The USD Provost’s Office is excited to announce the academic year 2026-27 application call for the Grant Development Program. The program aims to support the USD’s Lighting the Way to 2030 strategic plan by empowering faculty to pursue high-impact scholarship. Seeking extramural support can be an important, if not critical, component of scholarship, yet formal training in grant writing is often neglected. To support faculty in this pursuit, the Grant Development Program is designed to guide and assist faculty in all aspects of writing and submitting extramural proposals.
We invite faculty, or a team of faculty, who are new to grant writing or who have yet to be successful with past submissions AND have identified a relevant funding opportunity, to apply. Limited pre-application assistance in identifying funding opportunities is available (please see Application Components section below). Participating faculty (or faculty teams) will receive funding of up to $3,000 (please see the Funding Details section below). The formal program will run from January 2027 to June 2027. As a condition of the program, participating faculty are expected to submit a proposal to their target sponsor within one year of the program’s end (i.e., by May 31, 2028). Interdisciplinary initiatives are strongly encouraged.
The application deadline is November 20, 2026. Applicants will be notified in mid-December.
The USD Grant Development Program seeks to:
- Provide a six-month structured grant development experience that will enhance faculty members’ chances of success in securing extramural funding in both the near and far term.
- Improve faculty grant writing skills through internal and external consultation.
- Provide comprehensive support for pre-proposal activities including: ideation, budget construction, writing feedback, collaboration structuring, and strategy development.
- Facilitate connections with both internal and external stakeholders in order to increase the chances of success.
- Lower both internal and external barriers for writing, navigating compliance/ administrative aspects of the funding process, and submitting a proposal.
Eligibility
- Open to all tenure and tenure-track faculty.
- Priority will be given to faculty who have not submitted an external grant or those who have submitted but have been unsuccessful.
- Priority will be given to faculty within the first three years of their tenure-line appointment at USD.
- Candidates must identify:
- The target funding organization and a specific solicitation within that organization (please include the information in their Grant Development Program application)
- External mentor with specific content expertise who will serve as additional support and reviewer of the faculty’s grant proposal (USD Provost’s Office will provide a mentor stipend. Please see the Funding Details section below).
*If faculty are unable to identify external mentors, they should reach out to Provost’s Faculty Fellow, Dr. Nedeljko Golubovic (ngolubovic@sandiego.edu), for consultation and assistance before submitting the application.
- Participating faculty are expected to submit a completed proposal to the targeted organization/solicitation within one year (i.e., May 31, 2028) of the program’s end.
- Interdisciplinary project activities are especially encouraged.
- If a team approach is envisioned, the program will support two faculty members from the team. In this configuration, faculty funding will be split between the two faculty.
- USD must be the lead grant recipient institution (i.e., sub-contract applications are not eligible for the GDP).
Application Components
- A brief CV (single combined CV if applying as a team).
- Up to two-page project summary describing the core aspects of the project, the purpose of the project, the participants in the project, where the work will take place, and any other special considerations (please upload as a PDF).
- A statement on the interdisciplinary nature of the project (if relevant).
- A statement indicating your funding history while at USD (if applicable). Please list all previous grant submissions (noting your role and funding decision).
- An identified funding agency where a finalized proposal will be sent within one year of completing the program.
- An identified specific solicitation (web link) where a finalized proposal will be sent within one year of completing the program. If assistance is needed to identify opportunities, please reach out to Provost’s Faculty Fellow, Dr. Nedeljko Golubovic (ngolubovic@sandiego.edu), in advance of the application deadline.
- An identified external mentor (and their contact information) who will provide additional support to faculty and serve as a reviewer (we strongly encourage faculty to contact external mentors and secure their agreement to serve in this role prior to submitting the application).
- A statement expressing commitment to attend all GDP sessions (please disclose any potential scheduling conflicts you may encounter during the GDP)
Funding Details
- Participating faculty will receive funding of up to $3,000. Faculty will have an option to receive funding in the form of a stipend or research funds. The funds will be distributed in the following manner:
- $1,500 will be distributed after the second GDP session (approximately at the end of February 2027)
- $1,000 will be distributed upon successful completion of the program (June 2027)
- $500 will be distributed upon successful submission of the proposal to the identified funding agency (the proposal submission is not to exceed one year after the program’s end).
*If the research funding is to be used for the completion of the grant submission, the faculty can apply for redistribution of the funding schedule
- External mentors will receive a $1,000 stipend for serving in this role. The mentors agree to meet with the faculty at least two times and review the faculty’s grant proposal at least once during the duration of the program. The proposed mentors should have strong domain expertise, experience with the targeted funding agency, and no conflicts of interest. The mentors will receive payment at the end of the program (June 2027).
Final candidate selections will be made in consultation with deans from the respective academic units. For questions about this program or the application process, contact Provost’s Faculty Fellow Dr. Nedeljko Golubovic (ngolubovic@sandiego.edu)