New Seed Grants to Support Faculty Research

November 28, 2018

IRWG is expanding its traditional faculty seed grant program to include more opportunities to promote collaborative interdisciplinary research in key areas related to gender, sexuality, and health. The new seed grants are being offered in partnership with the Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research (MICHR) and the U-M Office of Research. IRWG will continue to offer its traditional Faculty Seed Grant, a long-running program established in 1996, free of any topic or disciplinary restrictions.

Faculty from all disciplines and tracks at U-M are eligible to apply (except as noted below) and awards range from $500 - $10,000. Proposals are due February 4, 2019, and can be submitted online through the institute’s application portal (available in January). The four seed grant programs are:

Sexual Harassment and Gender Violence Seed Grants
These grants (co-sponsored with the U-M Office of Research) are meant to bring new researchers into the current group of scholars at IRWG, the Initiative on Gender Based Violence and Sexual Harassment. Projects should be focused on some dimension of sexual harassment or gender based violence and proposals should explain how the project will help build a scholarly community of researchers on this topic at Michigan. More information.

Social Science, Arts, and Humanities Innovations for Health Seed Grants
These grants [offered in partnership with the Michigan Institute for Clinical & Health Research (MICHR)] will be given to social science, arts, and humanities researchers with projects aimed at bringing the insights of their work to topics and questions normally studied in the biomedical and applied health fields. The aim is to catalyze new collaborations with a focus on vulnerable populations. Applicants must be PI-eligible for federal grants. Projects should identify prospective collaborators on the biomedical or health sciences side of campus to whom their project might speak and provide a letter or email showing that there is mutual interest in talking further about possible collaboration. We’re looking for projects focused on gender, sexuality, or women that explore intersections with race, ethnicity, nationality, disability, poverty, or other dimensions that create health inequalities. (Applications must come from a researcher outside the health fields, but health researchers are encouraged to find LSA collaborators and have that faculty member apply. IRWG affiliates are listed here.) More information.

Transgender Health and Empowerment Seed Grants
These grants are aimed at developing interdisciplinary researchers with the capacity to engage and collaborate with gender minority populations to develop innovative tools, useful research infrastructure, or to promote equitable and meaningful research with transgender and non-binary people in empowered ways. Proposals should describe the research and explain how the methodology, recruitment, or partnership empowers transgender and non-binary citizens and draws on their expertise. We will prioritize projects that conceptualize health in an interdisciplinary way, draw on intersectional approaches, and bridge the health sciences and other fields. Researchers should demonstrate familiarity with ethical guidelines for working with trans and non-binary people. Applicants must be PI-eligible for federal grants. More information.

IRWG Faculty Seed Grants 
The IRWG Faculty Seed Grant program, established in 1996, supports disciplinary and interdisciplinary faculty projects on women, gender and sexuality. Support may be requested for individual activities, such as research assistance, research-related travel, or research materials. We also support collaborative projects, such as pilot studies or initial research efforts, study groups, or conference planning and implementation. While providing funds for new and emerging work is a priority for this program, requests for support of ongoing programs of research are also considered. Applications on any topic and from all academic disciplines, including the arts, humanities, and sciences are welcome. More information.

Additional information, including application requirements and information on how to apply can be found at irwg.umich.edu/funding.