Arts Research: Incubation & Acceleration

• Approximately 12–20 grants will be awarded in academic year 2025-2026.

• Faculty applying for individual projects are eligible for up to $25,000, and research teams are eligible for up to $50,000.

• Projects will be funded for periods of up to two years.

• Funding can support projects in pilot/incubation stages or those entering new stages of development and dissemination.

Applications will be accepted in two cycles: 

Round One (Fall) [closed]

• Award Notification → January 2026

• Start date → March 1, 2026

• Latest end date → February 28, 2028

Round Two (Winter) [not yet open]

• Applications Open → December 2, 2025

• Deadline → March 11, 2026, 5 p.m.

• Award Notification → May 2026

• Start date → June 1, 2026

• Latest end date → May 30, 2028

• The primary investigator (PI) and CoPI(s) for all projects must be PI-Eligible.
  Learn more about PI eligibility.

• All PI-eligible faculty from the Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint campuses are eligible to apply. Interdisciplinary research teams and creative practice projects are especially encouraged to apply.

• The primary investigator (PI) and CoPI(s) for all projects must be U-M faculty with a research appointment (tenured, tenure track, research, or clinical professors), though research teams can include collaborators from across and beyond U-M.

• All PI-eligible faculty from the Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint campuses are eligible to apply. Interdisciplinary research teams are especially encouraged to apply.

Applicants must complete/upload information in four areas:

• Statement of Plans and Related Questions (series of questions with word-limited text boxes for response)

• List of Recent Work (NOT a cv, one-page limit)

• Work Samples (two document uploads: one-page overview of submitted samples, one PDF file containing excerpts, images, and/or video links, as appropriate)
  NOTE: The review panel will not review work samples in excess of the stated guidelines for submission.

• Feasibility Plan (three items: one-page budget, one-page budget justification/explanation, one-page timeline/schedule)

There are an additional three items that applicants should complete as appropriate.

• Acknowledgment of Application for Course Release Form

• Contextualizing Collaborators

• Letters of Commitment
  If the project has significant collaboration with any internal/external collaborators/partners, within or beyond U-M then applicants must submit letters of commitment (as of the 2025-2026 ARIA funding round, applicants are required to submit letters of commitment from organizations/institutions and/or individual collaborators who are essential to the project’s success)

Successful applications will:

• Demonstrate the project’s significance to national and/or international developments and conversations in arts research, creative practice, and beyond; 

• Describe how findings (in artistic form and otherwise) will be brought to new and/or broad audiences; and

• Demonstrate, in applications from research teams, how all collaborators will bring their expertise to the research agenda. 

All applications will be evaluated on:

• Clarity, imagination, and artistic quality of the proposed project;

• Potential outcomes and impact(s) in the arts and, where appropriate, to other fields of inquiry and/or communities;

• Artistic quality and range of previous work samples; and

• Feasibility of budget and timeline.

Upon notification of successful application, PIs will be provided with detailed information about final reporting requirements for both Arts Initiative and OVPR.

A program shortcode will be established in the recipient’s academic unit for a specified amount, duration, and purpose. The recipient and academic unit are responsible for ensuring good stewardship of funds. A mid-term report will be required, with a final report to follow at the closeout of the grant.

For questions related to this call for proposals please contact ARIA.grant@umich.edu.

For troubleshooting questions related to the InfoReady Review submission portal, please contact triciamc@umich.edu.