Funding Resources for Teaching and Research

This page provides information on funds available from Weinberg College and from the University to support teaching, research, and other scholarly activities.

WEINBERG OFFICE OF RESEARCH ADMINISTRATION

Members of the Weinberg Office of Research Administration assist with grant proposals and fellowships for faculty and graduate students. They also help find research funding opportunities. For more information, contact Gretchen Talbot (g-talbot@northwestern.edu), Director of Research Administration.

WEINBERG COLLEGE FUNDS TO ENHANCE TEACHING

Hewlett Fund for Curricular Innovation
Provides grants or matching funds for projects that enhance undergraduate curricular innovation and development.
Contacts: Mary E. Finn (mfinn@northwestern.edu), and Mónica Russel y Rodríguez (mryr@northwestern.edu)

Simeon Leland Forum Fund
Supports lectures, panel discussions, and other presentations on topics of current interest. Undergraduate students must be able to participate, at the very least by asking questions during the discussion following a presentation, and preferably in more central ways.
Contact: Mary E. Finn (mfinn@northwestern.edu)

Course Enhancement Grants
Provides funds for special events or activities associated with a course.
Contact: Mary E. Finn (mfinn@northwestern.edu)

Freshman Seminar Enhancement funds
Provides funds for special events or activities associated with a freshman seminar.
Contact: Lane Fenrich (fenrich@northwestern.edu)

The Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies has limited discretionary funds for conferences, workshops, and study groups, as well as for innovative projects initiated by lecturer faculty.
Contact: Kelly Mayo (k-mayo@northwestern.edu)

The Associate Dean for Undergraduate Academic Affairs has limited discretionary funds available for special requests associated with courses and other faculty-student activities.
Contact: Mary E. Finn (mfinn@northwestern.edu)

UNIVERSITY-WIDE FUNDS FOR TEACHING AND RESEARCH

University Research Grants Committee
Provides individual research grants, creative arts grants, and subvention publication grants (for production costs related to publication) available to certain NU faculty members. Application deadlines in October, January and April.

The Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities
Offers fellowships (by competitive application) for research leaves of absence to NU faculty only. Applications for fellowships are due in January.

The Searle Center for Teaching Excellence: Innovation Grants
Supports innovations and experimentation in teaching designed to enable more students to achieve some existing learning objectives, or to help students achieve more ambitious intellectual goals.

Center for Interdisciplinary Research in the Arts (CIRA)
Promotes and funds interdisciplinary, innovative work in the arts at Northwestern.

Dispute Resolution Research Center, Kellogg School of Management
Provides funds for research projects on conflict theory, particularly interpersonal conflicts and disputes. Projects must be likely to produce publishable material for the Center working paper series. Grant proposals are due in September and in April.

Northwestern University Residential Colleges
Faculty Associate Research Assistantships
Contact: Nancy Anderson (n-anderson@northwestern.edu)
Faculty Fellows in the Residential Colleges may apply for an undergraduate research assistant through the Faculty Associate Research Assistantship Program.

The Alumnae of Northwestern University
The Gifts and Grants Committee of the Alumnae of Northwestern solicits proposals for projects that will benefit students and promote research and scholarship. Enhancing partnerships among disciplines is one of their goals. Individual grants have ranged from $100 to $20,000, but most awards are for $1000 to $3000. Preference is given to projects not previously funded.

Honors and Achievements

Physics and Astronomy professor Jim Sauls has been awarded the Bardeen Prize for his work on superconductivity.

Art Theory & Practice MFA candidate Rachel Niffenegger has been accepted into the two-year, De Ateliers residency program in Amsterdam.

Sarah Jacoby, assistant professor of Religious Studies, has been awarded an ACLS Grant for 2012-2013.

The History Department's Dyan Elliott and Melissa Macauley were offered fellowships at the National Humanities Center for 2012-2013.

Krista Thompson, associate professor of Art History, has been awarded an ACLS fellowship for 2012-2013.

Chemistry professor Tobin Marks received the 2012 National Academy of Sciences Award in Chemical Sciences.

Mentions in the Media

Michelle Obama, Paradox
"Michelle Obama is a genuine paradox," said Darlene Clark Hine, a professor of African American studies and history at Northwestern University. Hine's lecture, part of a black studies conference at the university last week, argued that the first lady is a "transformative, liberationist" figure -- despite her interest in domestic issues and the long list of magazine cover stories focused on topics such as Obama's approach to motherhood or the importance of healthful eating. washingtonpost.com April 16, 2012 Full story

Seismic hazards: Japan earthquake and other tectonic surprises challenge scientific assumptions
"It's almost impossible to make a sensible earthquake hazard map," argues Northwestern University geophysicist Seth Stein.... "We call this the 'whack-a-mole model' of earthquake hazard mapping. The mole will come up the same hole that it went down," Stein said. And that's rarely the case. washingtonpost.com March 9, 2012 Full story

September 1, 2011