COVID-19 Research Accelerator Grants

Updated: February 1, 2022

The COVID-19 pandemic has greatly affected the academic community in many ways, including our research productivity. To provide support to our PIs whose research has been affected by the pandemic, the Dean’s Office is soliciting modest funding requests of up to $12,500 that would enable PIs to:

  • partly offset expenses and setbacks, either previous or anticipated, directly caused by COVID restrictions;
  • accelerate the safe ramp-up of research activity; or
  • complete a significant project put on hold during the pandemic where the original funding either expired or had to be redirected.

The requirements of funding are:

  • PIs and post-doctoral researchers with at least a 50% appointment in the College of the Environment are eligible.
  • Rationale for the request must be based on research impacts of the COVID shutdown.
  • All requests will require at least a 50% matching commitment by the unit.
  • All funds must be expended within 6 months of award. Units will be reimbursed for actual expenses.
  • PIs are eligible for a maximum of $12,500 in total COVID-19 Research Accelerator Grants from the Dean’s Office.
  • A brief report on use and impact of funds will be due to the Associate Dean of Research seven months following the granting of funds.

Examples of possible expenditures include:

  • That part of technical support costs since March 2020 that was unfunded because of a hiatus in grant activity or lack of recharge-center activity. (If funding is requested for this category, please describe efforts to reduce costs through FTE reductions, etc., and/or why cost-saving measures could not be taken.)
  • Equipment or chemicals that degraded by inactivity or unanticipated storage.
  • Research activity normally done on campus that had to be outsourced at greater cost because of the COVID shutdown.
  • Replacement of samples that can no longer be studied because of a limited shelf life.
  • Graduate student support cannot be covered by this funding. 

Deadline(s)

The first round of requests will be due by June 15, 2021. Requests must be ranked and submitted by the unit chair/director with a matching commitment.

Beyond the June 15 deadline, subject to availability of funds, requests will be considered as received until February 28, 2022.

Review of requests will be rapid and include input from relevant experts when required.

Application Instructions 

To submit an application, please use the following Excel template, completely filling out the “application” sheet.

Download the COVID-19 Research Accelerator Grant application

Each proposal should be submitted to the Associate Dean for Research (shuyic@uw.edu) via the unit chair/director as one excel document and include the following information:

  1. Cover page (see form):
    • PI or Postdoc name, title, and FTE in College of the Environment
    • Unit name
    • Amount of funds requested from the Dean’s Office
    • Confirmation of unit match request
  2. Request (no more than 2 pages):
    1. Justification and Statement of COVID-19 impact
    2. Explanation of how the applicant plans to use the accelerator grant to:
      • partly offset expenses and setbacks, either previous or anticipated, directly caused by COVID restrictions;
      • accelerate the ramp-up of research activity; or
      • complete a significant project put on hold during the pandemic where the original funding either expired or had to be redirected.
    3. A timeline of work planned, if applicable
  3. Proposed budget of incurred or expected costs (see template)
  4. Add the CV for the PI, which must include current and pending funding, to the embedded Word document following the 2 page justification, explanation and timeline.

For any questions, please contact Associate Dean of Research, Shuyi Chen at shuyic@uw.edu.

shuyi