Investigator Funding

RIFP investments are intended to strengthen the School’s research portfolio and cultivate a sustainable pathway to external funding. Priority will be given to projects that:

• Advance a clear funding pathway, including the generation of preliminary data, proof-of concept findings, or other outcomes that position investigators for competitive extramural funding.
• Demonstrate high potential impact with a degree of uncertainty, including innovative, novel, or emerging research directions that require feasibility testing, pilot data, or early-stage evidence.
• Support investigator development and research capacity building, particularly projects that connect early-career investigators with strong mentorship, interdisciplinary collaboration, and School of Nursing research infrastructure.
• Promote meaningful community engagement and partnership in the design, implementation, or dissemination of research. 
• Sustain research momentum during temporary interruptions in external funding when bridge support is likely to preserve research capacity and competitiveness for future funding.

The VanHooser Reseach Fund

Donor: Marjorie V. Batey, PhD, RN, FAAN, Established: 1992

Dr. Marjorie V Batey (’53) is a Professor Emeritus in the School of Nursing at the University of Washington. She led the creation of the Office for Nursing Research in 1970 and became the first director. Dr. Batey has educated scores of students in research methods, having taught graduate students at the University of Washington since the late 1960s when she completed her PhD in Sociology. She has also provided leadership to the research efforts of faculty and students alike for many years.

In 1992 she established the SUZANNE E. VANHOOSER ENDOWED NURSING RESEARCH FUND in memory and honor of her mother, who held a high value for learning and had encouraged her daughter in all her endeavors. Through this fund, Dr. Batey hopes to encourage other researchers on the School’s faculty.

The VanHooser Fund is used to enable School of Nursing faculty, particularly those who are early in their research careers, to initiate research studies and to conduct pilot projects that will strengthen and advance their research programs.

Publications and other presentations resulting from research supported by this fund shall acknowledge the SUZANNE E. VANHOOSER ENDOWED NURSING RESEARCH FUND.

The Giblin Research Fund

Donor: Elizabeth Giblin, EdD, FAAN Established: 1985

Dr. Elizabeth Giblin (’43) was a Professor Emeritus in the School of Nursing at the University of Washington. She pioneered the laboratory study of sleep in schools of nursing, and is responsible for the creation of the School of Nursing Sleep Lab in 1979, the nation’s first. Her early research focused on sleep apnea and sleep patterns in people with Alzheimer’s disease and COPD.

In 1985 she established the ELIZABETH GIBLIN ENDOWED RESEARCH FUND. A firm believer in the value of research, she intended this fund to “stimulate and enhance research in the School of Nursing.”

The fund shall be used to support any research conducted by the School of Nursing, with special consideration given to the projects deemed most valuable and in greatest need of funding in a given year.

All major accomplishments resulting from this research will appropriately recognize the support provided by the donor. The ELIZABETH GIBLIN ENDOWED RESEARCH FUND shall also be acknowledged in publications made possible by the fund. ​

All awards are contingent on the availability of funds. Departments may commit additional matching funds.

Requests for match funds are due a minimum of 2 weeks prior to the program deadline.

Applicants must:

• Hold a Seattle-campus faculty appointment and serve as the Principal Investigator (PI) on the proposed project.
• Not have received ONR&I matching funds during the current funding cycle.
• Not have an active RIFP award.
• Be in good standing with all previously awarded ONR&I funding, including fulfillment of all award closeout requirements (e.g., submission of final reports and any other required deliverables)

Funding restrictions:

• Matching funds may not be used to support a scope of work that is scientifically overlapping with work supported by another internal funding source.

• Full-time faculty, tenured or in tenure line, without tenure and research professor positions at the Seattle Campus
• Aligns with SoN research priorities and the scholarship of the individual faculty
• Includes research/scholarship presentations or conference participation representing UW SoN to a professional organization (e.g. representation of a panel or task force)

• Faculty receiving travel awards will work with SoN Advancement, Marketing and Communication and/or Academic Affairs to include at least one outreach activity beyond conference research presentation/participation. Examples: meeting with stakeholders (e.g., foundations, elected officials, federal funding agencies), faculty or student recruitment activities, or promoting the SoN in other ways.
• Faculty awarded travel support are asked to work with SoN Marketing and Communication in regard to using current UW templates and branding.
• Preference will be given to faculty without other sources for travel (e.g., endowed professorship or other independent source(s)).

Submission are due on January 10 and June 10 of each academic year.  Up to $1500.00 may be requested per academic year per faculty.

• Complete the SoN Request to Travel Form (RTF)
• Submit RTF to the Department Assistant to the Chair for approval
• Fill out a Travel Support Request via REDCap

Note the following items are required before you can submit your request:

1. RTF signed by you and your Department Chair (to be uploaded in REDCap)
2. Identification of alignment with SoN research priorities

Explanation of:

1. How the travel facilitates research/scholarship
2. Anticipated benefits
3. Plan to share information at department or school level on return

• Request reviewed by the Associate Dean for Research and Innovation (ADRI), and Vice Chairs for Research and Education (VCR, VCE) from the requesting department.
• ADRI, VCE, VCR make a recommendation to the Department Chair.
• Chair reviews for final approval decision.
• ADRI informs faculty of decision.

• Meets eligibility for support
• Travel is aligned with and contributes to the SoN mission, strategic plan and/or research priorities/pillars
• Scholarship or SoN benefits are clear
• Travel includes presentation of scholarly work or active participation in the conference/meeting that benefits and/or increases visibility of UW SoN (i.e. participating in an expert panel, leading roundtable discussion)
• Includes plan for dissemination of information or other learnings gained at the conference to the SoN community

The Royalty Research Fund (RRF) is a competitive awards program that provides research support to University of Washington faculty. The RRF is funded by royalty and licensing fee income generated by the University’s technology transfer program. The Royalty Research Fund has been offered twice a year since 1992. In 1994, the RRF Scholar Program was initiated to provide one quarter of release time for faculty with full teaching loads to engage in concentrated scholarly activities. The RRF welcomes proposals with budgets up to $40,000. Approximately $1M is awarded per round. The success rate for applicants averages 25%.

The Bridge Funding program provides bridge funding to support faculty to span a temporary funding gap in critical research programs.  Bridge Funding awards are typically used to support on-going research programs that have lost funding, although these funds may also be used to support new research directions, at the discretion of the recipient.

ITHS offers funds for novel, innovative, and collaborative translational and clinical research. They also engage in collaborative partnerships with non-ITHS programs that provide funding for more targeted research opportunities.

Please check each funding opportunity for specific eligibility criteria, which are dependent on the requirements of the funding sources. These criteria may be based on topic area, academic affiliation, geography (e.g., Puget Sound area, WWAMI region), or other factors.

The Center for AIDS Research is a collaboration between the University of Washington and Fred Hutch Center for AIDS Research (CFAR). Their mission is to advance the prevention, detection, and treatment of HIV and AIDS by fostering collaborative and interdisciplinary research, supporting career development in young investigators, and serving researchers and scientists at our affiliated institutions.

Please note that the availability of funding opportunities vary throughout the year. Please check back often or join their mailing list to receive email notifications when new opportunities become available.

The Population Health Initiative “seeks to create a world where all people can live healthier and more fulfilling lives. In support of that vision, the initiative is pleased to offer population health pilot research grants of up to $50,000 each…. These grants are intended to encourage the development of new interdisciplinary collaborations among investigators for projects that address critical challenges to population health.”

The Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences (CSSS) Seed Grants Program provides funding for promising research at the intersection of statistics and the social sciences. The goal is to stimulate scholarly initiative by encouraging faculty to explore new directions in research and scholarship that contributes at the cutting edge to the development of statistical methods for social scientific problems. Although we encourage collaborative research across disciplines–particularly between statisticians and social scientists–such collaboration is not a formal requirement of the program. We are particularly interested in projects that show a high probability of leading to extramural funding. Thus, the funds will typically be used to pursue pilot studies, feasibility studies, or preliminary research that initiates a larger line of research. A subsequent extramural grant that derives from seed grant funding would be administered through CSSS. Awards will be in the range of $15,000-25,000, and typically include one-month summary salary for a principal investigator and one quarter salary for a research assistant. In the past, proposals have had a high rate of funding.

The Addictions, Drug & Alcohol Institute (formerly the Alcohol & Drug Abuse Institute) works to stimulate and facilitate UW research on alcohol and drug use and addiction through its Small Grants Program, which awards funds to UW researchers for pilot studies and developmental research. The scope ranges from pharmacology of drugs to studies of clinical treatment strategies, prevention, and social policy issues. UW researchers should consider the Small Grants Program as a resource to help develop research through initial funding for promising pilot projects which may ultimately be developed into full studies with outside funding.

The University of Washington Nathan Shock Center and Healthy Aging and Longevity Research Institute are soliciting applications to support pilot projects in the biology of aging. The projects should utilize the specific services provided by one or more of the UW Nathan Shock Center Cores. The cores include Protein Phenotypes of Aging, Metabolite Phenotypes of Aging, Invertebrate Longevity and Healthspan Core, and the Artificial Intelligence and Bioinformatics Core. The awards are generally up to $10,000, depending on the specific needs of the applicant. Applications from institutions outside of the University of Washington are strongly encouraged. Preference will be given to junior faculty and investigators new to aging research.

Funds are available from the Fred Hutch/University of Washington Cancer Consortium (“The Consortium”) Cancer Center Support Grant (CCSG) to support cancer-related pilot projects. This competition will provide awards of up to $80,000 direct costs (plus F&A/indirect costs as allowable) for one year of pilot project support.