Research Council Program Grants Announcement (Applications due on December 1, 2026)

October 8, 2026

Dear Colleagues,

University Academic Affairs is pleased to announce the next round of grant opportunities through the Rutgers University Research Council, which has provided internal grants to Rutgers faculty for more than 80 consecutive years.

The Research Council’s annual awards program, funded by presidential strategic funds, provides seed funding to support faculty scholarship addressing challenging disciplinary problems across the sciences, social sciences, humanities, and creative arts. The council is composed of faculty representing the many fields of active research across all four chancellor-led units of our university. Council members review and allocate research funding directly to their faculty peers.

We are grateful to Dr. Antoinette Y. Farmer, professor and associate dean for diversity, equity, and inclusion, School of Social Work, and Dr. Michael Palis, University Professor, School of Arts and Sciences–Camden, who serve as co-chairs of the Research Council.

There are five separate funding mechanisms this year, which are described below. 

The Individual Fulcrum Award Program is tailored for individual researchers and creative artists who are testing new ideas to accelerate their scientific inquiry, research, scholarship, or creative production. The program especially welcomes applications from associate professors.

The Collaborative Multidisciplinary Award Program offers an opportunity for a group of faculty members from across disciplines to work together on a new shared problem or line of research.

The AI for Societal Impact Award supports innovative research that explores how artificial intelligence can be used to address or mitigate major human and societal challenges, including (but not limited to) those related to health, safety, social justice, climate change, education, and environmental sustainability.

The Subvention Program for the Publication of Scholarly Books subsidizes a portion of publication costs at university presses and other respected scholarly publishers to make scholarly books more affordable.

The Manuscript Review Award helps assistant- and associate-rank faculty members publish authoritative, thought-provoking, field-changing books. Awardees will receive a formal manuscript review plus a three-hour workshop/seminar led by an external senior scholar.

Applications are due on Tuesday, December 1, 2026, at 5 p.m., EST. Please visit the Research Council Awards page to access the application and find answers to frequently asked questions. 

For questions about the program, please contact rcg@oq.rutgers.edu.

Sincerely,

Keena Arbuthnot, PhD 
Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs 
Chief Academic Officer 
Distinguished Professor