Purdue University Northwest > Research > Internal Funding Opportunities

Internal Funding Opportunities

The Office of Commercialization and Research supports Purdue University Northwest faculty with competitive internal funding that accelerates research, elevates scholarship, and enhances student training.

Current Funding Opportunities

This fall, the Office of Commercialization and Research, in collaboration with the PNW Research Board, is offering three internal funding opportunities to advance faculty research and scholarly activities at Purdue University Northwest. These competitive programs provide support for research initiation, scholarly book projects, and faculty experiencing a temporary gap in external research funding.

Explore the opportunities below for program details, eligibility requirements, funding levels, and application instructions.

All applications must be submitted online using the PNW InfoReady application system.

The objective of the PNW Research Bridge Program is to provide short-term, limited financial support for faculty research programs during periods when externally funded research programs have experienced a temporary funding gap. Funds are intended to maintain research programs at a minimum essential level while investigators prepare and submit competitive proposals for external funding. 

Award Amount: Up to $5,000 (50% College Matching Requirement)

Number of Awards: 2 per academic year

Application Deadline: Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Additional Information:

  • All full-time faculty may apply.  For team proposals, the lead applicant (Principal Investigator) is responsible for submitting the application, managing the project budget, and submitting the required final report. 
  • The project period is from November 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027.
  • Funds may be used for student salaries, consultants, recharges, travel, supplies, and equipment. Funds may not be used to support faculty salaries, or to purchase items that are unallowable under the Purdue University procurement policies. 
  • Project narrative may not exceed 3 pages. References are excluded from the total page count.
  • Please review the Request for Proposals for additional details and requirements.

Apply Here

The objective of the PNW Seed Funding for Academic Books Program is to support faculty members who are preparing scholarly academic books for publication by recognized academic or scholarly publishers. The program is intended to provide funding that will facilitate completion of a high-quality manuscript and advance scholarly publication that enhances the faculty member’s research program and Purdue University Northwest’s research reputation. 

Award Amount: Up to $5,000 (50% College Matching Requirement)

Number of Awards: 1 per academic year

Application Deadline: Wednesday, September 20, 2026

Additional Information:

  • All full-time Purdue University Northwest faculty are eligible to apply. For team proposals, the lead applicant (Principal Investigator) is responsible for submitting the application, managing the project budget, and submitting the required final report.  
  • The project period is from November 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027.
  • Funds may be used for faculty release time, student salaries, consultants, travel, supplies, editorial assistance, indexing, and other direct costs necessary to complete the scholarly manuscript. Funds may not be used to support unrelated activities or purchase items that are unallowable under Purdue University policies. 
  • Project narrative may not exceed 3 pages. References are excluded from the total page count.
  • Please review the Request for Proposals for additional details and requirements.

Apply Here

The objective of the PNW Seed Funding for Research Initiation Program is to support innovative, high-impact research that establishes new collaborations and positions Purdue University Northwest faculty to compete successfully for external funding. The program is designed to foster multidisciplinary, cross-disciplinary, and interdisciplinary research by supporting projects that address complex research questions through collaboration among investigators with complementary expertise. 

Projects should result in competitive external funding proposals, scholarly publications, creative works, and sustained research collaborations that enhance Purdue University Northwest’s research enterprise. 

Funding Categories: The Research Initiation Program will include three funding categories.

  1. Multidisciplinary Research: Projects involving investigators from two or more disciplines working on a common research problem while contributing from their respective disciplinary perspectives. Each discipline maintains its own methods and approaches.  
  2. Cross-Disciplinary Research: Projects in which investigators intentionally apply methods, theories, or perspectives from one discipline to address research questions in another discipline, creating new approaches to the proposed work.
  3. Interdisciplinary Research: Projects that integrate concepts, theories, methodologies, and expertise from multiple disciplines to create new frameworks, approaches, or solutions that transcend traditional disciplinary boundaries.

Award Amount: Up to $10,000 (50% College Matching Requirement)

Number of Awards: 3 per academic year, 1 per funding category

Application Deadline: Wednesday, September 30, 2026

Additional Information:

  • All full-time Purdue University Northwest faculty are eligible to apply. The lead applicant (Principal Investigator) is responsible for submission of the proposal, management of the project budget, and submission of the final report. 
  • The project period is from November 1, 2026, to June 30, 2027.
  • Funds may be used for student salaries, consultants, travel, supplies, equipment, and core facility costs. Funds cannot be used for Faculty salaries, including release time, academic-year salary, summer salary, overload, and supplemental compensation.
  • Project narrative may not exceed 3 pages. References are excluded from the total page count.
  • Please review the Request for Proposals for additional details and requirements.

Apply Here

 

Information for Internal Award Recipients

Prior to the start of the project, you will receive an account number from the Office of Research. This number will be shared with your business office manager, as well as your department administration. You will charge this account for all your project expenses.  Faculty member identified as the project lead (PI) is the authorized funding administrator, meaning that that he/she is responsible for budget management.

Please note that all project team members must complete RCR training in order to receive funding.  Please reference the Regulatory Requirements section below for more information.

If a faculty member becomes aware that he or she will leave Purdue and cannot meet the requirements of the grant, they are obligated to report this information to the Office of Research immediately and cancel the grant.

Research Account Dashboard

Designed with faculty in mind, the dashboard provides a quick overview of account balance lists for faculty grants and faculty allocation accounts. Faculty logging into the system will be taken straight to their “dashboard.” Business Office staff will be able to access the dashboards by entering the faculty member’s alias (must be entered exactly) in the search window at the top of the home page.

The Research Account Dashboard (RAD) can be accessed through the link below.

Once in the dashboard view, users can flip through different views using the tabs at the top of the window. More detailed views of each account can be accessed in the Grant Details, Sponsored Program Details and Faculty Allocation Details using a ‘drop down’ style selection tool on each tab.

Account Information Management System (AIMS)

You can always view your account balance by visiting the GM AIMS faculty portal (log in with Purdue Login) and selecting “Summarized Account View.”

You may use the grant funds for any expenses that directly support your project.  You may not use the grant funds to support expenses that have no benefit to the project.  Please follow PNW’s procurement processes for all purchases.  You may need to work with your department’s administrative assistant to process expenses.  For any salary charges (academic year or summer), please work with your Department Chair, Administrative Assistant, and the Business Office.  Fringe benefits and fee remission will be charged directly to the internal grant.

  • Internal grant charges do not have to be reviewed or approved by the Office of Research staff.
  • You can always view your account balance by visiting the Purdue RAD or GM AIMS faculty portal (log in with Purdue Login) and selecting “Summarized Account View.”
  • GM AIMS Reference Links

 

Information from progress and final reports will allow us to assess the effectiveness of the internal grant programs and continue these programs in the future.  In addition, submitting a final project report allows the PI to close out the grant and apply for additional funding.  Reports are submitted by filling out a survey.  You may complete the survey at any time you have information to report.

To complete your mid-project and final reports, please log in to InfoReady and go to  PROGRESS REPORTS tab.

Prior to starting your project, all project team members, including students, must be up to date with the Responsible Conduct of Research requirements.  In addition, all regulatory approvals must be secured.  Any new staff/students who join the team after the project starts must complete the RCR training within 30 days.