NOTICE as of 5/05/2025: Due to the need to reserve funds for the EMERGE emergency funding program, all OVPR Internal Funding Programs are on hold-we will provide updates as more information becomes available.

The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) supports faculty research, scholarship, and creative endeavors through a wide range of internal funding programs.  OVPR internal grants serve as high-leverage, strategic investments in outstanding faculty research projects that are at critical stages of development.  Our internal funding mechanisms are designed to competitively identify projects that fit our key funding criteria–projects that meet the highest disciplinary standards for excellence and are at a “tipping point” where specific work can lead to breakthroughs, external funding, and/or significant recognition. Recognizing that those crucial moments occur at various stages of the research process (and require different levels of funding to address, depending on your discipline), OVPR internal funding programs include large and small dollar mechanisms that focus on seed funding, completion/publication funding, and commercialization funding.

If you are a UConn/UConn Health faculty member who has a project that is ready to move to the next level, we invite you to browse our program guidelines to learn more.  You are also welcome to contact us (research@uconn.edu) to ask questions and to discuss which mechanisms are best suited to meet your needs.

Internal funding program award recipients can be found here at this link

Internal Funding Program Office Hours: The OVPR-Research Development Services (OVPR-RDS) team is excited to host (virtual) Teams Internal Funding Program Office Hours where faculty can share their novel seed grant project ideas and ask questions about the internal funding competitions. Email research@uconn.edu to schedule a meeting with an Internal Funding Program Team member.

Overview of Internal Funding Opportunity Timelines (Last updated 10/24/25)

Program	Applications open	Applications due (12 noon)	Target for Notifications
SPARK Commercialization Technology fund	not open	n/a	n/a
Research Excellence Program	not open	n/a	n/a
Scholarship and Collaboration in Humanities and Arts Research	not open	n/a	n/a
Scholarship Facilitation Fund	not open	n/a	n/a
Convergence Awards for Research in Interdisciplinary Centers	not open	n/a	n/a
Clinical Research and Innovation Seed Program	not open	n/a	n/a
UConn Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Research Initiative	not open	n/a	n/a

 

Table Key:

Complete / not open

Open for Applications

In Review