Dean's Research Grant Program

Introduction

Established in 2014, the NYU School of Professional Studies Dean’s Research Grant Program (DRGP), aims to support full-time faculty research at the School. Scholarly and applied research are critical additions to classroom teaching and to help expand our faculty's roles as thought leaders in their respective fields. Dean Kamath has increased the fund to $60,000 per year to support full-time faculty research projects.

At the beginning of the Fall 2021 semester, Dean Kamath asked a working group to consider how the DRGP might be updated with the goal to better serve faculty needs. The group conducted a faculty survey in November and, based on this feedback, arrived at a new model that allows for project grants of up to $5,000 (same as previous years) as well as smaller awards up to $2,500 ("seed funding") for start-up and/or cross-unit group explorations. For the sake of clarity, these two options will be referred to below as "project grants" and "seed funding."

Projects with two co-principal investigators that are both full-time faculty members are eligible for a combined award of up to $10,000 at the discretion of the Dean's Research Committee.

Eligibility

Only SPS full-time faculty members are eligible for this award. (Adjunct faculty can support or partner with full-time faculty on research projects, but they are not eligible to apply to the DRGP on their own. Adjunct faculty have access to a separate NYU-wide pool of professional development funds).
There are no restrictions regarding rank/title, years of service, and/or prior research or funding experience.

Process

All applications are self-nominations (you do not need to be nominated by fellow faculty).
The Committee may request additional information and suggest changes to the proposal before providing a recommendation to the Dean.
A Selection Committee appointed by the SPS Dean will review all submissions and send finalists for consideration to the Dean.
Proposals with research that involves human subjects (see decision tree here) will receive a conditional approval pending receipt of an exemption or approval letter from the University Committee on Activities Involving Human Subjects (UCAIHS).
All proposals will be evaluated on merit ONLY. Awardees will not be selected according to department size or any other criteria.
For projects with two co-PIs seeking a $10,000 award, the committee will evaluate the proposal as both a single $5,000 award to both faculty and also at the $10,000 level.

Deadlines

Application starts: September 22, 2025
Application Deadline: November 3, 2025
Committee review: November 16, 2025
Dean’s review: December 1, 2025
Award Notification: December 8, 2025
Budget Period: December 9, 2025 - August 31, 2026

Funds

Funds are typically available as of September 1. Funds are generally disbursed as reimbursements.

Applicants who receive a conditional approval will not have access to any funds until all conditions have been satisfied. Recipients must submit any notifications of meeting the conditions to the Office of Faculty Affairs at sps.facultyaffairs@nyu.edu.

Funds are time-limited to one academic year and are dependent on faculty reappointment.

Recipients of a grant will be required to submit ORIGINAL receipts for all reimbursements and/or advances to the SPS Office of Budget and Accounting (sps.budget@nyu.edu) and include SPS Office of Faculty Affairs (sps.facultyaffairs@nyu.edu) in the CC field when sending. Please note that itemized receipts for train, airline, and boarding passes must be submitted within 30 days from the date of the activity expense.
Recipients will be personally responsible for paying approved expenses for which original receipts are not submitted or that exceed the grant limit and for all unapproved expenses. All reimbursements/advances must follow University guidelines, including NYU Travel and Expense Policy.

The Dean's Research Committee will distribute double-awards based on the volume of grant applications. The committee will prioritize single-recipient projects, and then assess what remaining funds are available to double-award grant applicants.

Recipient Responsibilities

Awardees are required to present findings at an SPS faculty meeting or an NYU SPS Insights event after the proposed project has ended, and may be asked to serve on the Dean’s Research Committee during the following year.
Recipients also may be asked to provide periodic updates for SPS faculty highlights, SPS or unit annual reports, SPS social media postings, etc.