Faculty Research Support
The George Washington University is a global, comprehensive research institution and a member of the Association of American Universities (AAU). At the Elliott School, sponsored research funding has dramatically increased over the past several years. The Elliott School’s Research Team serves to support and enhance this trend. We are proud of our faculty’s entrepreneurial spirit and encourage you to think of us as partners in the process of:
Identifying Research Opportunities and Funding
The University offers no-cost funding databases and search tools to help faculty and research staff find funding opportunities.
- Pivot
Pivot is a searchable database of funding opportunities from federal and non-federal sources including foundations and commercial sponsors. The university's subscription to this service allows GW users to create customized searches and have matching opportunities e-mailed as they are posted.
Contact [email protected] or 202-994-6255 for Pivot access and training or view more detailed instructions (PDF) on how to set up an account, claim an existing account or conduct searches.
- Hanover Research
-
Hanover Research produces specialized grant calendars twice each month, mapping out grant opportunities of interest to faculty in different focus areas.
Sign up for targeted grant calendars, projections, webinars, toolkits and more provided by Hanover Research.
- Foundations and Philanthropies
Search thousands of grant opportunities by category by using GW’s subscription to Foundation Center’s online database. For log-in access:
- Make sure you are accessing GW's internet network either by utilizing GW's Wifi/Ethernet when on-campus or through GW's VPN connection when off-campus.
- Visit the GW Libraries A-Z database.
- Scroll down the list of resources to "Foundation Directory Online" and click on that link for access*.
*Please note, you must maintain connection to GW's internet servers in order to have full access to Foundation Directory Online resources.
Administered by Foundation Center, RFP Bulletin at Philanthropy News Digest displays current Request For Proposals (RFPs) and allows users to sign up for email and news alerts.
- Corporate Research Funding
Companies support academic research that aligns with their R&D objectives or philanthropic priorities. You can begin exploring corporate research grant opportunities by reviewing the corporate grants in GW’s Funding Opportunities Database. If there are no Requests for Proposals (RFPs) that match your area of work, you may also visit prospective corporate funders’ websites to see if the company funds research in your topic area and accepts proposals.
Questions to consider when identifying a potential funder include:
- Who are industry leaders in this area?
- Can a company find business value in my research project?
- Do I have any corporate connections?
- Who in my network might have connections to corporate representatives?
Elliott's Corporations Officer Joe Metope [email protected] can help you identify companies that may be a good match for your research project, as well as work with you to develop an outreach strategy and a plan for solicitation, if you haven’t yet identified a specific RFP.
Priority Corporations and Foundations
GW has longstanding relationships with foundation and corporate partners across the world.
Because the university has pending or current funding with many key constituents, we ask that faculty and staff contact Susan Boerstling, Assistant Vice President, Corporate & Foundation Relations, [email protected], before contacting the foundations and companies on the priority corporations and foundations list.
For more, please visit GW Corporate & Foundation Relations.
Intramural Funding
- GWU Intramural Competitions
University Facilitating Fund (UFF)
The goal of the University Facilitating Fund (UFF) is to foster the creation of new research projects and scholarly activities that encourage application to externally funded opportunities, bring external recognition to the PI and university and/or demonstrate significant impact to the field of which it belongs. Awards range from $5,000-25,000 and the award period is a year starting in July.
Cross-Disciplinary Research Fund (CDRF)
The Cross-Disciplinary Research Fund (CDRF) supports the establishment of collaborative partnerships within centers and institutes or between investigators from two or more diverse departments with the expectation that they apply for external funding. CDRF awards provide up to $50,000 for one year with the opportunity for a second year of funding.
The goal of the University Seminars Funding Program is to foster sustained discussion of issues that cross traditional disciplinary boundaries. Each seminar receives funding up to $4000 annually, and may be renewed for up to two additional years.
Humanities Facilitating Fund (HFF)
The goal of the Humanities Facilitating Fund (HFF) is to provide funding for the promotion of scholarship of humanities faculty at GW. This opportunity is open to all regular-status faculty conducting research in the humanities, regardless of home department or unit. Awards will be limited to $5,000.
- Elliott School Intramural Research Award Competitions
Elliott School Policy Labs Initiative
Policy Labs aim to spur research collaboration and policy engagement on important and timely topics that cut across regional and functional research centers and institutes. Labs will complement established centers and institutes by providing short-term programmatic flexibility built around faculty research interests in key contemporary issues not fully represented by the school’s architecture. Importantly, Policy Labs will also include an active policy engagement component, which will reinforce the relationship between research and impact so central to the Elliott School’s mission.
Policy Labs will tackle tough, cross-cutting challenges for a defined period of time, and with a defined purpose. Labs will be selected via open competition.
The deadline for 2024 Policy Lab proposals is April 30, 2024.
For more information, please consult the complete RFP.
Elliott School Distinguished Research Chair Award
This initiative aims to advance faculty research projects by awarding one course release to select faculty, thereby facilitating their efforts to apply for external funding in the amount of $75,000 or more. Up to three of these awards will be given each academic year, depending on the rigor of the proposals and the availability of funding.
Applications are open to all budgeted Elliott School faculty.
The deadline for proposals is May 1, 2024.
For more information please consult the complete RFP.
Applying for a Grant
Applying for grants and other sponsored projects can sometimes seem daunting. Check out some resources that can help:
- GW Research Enhancement Unit
The Research Enhancement Unit (REU) provides investigators at the George Washington University (GW) with services and guidance to successfully apply for federally-sponsored research funding.
REU helps GW investigators by:
- identifying targeted funding opportunities to expand and diversify research portfolios;
- providing consultative and scientific editing services;
- delivering professional development workshops, trainings and seminars; and
- facilitating collaboration for large, complex, international and multi-/cross-disciplinary proposals.
- Spark to Impact Sessions
Supporting GW Research and Scholars Series
From Spark to Impact introduces the many GW teams that support faculty, staff, postdocs and students on their scholarly journeys. The sessions are open and relevant to the entire scholarly community. You will find this content useful whether you are new to GW or have been here for decades.
- National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity
The George Washington University is an Institutional Member of the National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity (NCFDD). The NCFDD is an independent faculty development center dedicated to supporting academics in making successful transitions throughout their careers. By becoming an Institutional Member, all faculty, postdocs, and graduate students at The George Washington University have access to the following member resources at no additional cost:
- Weekly Monday Motivator
- Monthly Core Curriculum Webinars
- Monthly Guest Expert Webinars
- Access to Multi-Week Courses
- Access to Dissertation Success Curriculum for graduate students
- Private Discussion Forum for peer-mentoring, problem-solving, & moderated writing challenges
- Monthly accountability buddy matches
- Access to 14-Day Writing Challenges
- Access to the Member Library that includes past webinar materials, referrals, and readings
- Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations
The Office of Corporate and Foundation Relations facilitates GW’s relationships with foundations, corporations, institutions, associations, trusts, and other non-governmental funding entities across the globe. CFR officers are pleased to partner with faculty members from all schools and colleges at GW to engage institutional support for projects, research, and programs. They are available to assist throughout all the stages of the funding process. Elliott is fortunate to have Joe Metope and Susan Boerstling as it's CFR officers:
Corporations Officer:
Joe Matope
202-994-2270
[email protected]Foundations Officer:
Susan Boerstling
202-994-7384
[email protected]
Submitting a Proposal
If you have plans to submit a proposal, please fill out the Intent to Submit form through Research Pod 1.
Need more info? Check out:
- The GW Sponsored Projects Handbook
- Information on IDCs, Fringe Rates, and Other Institutional Information
- Elliott's Pre- and Post-award Specialists in Research Pod 1
Promoting Your Research
OVPR's Communications' team can help promote scholarly findings, offer individualized op-ed assistance, create visuals to explain your work, provide media training and more.
At Elliott, help us ensure your research and publications get the attention they deserve. When you have an article, book, op-ed, or other publication, please email Robin Khan [email protected] and this will trigger alerts for the research and communications teams.
Did you Know...
- The Elliott School is supported by GW's Research Pod 1. The Pod provides support for proposal submission and most post award transactions. Directions for submitting a proposal to an external entity that requests any kind of budgetary or indirect cost information are outlined in greater detail on the Pod website.
- To recognize research achievements, GW provides Research Enhancement Incentive Awards (REIA) for Principal Investigators. The amount of REIA provided to PIs and academic units is determined annually through a formula based on the next expenditures incurred by faculty as well as consultation between the Vice Provost for Research and Deans. OVPR will supplement the REIA award to principal investigators by an amount equal to the F&A associated with the salary and fringe benefit costs of a graduate research assistant (GRA) on awards with the full negotiated F&A rate. Yet another reason to consider including GRAs in your proposals.
- Joining one of Elliott's 11 research Centers and Institutes can boost your research. Not only does membership in a Center/Institute offer the opportunity to more easily collaborate with colleagues but it also offers you additional staff support and can ease the administrative burden associated with finding, applying for, and managing sponsored projects.