CHESS Small Grants Program
The CHESS Small Grants Program is designed to facilitate the completion or enhancement of ongoing faculty-led research projects. Faculty seeking support for new research projects should apply to the Faculty Research Grants Program. Students seeking support for their research should consult with the Graduate School or the Office of Undergraduate Research.
Full-time faculty can apply for a maximum award of $1,500 for eligible expenses not supported by departmental research funds or other funding sources (e.g., start-up funds, PIFA accounts, etc.). The maximum award amount is $2,000 if at least half the funding will be used to hire a student research assistant. Documentation of IRB approval is necessary prior to obtaining funds for any research that involves human subjects (interviews, surveys, etc.). Funds must be expended by June 15, 2026.
Submission Deadlines: Because research funds are needed at varying times during the year, applications are accepted in three rounds with deadlines listed below. The number and size of awards are contingent upon funding and may fluctuate annually. Faculty are encouraged to apply for the October or February rounds if possible.
October 6, 2025
February 2, 2026
April 6, 2026 (dependent upon funding)
Eligible Applicants: All full-time faculty in the College of Humanities & Earth and Social Sciences may apply, though applications from faculty with research expectations in their workloads will be prioritized. In order to share limited resources broadly, a faculty member can only receive one award through the CHESS Small Grants Program per academic year.
Eligible Expenses: The CHESS Small Grants Program prioritizes requests for funding to support the last steps toward publication (indexes, illustrations, etc.). Open access publication costs will be considered only after a faculty member seeks funding from the Atkins Library Open Access Publishing Fund to determine if we have an agreement with the publisher. Eligible expenses include but are not limited to the following:
- Index preparation
- Illustrations/reproduction of images
- Open access publication costs (only after applying to Atkins Library)
- Travel to collections and archives
- Specialized software, equipment, or datasets
- Research participant incentives (per state regulations)
- Research assistant support (fixed number of hours; see Standard Compensation Packages for hourly rates)
- Professional development opportunities related to unit goals
The CHESS Small Grants Program is intended to support projects where other financial sources have been exhausted or are not available. To be eligible for funding, applicants must confirm that they have consulted with their Department Chair and that the request cannot be supported using departmental or unit research overhead or other funds.
Awards may not be used to pay for investigator stipends, release time, memberships, or food. All normal state purchasing procedures apply. If a request is approved, the investigator’s home department will process the payment(s) and the College will transfer or reconcile funds later to cover the expense(s).
Post-Award Expectations: Within three months of completing a funded project, award recipients should submit to the CHESS Associate Dean for Research and Interdisciplinary Collaboration a brief (1 paragraph) description of how the funding impacted the research project. Failure to submit this documentation will result in ineligibility for future CHESS Small Grants Program funding.
Review: All requests are evaluated by the Faculty Development Awards Committee based on five criteria: 1) the need for funding; 2) potential impact of the proposed project; 3) appropriateness of the research design or steps to complete the project; 4) relevance to the applicant’s research agenda and career trajectory; and 5) alignment with the College’s strategic goals. Preference will be given to requests from faculty who do not already have supplemental research funds. The committee provides feedback to the Associate Dean for Research and Interdisciplinary Collaboration; the Dean makes the final decision based on availability of funds. Applicants will be notified of a decision within four weeks of the submission deadline.
Scoring Rubric
Criteria | Exemplary (2 pts) | Adequate (1 pt) | Needs improvement (0 pts) | Score |
| Need for funding | On-going project could not be completed or would be significantly hampered without funding from this program | Funding to launch new project or to support existing project that could possibly continue without it | Need for funding is unclear, and/or no attempt made to explore other funding options | |
| Potential impact | Project would have clear and significant impact in the scholar’s field | Project would have impact | Impact of the project is weak or unclear | |
| Quality of research design | Clear and detailed explanation of a logical series of steps involved to complete project | General explanation of the steps involved to complete the project | Explanation of steps involved in project lacks detail or alignment with goals | |
| Relevance to research agenda | Project aligns closely with the applicant’s research agenda | Some alignment between the project and the applicant’s research agenda | Alignment between the project and the applicant’s research agenda is weak or unclear | |
| Alignment with strategic goals | Project clearly aligns with one or more strategic goals | Project aligns with one strategic goal | Little alignment with strategic goals | |
| TOTAL SCORE (max. 10) | ||||