Rolling Deadline

The LAS Research and Travel Grants program provides modest funding to support research or scholarly activities for tenure-eligible faculty in the arts and humanities who have limited opportunities to secure external research funding. Examples of the types of funding requests that will be considered include travel to present scholarly efforts or to conduct scholarly work, the purchase of small equipment or supplies, and hiring of undergraduates to assist in research activities.

The LAS Research and Travel Grants program will be offered twice per fiscal year. Proposals should be submitted electronically, acknowledging a department cost share of at least 10% (template provided).

  • Eligibility: Tenure-eligible faculty in the arts and humanities within the LAS College who have limited opportunities to secure external research funding. Faculty are only eligible to receive one Research and Travel Grant per fiscal year.  Department chairs are not eligible for these grants.
  • Award Amount: Up to $1,250 for domestic or virtual conference travel, $1,750 for activities that directly support research, or $2,250 for international research/conference support.
  • LAS Due Dates FY25 & FY26: ***Proposals are accepted at any time but should be submitted at least a month in advance of expenditure.
  • Submission: Proposals should be uploaded as one document to this Cybox folder: https://iastate.app.box.com/f/21c79f065c31478cacea40522fb9cd73
  • Full Program Details and Application Materials Information

LAS Seed Grants for Social Science (SGSS)
February 1

The LAS Seed Grants for Social Sciences provide competitive funding to enhance scholarly research in the social sciences and enable collection of preliminary data in support of future extramural grant proposals. Criteria for funding of SGSS proposals include evaluation of the merit of the research, its potential impact, the potential to generate preliminary results enabling future competitive external funding, and its potential to enhance areas of research excellence in the college.

Interested faculty should prepare a proposal as well as a budget justification table (template provided). A departmental cost-share commitment of at least $1,000 in support of this project is required from the home department of the principal investigator (PI), or jointly of the PIs if the SGSS proposal is collaborative.

LAS Term Faculty Travel Grants
FY25 & FY26 – Rolling Deadline

The LAS Term Faculty Travel Grants program is intended for non tenure-eligible faculty that have limited opportunities for obtaining external funding to support professional development that is consistent with the expectations of their PRS. Thus, the focus of the program is on supporting teaching activities.

The LAS Term Faculty Travel Grants program will be offered twice per fiscal year. Proposals should be submitted electronically, acknowledging a department cost share of 10% and that the request is consistent with the applicant’s PRS (template provided).

  • Eligibility: Term faculty who have at least a 50% appointment and who have been employed as ISU faculty for at least 2 years (4 semesters). P&S staff with rank-only faculty appointments are not eligible. Faculty are only eligible to receive one Term Faculty Travel Grant per fiscal year.
  • Award Amount: Up to $1,250 for domestic or virtual conference travel and $2,250 for foreign travel.
  • LAS Due Dates FY25 & FY26: ***Proposals are accepted at any time but should be submitted at least a month in advance of expenditure.
  • Submission: Proposals should be uploaded as one document to this Cybox folder: https://iastate.app.box.com/f/e9d90c8fccc24cb6969c4a55c49aaf98
  • Full Program Details and Application Materials Information

ISU Funding Opportunities Submitted Through LAS

Bailey Research Career Development Award
LOI Due September 24, 2024

This award was established with a generous estate gift from Carl A. and Grace A. Bailey. The overall goal of this program is to foster research that is innovative (outside of an established research program) and not only increases knowledge but also has practical applications. It is expected that the Bailey award will allow faculty to devote time toward high-risk, high-impact research addressing emerging scientific, technical, and/or societal problems resulting in practical applications and, in appropriate disciplines, extramural funding.

  • Eligibility: Any full-time tenured associate professors and professors may apply for this award. Each award will be given to an individual, but he/she can have collaborators on the project.
  • Award Amount: Up to $50,000 per year for two or three years.
  • Due Date: Letter of Intent September 24, 2024; Full Proposal October 1, 2024
  • Submission: Prior to submitting the full proposal, a Letter of Intent (LOI) must be submitted electronically by September 24, 2024 to https://iastate.app.box.com/f/fdeb3b5fd7e647d19169822b4116683b. The LOI should include the PI, collaborators, a tentative title and a brief description of the proposed project.

The deadline to submit the Full Proposal is October 1, 2024, and should be submitted as per the Program and Application Information

For a complete list of LAS funding opportunity deadlines, please visit: https://my.las.iastate.edu/resources/grant-opportunities/

Faculty Professional Development Assignment (FPDA)
August 15

Faculty Professional Development Assignments allow faculty time to advance work on research and scholarship that is difficult or impossible to perform in conjunction with one’s on-campus responsibilities. FPDAs provide faculty with a release from teaching and service responsibilities, however the responsibility to continue mentoring current graduate students and post-doctoral research associates remains. Professional development assignments may also entail international travel and/or familiarization with new or specialized training in or related to the faculty member’s discipline. FPDAs are expected to result in publications, grants, scholarly innovation and enhanced learning opportunities for students.

FPDA applications will be reviewed at the college level before being forwarded to the Senior Vice President and Provost. Interested faculty should prepare the FPDA application, a 2-5 page CV, as well as a completed Replacement Cost worksheet. Applications must be ranked by the department before submission to the college, so departments may have an earlier deadline.

  • Eligibility: All faculty employed at least half-time. There is no arbitrary restriction on length of service in order to qualify for a faculty professional development assignment. However, priority may be given to tenured faculty over adjunct and term faculty, and to persons who have not received a faculty professional development assignment in the past five years.
  • Salary: A maximum of six months’ salary through ISU payroll, regardless of funding source. A faculty member on assignment for six months or less will continue in full paid status; a faculty member on an assignment of more than six months will receive six months’ salary with the salary prorated across the total period of the assignment.
  • LAS Proposal Due Date: August 15, 2024 (including departmental rankings)
  • LAS Final Report Due Date: September 1, 2024
  • Submission: Proposals, 2-5 page CV and Replacement Cost Template should be uploaded as one document, and department chair rankings should be submitted as an independent document to this Cybox folder: https://iastate.app.box.com/f/fc939d8808104c1790472495c6c98e38
  • Full Program Details and Application Materials Information

Foreign Travel Grants (FTG)
September 15, December 20, February 28

Financial support for university-related travel to foreign countries, in some instances, may be obtained through the Foreign Travel Grant Program. Because funds in this program are limited, grants are awarded on a competitive basis and for no more than 75 percent of the least expensive round trip air fare between Des Moines and the individual’s destination or 75 percent of the lowest appropriate air fare between two destinations, whichever is less at the time the quote is obtained.

Applications are reviewed and grants are awarded three times a year. Award periods for 2024-2025 are:

• Round 1: Travel starting between November 1, 2024-June 30, 2025
• Round 2: Travel starting between March 1, 2025-October 31, 2025
• Round 3: Travel starting between June 1, 2025-January 31, 2026

FTG applications will be reviewed at the college level by the LAS Faculty Development Committee before being forwarded to the Faculty Senate Committee. Interested faculty should prepare the application, including the department chair’s signature, as well as a separate PDF copy of their CV. If you have other funding sources that could be used for this travel or look like they could be used for this travel, please consult with the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Faculty Development before beginning application. The dean’s signature will be obtained following the FDC’s review and recommendations.

Applications must be submitted to LAS by the due dates posted below – the due dates on the FTG application refer to the due dates for LAS to submit recommendations to Faculty Senate.  Applications submitted after the LAS due dates for the respective round will not be considered.