Catalyst Grant for Research and Creativity
The Catalyst Grant for Research and Creativity encourages faculty in establishing and maintaining programs of research, scholarly, and/or creative activity. Projects should display potential for having a significant impact on one’s field or chart a new trajectory in one’s scholarly, creative or artistic development.
Seeks to support works of scholarship or creative activity that develops innovative and transformative ideas to the point where they can successfully garner new external funding.
Catalyst funding may be paired with a faculty course reassignment request or a pre-tenure supplement.
GRANT
Grants of up to a maximum funding of $5,000 are available for student help, supplies, necessary travel for data collection, and other costs of projects (faculty salaries and dissemination costs are excluded). The duration of the grant is up to two years. The project end date is determined by the date submitted in the proposal, no later than two years (no extensions allowed unless there are extenuating circumstances). Only one proposal per review cycle, and faculty must have closed previous Catalyst/Collaborative grants before funds may be distributed.
ELIGIBILITY
Tenured or tenure-track faculty members on continuing appointment are eligible.
DEADLINES
There are three submission cycles per year with deadlines at the close of business (5:00 p.m.) on October 1st, February 1st, and March 15th of each year. If the deadline day falls on a weekend, then the deadline is moved to 5:00 p.m. on the next business day.
- Grants awarded in October may run for up to two years - November 1 through October 31 of the second year.
- Grants awarded in February may run for up to two years - March 1 through February 28 of the second year.
- Grants awarded in March may run for up to two years - April 15 through April 14 of the second year.
SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDING
If eligible, faculty may also apply for one of the following supplemental additions to the Catalyst Grant:
- Faculty Course Reassignment for Research and Creative Expression Program: An additional $3,000 may be requested for a 1-course reassignment to compensate the faculty member's department, through the Dean's office. This option supports the cost of a replacement instructor to cover one course, or similar responsibilities, normally performed by the applicant. This reassignment provides unencumbered time to help fulfill the demands of unusually time-intensive projects.
- Pre-tenure Supplement for Research and Creativity: The Pre-tenure Supplement for Research and Creativity enhances scholarly and/or creative productivity by providing junior faculty members with financial support to launch their creative agendas at the university (faculty can receive the Pre-tenure Supplemental award only once).
APPLY
- Prepare your proposal using the Proposal Guidelines.
- You may also find the Letter of Support template helpful.
- Use the available resources to help you prepare your proposal.
- Take a look at example applications for inspiration.
- Attend the Office Hours that are held a few times a year.
- Reach out to us with questions.
- Submit your proposal online through MyApps.
REVIEW PROCESS
Catalyst Grant proposals are awarded by a competitive review process. Proposals are reviewed by members of the Faculty R&D Committee, which is composed of faculty from several disciplines, and therefore MUST be written to be understood by members of these multi-disciplinary review committees, i.e., an educated lay audience, rather than by narrow specialists in your field.
Criteria used in evaluating proposals include: project justification, significance of project, appropriateness of project design and methods, qualifications of the applicant for implementing the project, probability of achieving project objectives, and appropriateness of the schedule for project activities, if applicable. All of these criteria must be judged in terms of the likelihood that the project will result in recognition for the faculty member, faculty member's department, and the University.
TERMS & CONDITIONS
FINAL REPORT
A final report is due upon the conclusion of your project and is submitted within the MyApps system. It should include your goals, how you did or did not meet those goals, how the process went, and any dissemination plans.
BUDGET INFORMATION
Each grant recipient is allocated a budget for their project. This budget is determined by the application process and varies depending on the needs of the research or creative project. Grantees are responsible for monitoring their budget and initiating any payments/reimbursements. We do not order supplies, make travel arrangements, etc.
FRIC will reimburse the faculty grantee's department from the project's budget. Please work with your Department Coordinator to initiate a department transfer request (a.k.a. Budget Amendment for Organization for general funds, Department Journal Entry for non-general funds) through Workday. Reimbursement requests must be made within the same fiscal year the expenses were incurred. GVSU's Workday system should allow faculty to make purchases via department Expense Cards, etc., so that the faculty do not need to have out-of-pocket expenses.
HOW TO WORKDAY
Your project may require that a lab order supplies, your department purchase equipment, the grantee have out-of-pocket expenses reimbursed, etc. You will need to process your expenses through your department's Worktags. Your department will request reimbursement from FRIC using the following process:
- Go to Workday Help Center and follow the appropriate Help Article (FRIC's FDM is a General Fund):
- If the FDM your department is using is a General Fund, then see the How to Create Budget Amendment for Organization in Workday (Internal Faculty or Student Grants) process.
- If funding needs to be transferred to a non-general fund, please see the How to Create a Department Journal Entry Request process.
- Use the following Worktag/FDM information:
- FUND: FD100
- COST CENTER: CC0195
- PROGRAM: P22200
- DESIGNATION: DS0297
- Please use the "DESCRIPTION" or "MEMO" field to include the faculty member's first and last name, the specific grant, and the grant cycle/year. Use the following formatting example:
- Bruce Wayne FRIC Catalyst Grant 2026-2027 (Round 1)
- Attach copies of the award notification and processed receipts (i.e. invoices, department purchases, etc.) to the department transfer request.
Per GVSU policy, any services performed (editing, page publication, transcription, etc.) MUST be paid directly by a GVSU department via an invoice or purchased using your department p-card. Purchase of services using personal credit cards will not be reimbursed.
PLEASE NOTE ALL GVSU PURCHASING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES MUST BE FOLLOWED, INCLUDING:
Catalyst Grant FAQs
Please allow around 30 days from the application deadline for the committee to review your application and for FRIC's Administrative Assistant to prepare notification letters. That is by November 1st for Round 1, March 1st for Round 2, and April 15th for Round 3 (or the following business day if these dates fall upon a weekend).
This is dependent upon the available funding per round. Generally, it will be around 5-7 per academic year.
Here are some frequent problems:
- The narrative of the application was not written for a non-specialist.
- The project was not situated in the appropriate scholarly or artistic context (e.g., not including references).
- The application did not follow the recommended format in the proposal guide or contained large passages that were cut and pasted from sabbatical or external grant applications. Successful proposals are clearly written, well-organized, and written specifically for the Catalyst grant.
- The applicant did not appropriately document the commitment of external agencies or sponsors vital to the success of the project.
- The budget was not sufficiently detailed or did not explain why budget items were vital to completing the project.
- The likely outcomes of the project were not sufficiently explained.
- The applicant did not demonstrate that they have expertise in the methods that they propose using.
- The applicant did not demonstrate they have the expertise (or action plan) to effectively analyze their data.
- The application did not respond to all relevant sections of the application form.
- Other GVSU funding sources are more appropriate for the project.
Seek feedback on your draft application, especially from peers and from people outside of your discipline or field. Some units have formal review committees for FRIC grants. In any case, more eyes on your proposal will help you tell a more compelling story about your scholarly/creative project.
Additionally, the Faculty Research and Development committee has one or more members from each college and the library. Many of these committee members are willing to review draft applications, identify potential concerns, and recommend improvements.
- The proposal is written to allow a non-specialist reader to accurately summarize the project to a third party.
- Regardless of complexity, the strongest applications clearly explain what the project is, why it is significant, who is involved, and what everyone involved will be doing.
- The proposal clearly contextualizes the project and its significance. The strongest applications explain how a project relates and contributes to a broader scholarly/creative conversation in a discipline, a community of practice, and/or within the applicant’s own scholarly/creative trajectory.
- A description of the how the budgeted expenses contribute to the project (e.g., if requesting funds for travel, explain why the travel is necessary to your project).
- The application has a compelling narrative. The strongest applications persuade readers that a project is interesting, important, innovative, or exciting, and they demonstrate that the project is feasible.
If your proposal is not funded, you may request feedback from the committee by sending the Faculty Research and Innovation Center an email. You are also encouraged to seek additional feedback in a 1:1 meeting with the Chair and/or member of the Faculty R&D committee. They will offer suggestions on how to improve or strengthen your proposal for resubmission. Please contact FRIC for more details.
The Committee wants to catalyze scholarly and/or artistic activity for all faculty, and they are especially interested in doing so for faculty who have been less productive. Successful applications of this sort typically describe how the grant will help develop a new creative/scholarly direction and demonstrate preparation or circumstances which will allow the project to succeed. For example, an applicant might detail retraining or other steps they have undertaken to ensure success.
During review cycles when resources are especially limited, an applicant who has recently (and/or frequently) obtained support might be less likely to be successful. Nevertheless, many faculty members succeed in obtaining grants on a regular basis. These individuals generally demonstrate a good return on the Committee’s investment: they succeed in accomplishing the goals set forth in their grants.
Note: catalyst and collaborative grants are designed as seed funding, not as ongoing support for longer-term projects. For new projects that are related to previously-funded work, strong applications explain how the grant will support a new research direction or catalyze scholarly/creative activity not covered by the previous grant.
Yes, the Committee has funded many active scholars who are between grants. Successful applicants often explain how this funding will make their external grant application more competitive or will allow them to complete a project that was initiated with an external grant.
You can apply for the Faculty Course Reassignment for Research and Creative Expression, as a supplement to a Catalyst grant. If your project only requires time, you can apply for a $0 Catalyst grant, select the Course Reassignment supplement, and focus your application on the reassigned time.
The Committee recognizes and values that FRIC funding can lead to impactful student experiences as well as providing meaningful contributions to a project. However, the primary goal of FRIC funding is catalyze the scholarship and artistic activity of faculty. If a faculty member’s primary goal for a project is to advance student development, they should consider other funding mechanisms, such as the Student Summer Scholars (S3) or Modified Student Summer Scholars (MS3) programs. The most successful Catalyst grant applications emphasize the scholarly/creative nature and significance of the project, instead of student experiences.
Yes, paying students can be a major (or even the sole) budget item. However, it is incumbent on the applicant to explain that employing students is the best or only way to complete their project. The case for paying students is generally strongest when students are working long hours, have unusual skills or training, or it would be otherwise difficult to recruit student volunteers to contribute to the project.
Yes, the Committee has funded numerous faculty members who have applied for or who are currently on sabbatical leave. It is important to understand that just because you have received university support for your sabbatical leave does not guarantee Research and Development support for your Catalyst request. Make sure you follow the guidelines for the Catalyst proposal and do not just attach your sabbatical application. For example, a strong application to offset sabbatical travel costs would clearly explain how the travel contributes to the scholarly/creative project.