Grand Challenges Grants FAQs

Teaming:  What do you need to know about my team?

Proposals must include information about the roles and duties of each team member (including students if appropriate) and how they will collaborate to advance the work proposed. Project leadership must include one principal investigator and a minimum of one co-principal investigator from each college represented on the project. 

Can individuals from other universities or organizations serve as Co-PIs?

PIs and Co-PIs of projects are expected to be from the University of Maryland, College Park. Academic collaborators outside the University of Maryland, College Park campus should be rare, and the proposer must justify and document why the expertise is not available on the College Park campus. In order for outside academic institutions to participate as Co-PI on a project, a financial (cash) commitment to the project is expected.

The RFP states that only tenured faculty, tenure-track faculty, and professional track faculty are eligible to apply as principal investigators (PIs). What about new faculty who have a start date in August 2026?

Only tenured faculty, tenure-track faculty, and professional track faculty who are full-time at UMD as of July 1, 2026 are eligible to submit proposals as PIs.

I worked on a Grand Challenges project the past three years. Can I work on another one?

Previous Grand Challenges PIs are not eligible to apply as PIs or serve as Co-PIs. Previous PIs may serve in consultant, collaborative, and supportive roles, but may not be paid for their time by the new project. Previous Grand Challenges Co-PIs may apply for funds on new and distinct projects as either a PI or Co-PI.

Are projects submitted by non-faculty PIs (e.g., staff) eligible for funding?

No; although all UMD employees and students are welcome to participate as team members. (See https://faculty.umd.edu/faculty-titles for a list of UMD faculty titles.)

Questions about institutional grants: if such a "big idea" entails harmonizing existing groups across campus and adding integrative infrastructure, the proposed team may be large. Are there guidelines for the number of PIs, Co-PIs, Consultants, etc.?

There is no limit to the number of research team members.

May faculty be listed as PIs and/or co-investigators on multiple proposal submissions?  Are there any PI/Co-PI limits, e.g., one proposal per PI per track?

We recommend that faculty investigators attempt to concentrate on directing their energy into a single proposal they believe best matches the Grand Challenges Grants RFP criteria, though it is allowable for individuals to be involved with more than one proposal.

Can staff (including those who hold lecturer or affiliate faculty positions and terminal degrees, such as PhDs, JDs, etc.) be part of the research team? Can staff serve as co-PIs?

Staff, post-docs, lecturers, students, and individuals with affiliate faculty positions are welcome to participate as team members.  The PI’s primary appointment should be a faculty appointment.

Are collaborators outside of UMD allowed?

Yes. Partnerships and collaborations with external entities (other universities and education institutes, non-profits, industry partners, community organizations, hospitals, etc.) are encouraged. However, the team leader/Principal Investigator must be a full-time TTK or PTK faculty member at the University of Maryland College Park. Collaborators are welcome on proposals. The bulk of the institutional investment should remain at UMD. Any expenses to collaborators must be well justified; also, contributions from collaborators are welcome and encouraged. All awarded projects that include community engagement partnerships will coordinate with the Center for Community Engagement.

If outside partners are included, does that mean funding can go outside of UMD? Are we permitted to include payment of stipends/wages to community-based partners who are co-designers of the project/center? Also, can outside partners contribute to the 1:1 match if they have funds to contribute?  (e.g., Rotary)

Community partners are able to participate in projects. Any funding request for an outside organization needs to be well-justified. Cash/in-kind contributions from outside partners are welcome.

Could you define partners? Could this mean companies or PIs at other universities across the country?

The term “partners” can apply to external organizations and individuals as well as internal individuals who collaborate with you on the proposed work. Incorporating partnerships in your Grand Challenges Grants proposal is highly encouraged.

Can grant proposals include international collaborators (not on the budget)? Also, can part of the research be done abroad?

Yes, international collaborators may be included in proposals and may serve as team members, but not co-PIs or PIs. Part of the work can be done abroad, provided that an explanation is included of why this is important to the goals of the proposal.

Do these grants encourage collaboration or are they strictly for the Schools and Colleges?        

Absolutely. That’s one of the main goals of the grants program… to encourage collaboration across disciplines.

Would you suggest first reaching out to department heads before putting together proposals?

Yes, if you plan to submit a proposal for the Grand Challenges Grants, you should reach out to your department leadership right away.

Are Deans' letters/Chair’s letters required for every team member’s college/department? Or just for the lead PI?

A letter is required from the Dean/Department Chair of the PI for the proposal. Dean acknowledgement is needed in the form of either a co-signature or an email confirmation for any unit for which financial or in-kind support is being provided. 

Note: PIs in Centers or Institutes that report to a Dean would need the Institute/Center Director to sign a letter of support unless the PI is the Center/Institute Director. Any proposal that comes from a Center/Institute Director that relies on departmental cost-sharing or contributions to that proposal would need a letter of support from the Department Chair.

In some cases, the University may already have existing structures that have demonstrated success, but that have not had the benefit of any State, UMD, or College resources. Are they excluded from consideration?

We are looking for *new* structures for the institutional awards. The project grants may build upon existing work but should justify how the additional funding would take the project in a new direction.

Proposal Specifics: Does the page maximum include all images? Or just the written text with images on additional pages? What about references, budget, and letters of support?

The budget, references, letter(s) of support from relevant Deans/Department Chairs do not count against the page limit.  Graphics also do not count against the page limit; if graphics are embedded into the body of the text, however, a proportional amount of additional text is acceptable. Please be respectful of the work required to review the proposals, however, and keep additional material to a minimum.

Proposal Specifics: Can appendices with more detailed information be included with proposals, and if so, would the appendices count toward the page limit for the proposal?

Yes, appendices may be included with proposals, and no, they will not count against the page limit.

Does my proposal need to include both in-kind and cash in the matching request?

There is an expectation that the proposal will be built from existing expertise across campus, so at least part of the match should be “in-kind.” At the same time, there is an expectation that some funding reallocation will also be put towards the initiative. The proportions of each will be project dependent.

Even though it is found in the RFP, can you please remind me of the matching requirements?

Some contribution must be made by all participating colleges/schools; specific allocations are left to the discretion of each team. A match will be required at a 2:1 ratio, meaning that for every $2 of institutional grant funding, there will be a (minimum) college matching investment of $1, split proportionately between the represented colleges for each grant. (For example, a Team Award includes $600,000 over 3 years, plus $300,000 in internal matching investment, for a total of $900,000 over 3 years; an Institutional Award includes $1.5M over 3 years, plus $750,000 in internal matching investment, for a total of $2.25M over 3 years.) The contributions to the match can be drawn from a variety of sources, including cash and/or in-kind. In-kind matches are documentable non-cash sources of support that can be attributed to a project. Examples include: course buyout, portion of faculty salary, cost associated with workspace if the space is not owned by the campus, equipment and technology usage if a charge is already assessed to campus users for its use (not the equipment cost itself). Fund Balance usage may not be counted as a financial contribution to project budgets. In-kind cannot be from existing funding that is purpose-dedicated.

Can I front- or back-load the cost share requirements across the three years?

When building your budget, please note in your budget narrative if the grant award distribution is not an equal amount year over year for three years due to variations in start-up costs and project management. The distribution of the cost share match should match the annual grant distribution. It is allowable to have up to 10% cost-share deviation between years in your budget, but not more. 

The match seems challenging, especially for the smaller units on campus that are not very well funded. Is there any wiggle room with the match requirement? Could it be possibly lowered?

Not every proposal has to ask for the maximum allowable funding. Circumstances for each project or proposal will vary, and we expect and understand that resource requirements across the tracks will vary. There is no set percentage for cash or in-kind resources, but our expectation is that there will be an in-kind contribution for each proposal.

Can the time that faculty and staff spend on proposal development be considered part of the in-kind contribution?

Yes, as long as it is identified in the proposal. Whether this time is considered to be part of the faculty/staff member’s assigned workload or whether an overload would be required would be a local decision and dependent on the specific circumstances of the people and tasks involved.

Can I include new TTK faculty lines in the proposal?

No. The initial commitment for the Grand Challenge grants will be annual one-time funding for three years. It would therefore not be prudent to include new tenure-track faculty lines, but redirection of existing faculty lines could be included, as long as there is a long-term solution for support of the faculty member should the project not move forward beyond the three-year commitment. Successful institutional awards have the possibility of converting to base funding after three years, at which time new faculty lines could be considered as part of the long-term plan.

Equipment: Can equipment be purchased via the GC Grants Program?

Yes. Equipment purchased through the GC Initiative will remain at UMD even if a PI or team member were to leave the university.

Can hiring of faculty be a part of the proposal?

Inclusion of tenure-track faculty hiring in a proposal would need to be explained and justified and also approved by the Dean/Department Chair affiliated with the PI’s college/department where the hiring would occur. PTK hires that are expected to be of limited duration can be part of the proposal.

How will the funding be distributed?

Funds for the initial year will be provided immediately after a dedicated project account is established in KFS. For subsequent years, funding will be subject to an annual progress review to ensure receipt of the required matches and program metrics.

Do we need to demonstrate a sustainable funding stream beyond the timeline of the grant?

Yes, institutional grant proposals will require a description of a plan for sustainable funding for the initiative beyond the timeline of the grant. Successful institutional awards have the possibility of converting to base funding after three years, and this possibility can be considered as a portion of the long-term sustainability plan. Team grants that follow this description will be viewed favorably.

Does the idea have to be completely new? Can the idea leverage an existing Center/training grant that is expanding into new areas?

Proposals can leverage existing Centers or grants, but should explain how an expansion into new area(s) will address a significant grand challenge.

Can a project propose to construct a building, e.g., to demonstrate climate resilience and/or community-led design?

This depends upon the feasibility of the proposed project and the funding required to facilitate such an initiative. One would also need to consider the long-term maintenance and/or dispensation of the structure beyond the three-year period.

Is it the case that when there are project ideas that fit the general parameters of the program, but might not fit exactly the current project profile, researchers are encouraged to discuss the particulars of their proposals?

Yes, researchers are welcome to discuss the particulars of their proposal during the Ideation and Accelerator Workshops and/or the recurring Office Hours on Friday afternoons. Please see the Resources page for more information.

My team and I are very experienced with proposal submissions for large grants or multi-disciplinary initiatives. Do we have to participate in the workshops?

Because of the potential for allocation of substantial base funding towards successful institutional grant proposals, workshop attendance is strongly encouraged. Additional information regarding the information sessions and workshops can be found here.