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Catalyst Grants

Catalyst Grants

Catalyst Grants

The FY26 cycle has closed.

We anticipate another round in FY27.

The FY26 cycle has closed. The following information is available for reference only. We anticipate offering another round of funding in FY27.  Information on the FY26 awards is available here. 

A new round of catalyst grant funding is available for faculty at the University of Michigan's Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint campuses to pursue projects that address critical sustainability challenges through collaborative, interdisciplinary, and partner-engaged approaches. Grants may be used to:

  • Develop new collaborative research ideas,
  • Produce solution-oriented knowledge, and/or
  • Apply knowledge for societal impact.

Catalyst Grants offer up to $15,000 for projects lasting up to 12 months. Up to 7 awards anticipated.

Applications from all disciplines are welcome, including the natural, social, engineering, design, and health sciences, as well as the arts, humanities, and professions.

Projects must take an interdisciplinary and engaged approach that integrates knowledge and perspectives from multiple disciplines and sectors. Teams must include U-M faculty from multiple disciplines and multiple academic/research units, and projects must engage partners from outside of academia. Projects must be distinct from prior or ongoing collaborative research.

Proposals may address any sustainability topic. Thanks to generous philanthropic support from Lewis G. Sandy, M.D. and Susan Hassmiller, R.N., Ph.D., FAAN, the U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation (IHPI) is providing dedicated funding for health services research sustainability projects focused on the intersection of climate and health.

Key Dates
  • EXTENDED: Monday, October 20, 2025 (Noon - 12:00 PM ET) - Letter of Intent deadline (required, non-binding) *Ideas/teams do not need to be fully formed*
  • EXTENDED: November 17, 2025  (Midnight - 12:59 PM ET) - Proposal deadline
  • December 2025 - Award decisions
  • January 1, 2026 - Anticipated project start date   

 

How to Apply

U-M faculty from the Ann Arbor, Dearborn, and Flint campuses eligible to serve as a U-M Principal Investigator (PI) may apply. See the RFP for full eligibility requirements. Submit materials through the online application system accessible via the "Start an Application" link at the top of this webpage, and provide all elements described in the RFP.

Proposal Documents

To submit the LOI, click on the "Start an Application" link on the top of this webpage, then click “Apply.” Once you have logged in, enter the team information into the online form, upload your LOI as a single PDF, and save your application. All entries in the form can be updated at the proposal stage. You will receive a confirmation email when you first successfully save your LOI. Save this email – it will include a unique URL to access your application to make any edits to the LOI and to submit a full proposal.

You may continue to edit your LOI application by updating the form fields and uploading revised PDFs until the deadline, at which point your saved application will be submitted automatically. You will not receive subsequent confirmation emails. If you do not receive an initial confirmation email, your LOI was not saved properly, and you should resave or contact us directly at [email protected].

To submit a proposal, access your application using the unique URL from your LOI confirmation email and the same UM login credentials. Once logged in, you will need to do the following: 1) Expand “Team Members and Partners” to make any changes to your team, 2) Expand the “Project Information” section to upload your proposal as a single PDF, and 3) Click the "save" button.

You will receive a confirmation email the first time you successfully upload and save your proposal. You may continue to make edits to your application until the deadline, at which time your saved application will be submitted automatically. You will not receive subsequent confirmation emails.

More Information

Contact Us

Do you have questions about the upcoming Catalyst Grant opportunity? Please feel free to reach out to Maggie and Sarah directly, or schedule a 30-minute consultation call via Calendly (LINK).