The Research Assistance Fund is not accepting applications at this time. We expect to reopen the program in mid-July 2025.

The Research Assistance Fund provides small grants (up to $2,500) for conducting and disseminating research and creative work. The awards are intended for specific, short-term needs. Expenses must be incurred within a year of the award date. 

Eligible Applicants

• UWM faculty and staff who conduct research or creative projects, are employed at least half-time, and are not concurrently enrolled as UWM students.
• UWM faculty and staff who are not the Principal Investigator on a current UWM Discovery and Innovation Grant (DIG) or Advancing Research and Creativity (ARC) award.
• Co-applicants are not allowed.

Ineligible Applicants

• Administrators with positions at the dean level or higher
• Those in the TTC Post Degree Training job family (e.g. post-docs, research associates, research interns)
• Students (including those who are also UWM employees)
• Those with uncommitted start-up funds of $20,000 or more
• Those who are on notice of non-retention or who have accepted offers at other institutions
• Visiting scholars who are not UWM employees

Additional Application Restrictions

• Applicants may submit only one request per cycle.
• Those who were funded between July, 1 2023 and June 30, 2024 must wait until July 1, 2025 to apply.
• Those who receive an award between July 1, 2024 and June 30, 2025 must wait until July 1, 2026 to apply again.

Examples of Eligible Expenses

• Conference/workshop/exhibition fees (remote or in-person) and travel to these events where you are presenting your research, artistic, or curated cultural works
• Conference/workshop/exhibition fees (remote or in-person) and travel to these events where you have an official administrative role as an officer or conference planner
• Subvention fees, open access fees, page charges, etc.  Note that publications that result in revenue will require a Royalty Sharing Agreement.  Contact your Divisional Finance Officer for more information.
• Materials and supplies, user fees, and purchase of services for use related to a research project.
• Participant incentives
• Specialized software
• Non-capitalized equipment (items that cost less than $5,000 per unit or system) for use related to a research project
• Hourly graduate and undergraduate students for assistance related to a research project
• Equipment service and repair if related to a research project
• Travel to conduct research
• Travel for executive-level role in professional organizations
• Hosting a regional research meeting
• Proposal writing assistance where subject expertise is needed
• Consultant fees for developing an evaluation plan required for an external grant
• Graphic design support for proposals, presentations, and publications (e.g., illustrations, data visualizations, figures, images)
• Indexing for book manuscripts
• Honoraria for external proposal draft review

Ineligible Expenses

• Course releases, academic-year salary, summer salary, sabbatical salary.
• Curriculum development.
• Support for service projects that do not have a research component

Deadlines

Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis until funds are exhausted. Unless additional information is required, applicants will be notified of funding decisions within 6 weeks of submission. Application submission well in advance of a specific event date is strongly encouraged.

Outcome Report

All award recipients must submit a short report (up to one page) on the outcomes of the funding.

Compliance with policy

All award recipients must follow UWM and UW-System policies, including but not limited to those for travel, procurement, and hiring.