The School of Music, Theatre & Dance (SMTD) is committed to supporting and advising faculty in the pursuit of funding for scholarly and artistic research.
Types of funding available
SMTD administers its own Faculty Research Grant Program. The SMTD Faculty Research Committee (FRC) also conducts an internal review of all applications to the University of Michigan Office of Research (UMOR). Several other funding opportunities at U-M are available. Finally, projects that are funded by external sponsors are managed by the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects (ORSP).
Note: Full-time, tenure-track and clinical-track faculty are eligible for one award (SMTD Faculty Research Grant, UMOR grant, or Mcubed token) per fiscal year (July 1-June 30).
The University of Michigan Office of Research (UMOR) offers several funding opportunities. Proposals must be reviewed by the the SMTD Research Office and the FRC prior to submission to UMOR. The FRC usually meets one time ahead of a submission deadline.
Deadline: proposals are due to the Director of Research, Marie McCarthy (mfmcc@umich.edu), no later than six (6) weeks prior to the application deadline (e.g. UMOR’s October 15 deadline, no later than September 1). The FRC meets 7-14 days before the UMOR deadline date.
Application preparation tips
- The elements of a complete UMOR project/grant proposal include: narrative, budget, budget justification, and a brief biography.
- Keep in mind that complex project/grant proposals and sponsored projects require more time to prepare.
- Proposals that involve scheduling and reserving campus facilities, equipment purchase or rental, or departmental staffing may require additional approval and coordination. These must be negotiated and secured before the proposal is presented to the FRC, so applicants are encouraged to submit their proposals well before the deadline.
- The number of proposals received by the Research Office and the proposals’ complexity greatly affect the time necessary to prepare them for internal review. Proposals presented during summer months are a special challenge because of reduced reviewer availability.
- ADVANCE Program
- Arts at Michigan
- Center for Research on Learning and Teaching
- Center for World Performance Studies
- Community-Engaged Academic Learning
- Edward Ginsburg Center
- Graham Sustainability Institute
- Institute for the Humanities
- Institute for Research on Women and Gender
- International Institute
- Mcubed
- Rackham Graduate School
Projects that are funded by external sponsors are classified as sponsored projects and are managed by the Office of Research and Sponsored Projects (ORSP) using the eResearch Proposal Management interface (note that ORSP has its own published deadlines for ePAF submissions).
- Creative Capital
- Foundation Funding for Faculty – U-M Foundation Relations
- Fulbright Scholar Program
- Kresge Foundation
- National Institutes of Health (NIH) – SoundHealth initiative
- National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)
- National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)
- National Science Foundation (NSF)
- New Music USA
