RISE supports individuals in developing and piloting innovations, while also developing them as innovators through its Innovator Development Program. Individuals who apply for the RISE Innovation Development Program may be considered for the following funding options: project funding to support the proposed innovation in ($1,500, $2,500 or $5,000) and 0.15 FTE support (or the equivalent 15% reduction in other responsibilities for staff and learners to accommodate the effort). RISE specifically seeks to support innovators with new ideas that have the potential to change existing approaches in teaching and learning, scale to different areas and learners, and improve practice and health. All Michigan Medicine faculty, staff and learners are eligible to apply.

The Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine (CBSSM) funds small, focused projects that have the potential to improve health care decisions and the ethical practice of medicine. Awards are up to $20,000, with most awards ranging from $5,000-$10,000.

The Continuing Medical Education Innovation Grant funds invites project proposals for grants to support innovation in Continuing Medical Education (CME). Successful project proposals will receive up to $25,000. Proposals can promote innovation in all aspects of physician learning or training – content, process, outcomes or assessment.

The Clinical Simulation Center (CSC) Research Fund funds proposals that apply best practices in simulation-based education for UME, GME and other health care professionals. Awards are a maximum of $15,000 per project.

The Graduate Medical Education Innovation Fund provides $50,000 – $100,000 to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of GME through disruptive innovations for the benefit of health care, and that demonstrates the true value proposition of GME.

The Michigan Diabetes Research Center (MDRC) Pilot/Feasibility (P/F) Grant Program provides a minimum of $250,000 per year for P/F grant awards and $100,000 per year for P/F Regional P/F grant awards. The ultimate goal of the grant program is to enable awardees to generate a sufficient body of preliminary information for a successful application for major research funding from the National Institutes of Health or other national granting agencies.

Phyllis M. Blackman Innovation Grant provides an opportunity to acknowledge, inform, reinvigorate and refocus departmental and unit efforts on activities that promote respect for and learning about others. Awards are a maximum of $5,000 per project. The Office for Health Equity & Inclusion will share a call for applications on their internal website.

The Biointerfaces Institute Innovation Fellowship aims to train intellectually outstanding and culturally diverse individuals with scholarly and technical expertise to explore the commercial potential of biointerfaces innovation research. We are seeking a diverse cohort of individuals who see themselves actively pursuing careers in innovation, health technology development and entrepreneurship. We are looking for individuals who, in addition to having entrepreneurial interest and technical expertise, will bring a diversity of experiences beyond their research scope and can communicate them with a broad audience. The Innovation Fellowship is a full-time position for up to two years at a competitive $60,000 salary with full benefits.

Center for Socially Engaged Design Innovation in Action has two primary goals (1) To empower students to innovate solutions to world’s biggest challenges and (2) To create a nurturing and challenging environment to take risks and move beyond the classroom. First prize $10,000, Second prize $7,500, Third prize $5,000 and Poverty Solutions “Best Innovation in Economic Mobility” Award $2,500.

The Office of Academic Innovation provides seed funding that enable research on special topics in higher education and academic innovation to get the support they need to get off the ground.  The maximum is typically $5,000.

The Provost’s Teaching Innovation Prize, sponsored by the Office of the Provost, CRLT and the University Library honors original, specific innovations designed to improve student learning.  The award will provide $5,000 to five faculty members (or teams) for their innovative projects to improve student learning.

The Faculty Development Fund funds up to $6,000 for individual faculty proposing innovative revisions to courses or innovative course development or initiating smaller innovative projects to improve student learning at the University of Michigan. It also funds up to $10,000 to departments, programs and other large faculty groups to work together on more extensive education projects.

The Gilbert Whitaker Fund for the Improvement of Teaching funds up to $6,000 for individual faculty proposing innovative revisions to courses or innovative course development or initiating smaller innovative projects to improve student learning at the University of Michigan. It also funds up to $10,000 to departments, programs, and other large faculty groups to work together on more extensive education projects.

The Lecturers’ Professional Development Fund funds up to $2,000 for the many contributions of Lecturers and to provide them with access to funds beyond those ordinarily available each will be awarded for professional development activities that involve teaching, research, and/or creative endeavors.

The Research Catalyst and Innovation (RCI) Program includes four new funding mechanisms totaling more than $1.5 million in annual support. The program infuses funding and fosters increased collaboration to catalyze research and spur innovation across the three University of Michigan campuses.

Research Commons is a digital hub for researchers across the University of Michigan to easily identify and apply for internal funding opportunities to advance their work. The hub is managed by The Office of the Vice President for Research.

The Taubman Institute welcomes applications from existing teams of active collaborators, newly formed teams, or from individuals who have novel ideas to apply for the Taubman Institute Innovation Projects. There is no deadline. Letters of intent are accepted on a rolling basis.

The University of Michigan Therapeutic Innovation Fund supports the discovery and optimization of small molecule lead compounds for projects with a specific, novel and testable drug discovery hypothesis. Selected projects receive funding and resources to support medicinal chemistry efforts through MCTI and funding for drug design, assay development, cell biology, structural biology and pharmacology (up to $150,000 in value for each award for a period of 18 months, with the funds being dispersed in two stages).

The Wellness Office’s Workforce Well-being Grant Program encourages and supports innovative, scalable and sustainable approaches that improve the quality of experience and well-being at work and in the learning environment among faculty, residents and staff at Michigan Medicine. Awards are granted up to $5,000 for projects spanning 12 months. This program is open to all faculty, residents and staff at Michigan Medicine. 

The Research Scouts Program, part of Michigan Medicine’s "Great Minds, Greater Discoveries" research plan, empowers faculty to fund innovative early-stage projects within the university. Modeled after the Hypothesis Fund, this initiative provides each selected Research Scout $150,000 to invest in bold, creative ideas, fostering connections, and sparking new scientific directions. In its inaugural year, 24 faculty scouts funded 46 projects, supporting 51 U-M researchers with a $3.2 million total investment. The next program will select up to 20 scouts who can make single or combined awards, actively identifying promising projects through themed events and reviews rather than traditional proposals.

The American Medical Association (AMA) Accelerating Change in Medical Education Innovation Grant Program offers funding to conduct research, implement innovations or disseminate effective approaches in medical education aimed at preparing future physician’s to succeed in our rapidly evolving health care system. Awards of $10,000 and $30,000 are available to individual AMA faculty members or small groups of faculty.

The Central Group on Education Affairs (CGEA) promotes scholarship in medical education and advance the community of scholarship within the Central region. A maximum award of $7,000 is available for multiple-institution projects and $5,000 for single-institution projects. Consistent with the requirements of scholarship, all funded projects must be collaborative and investigatory in nature, and their results must be made public, available for peer review, and freely available for others to build upon.

CORD/EMG Emergency Medicine Education Scholarship is intended to provide a vehicle for emergency medicine education researchers early in their career that promotes the development of well-conceived projects while allowing for grant writing experience and recognition of successful grant applications.

The Group on Educational Affairs (GEA) funds research projects up to $10,000 that address important problems or questions in medical education. Proposals that foster collaboration are strongly encouraged.  This includes collaborations among GEA sections (UME, GME, CPD), across GEA regions (CGEA, NEGEA, SGEA, WGEA) and/or proposals that engage multiple schools, professions or departments.

The Picker Gold Graduate Medical Education (GME) Challenge Grant Program provides 18-month grants to support the research and development of innovative projects within the graduate medical education setting, designed to facilitate successful patient-centered care initiatives. Our goal is to help physicians incorporate practices that bring patient needs and wishes into the center of all healthcare interactions.

ScholarRx seeks grant applications as part of the Medical Education Research and Innovation Challenge (MERIC), a novel program designed to promote global educational scholarship and innovation. The MERIC small grant program supports health science education investigators seeking to collaborate with ScholarRX to test educational innovations and address questions ranging from educational methods and pedagogy to curricular development and student assessment.

The Stemmler Fund provides support for research and development in innovative assessment methodologies or techniques, with the potential to advance assessment in medical education or practice. Expected outcomes include advances in the theory, knowledge, or practice of assessment at any point along the continuum of medical education, from undergraduate and graduate education and training through practice. Both pilots and more comprehensive projects are of interest. Awards of up to $150,000 are available to medical schools accredited by the LCME or the AOA.

The Frankel Cardiovascular Center (FCVC) Innovation Challenge funds up to $100,000.  Proposals submitted must address a problem related to the Frankel Cardiovascular Center or cardiovascular care.

Poverty Solutions at the University of Michigan (U-M) announces an open grant funding opportunity for faculty at U-M Ann Arbor, Dearborn and Flint campuses to pursue research projects focused on strategies to address poverty with effective, real-world solutions. Annually, five (5) awards of $20,000 each are available for research projects or as seed funding to leverage larger external awards. A faculty member must serve as a Principal Investigator and partnerships with faculty across multiple campuses are strongly encouraged.

The Bold Challenges research initiative will integrate social and technical sciences from across the University of Michigan (U-M) to address bold societal challenges that intersect equity, health, infrastructure, and sustainability. The Office of the Vice President for Research (OVPR) has designed a four-phase research accelerator program that will support up to 12 interdisciplinary teams during year one of the initiative. The research accelerator will leverage, connect and supplement existing programs across U-M to generate momentum and provide continuity for teams as they develop their research agendas and seek external support. Funding of up to $25,000.

The Michigan Translational Research and Commercialization Awards (MTRAC) are made possible by the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, and co-managed by Fast Forward Medical Innovation and U-M Office of Tech Transfer.  The purpose of these awards are to accelerate the transfer of technologies from Michigan’s institutions of higher education to the private sector for commercialization. MTRAC Awards offer funding up to $150,000, with all awarded projects requiring a cost share from the investigator/institution. The awards provide mid-stage, translational research funding and resources for proof-of-concept and late-stage translational studies with a high potential of commercial success.

The University of Michigan Foundation Relations team has compiled a searchable database of foundations covering a broad range of content areas. The foundation profiles include advice, history, contact names and other insight for those seeking funding. Foundation Relations liaisons will help with approaching the foundation and applying for funding.

Alfred P. Sloan Foundation funds up to $75,000 to early career researchers in recognition of distinguished performance and a unique potential to make substantial contributions to their field.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) issued a call for proposals for its national Evidence for Action program, which funds expansion of the evidence supporting a “Culture of Health,” defined as one in which good health and well-being flourish across geographic, demographic and social sectors; public and private decision-making is guided by the goal of fostering equitable communities; and everyone has the opportunity to make choices that lead to healthy lifestyles. The deadline for proposals remains open.

Pfizer Independent Medical Education Grants program involves a publicly posted Request for Proposal (RFP) that provides detail regarding a specific area of interest and sets timelines for review and approval. Organizations are invited to submit an application addressing the specific gaps in research, practice or care as outlined in the specific RFP. The grant requester (and ultimately the grantee) is responsible for the design, implementation, sponsorship, and conduct of the independent initiative supported by the grant, including compliance with any regulatory requirements.

The National Board of Medical Examiners (NBME) issued a call for letters of nomination for the Hubbard Award. This award recognizes and celebrates individuals who have made outstanding contributions to the field of assessment in medical education.

The University of Illinois at Chicago Ilene B. Harris Legacy Research Fund funds up to $40,000. The goal of the fund is to further the mission of the department by supporting health professions education research projects that address important problems or questions in health professions in ways that advance innovation and/or methodological approaches. Proposals from medical education scholars employed at any non-profit institution of higher education are welcome.

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