Research Resilience Initiatives

Purpose:

The purpose of this funding track is to preserve and enhance select at-risk institutional capabilities that are essential to the research and education missions of the University of Maryland AND to provide temporary funding to enable select institutional initiatives to pivot to new and sustainable sources of funding.

Track A also includes Center Pivot support, providing a one-time, strategic investment to centers within colleges experiencing funding disruptions to preserve critical research capabilities while positioning centers for sustainable future external funding. Centers facing changes in the funding environment must demonstrate how they will pivot, grow, or adapt toward new and more fundable areas of research.

The provisions for institutional requests and Center Pivot requests are identified below.

Criteria for Submissions:

Institutional requests:

• Articulates a highly compelling need for short-term funding that preserves select capabilities for a defined transitional period.
• Documents federal actions or federal intent to reduce, eliminate or pause funding in the applicant’s area of research.
• Identifies and clearly delineates a strategy for near-term, long-term, and sustainable funding potential at a granular, i.e. program-specific, level.
• Defines the scope of the capabilities, impact, and institutional priorities that would be lost if funding were not provided.

Center Pivot requests:

• Articulate a compelling need for short-term funding.
• Describe the unique research capabilities, expertise, personnel, or activities that would be at risk without support.
• Demonstrate potential for future external funding.
• Identify existing or anticipated external funding opportunities.
• Explain how the proposed investment would preserve critical research capacity and position the center for future funding.
• Describe a strategy for sustainability and, where applicable, how the center will pivot or adapt in response to changes in the external funding environment.

All Round 3 funds must be spent by June 30, 2027.

Eligibility:

Institutional requests:

The PI of this application must be the head of a department, institute, multi-disciplinary initiative, large campus center, or cooperative agreement. A letter of support from the Dean of the PI’s College/School acknowledging that fund balance will be used to support the award must be provided. If you are unsure of your eligibility, please contact Dylan Baker and Eric Chapman. Previous PPG Track A awardees are not encouraged to apply.

Center Pivot requests:

Center Pivot support is available to existing centers with a defined disciplinary or research focus and demonstrated potential for future external funding. Eligible centers are listed on the Centers and Institutes webpage. If your center is not listed, please contact Eric Chapman or Lisa Taneyhill to determine your eligibility.

Only Center Directors may serve as the PI for a Center Pivot proposal. A single letter of support from the Dean and/or Department Chair who is committing fund balance in support of the proposal is required.

College submission limits for Track A, including Center Pivot requests: Each college may submit up to two institutional requests and up to two Center Pivot requests under Track A. 

Funding Amount and Number of Awards:  

Institutional requests:

A maximum of $250K in one-time, non-renewable funding can be requested by a PI on behalf of an institute, department, large center, etc. Approximately 6–8 awards are anticipated.

Center Pivot requests:

A minimum of $100K and a maximum of $250K can be requested. Approximately 10 Center Pivot awards are anticipated, with no more than one award per college.  

Funding levels should take into account the activities proposed and the center’s ability to spend the requested funds by June 30, 2027.

Use of Funds:  

Institutional requests:

Acceptable uses of funds include temporary provision of salary to PTK faculty for a clearly defined business development need and/or to support costs associated with pilot data collection that positions units to secure future funding from a non-traditional funding source. Funding to support or partially support graduate students is also permitted.

Funds shall not be used for the following purposes: TTK summer salary, routine administrative support, or other recurring expenses such as software licenses. Repurposing of funding is not permitted.

Center Pivot requests:

Potential uses could include:

• Bridge support for research staff and technicians.
• Proposal development activities.
• Pilot research or preliminary data collection.
• Shared software or specialized research resources.
• Essential research operations necessary to preserve critical capabilities.
• Other temporary expenses directly related to positioning the center for future external funding.

Funding is intended to preserve capacity and support a transition toward sustainable external funding. This is not designed to cover recurring operating deficits without a defined sustainability strategy.

All Track A funds must be spent by June 30, 2027.

Application Requirements:

Applicants must identify their request as an Institutional Request or a Center Pivot Request in the application form and submit the following:

1. Project Narrative

Upload a narrative addressing the criteria for the selected request type.

• Institutional requests: A maximum of four pages addressing the institutional criteria for submissions.
• Center Pivot requests: A 3–5-page narrative addressing the Center Pivot criteria, including the research capabilities, personnel or activities at risk; the sustainability and, where applicable, pivot/growth strategy; anticipated external funding opportunities; and a timeline for use of funds.

2. Budget and Budget Justification

Upload a detailed budget identifying how the requested funds will be used, accompanied by a justification explaining the proposed costs. All requested funds must be spent by June 30, 2027.

3. Letter of Support

Upload one letter of support appropriate to the selected request type.

• Institutional requests: A letter from the Dean of the PI’s College/School acknowledging that fund balance will be used to support the award.
• Center Pivot requests: A letter from the Dean and/or Department Chair who is committing fund balance in support of the proposal.

Submission Link for Preserve, Pivot & Grow 3.0 Program: Track A – Strategic Institutional Investments:

https://umd.infoready4.com/#freeformCompetitionDetail/2034382https://umd.infoready4.com/#freeformCompetitionDetail/2034382

Purpose:

The purpose of this funding track is to provide short-term funding that preserves select capabilities that enable a principal investigator, and/or lab group members to sustain operations impacted by recently terminated, reduced or paused funding AND to enable a portfolio pivot that better positions the faculty member or lab group for new and sustainable funding sources.

Criteria for Submissions:

• Articulates need for short-term funding that preserves select capabilities for a defined transitional period.
• Clarifies a strategy for securing near, long-term and sustainable funding sources that are identified at the program, active or forecasted, level.
• Defines the scope of the capabilities, impact, and institutional priorities that would be lost if funding were not provided.

Eligibility:  

The PI of this application must be a faculty Principal Investigator (PI) who was impacted by recently terminated, reduced or paused funding. This funding source is designed to enable a portfolio pivot that better positions the faculty member or lab group for new and sustainable funding sources. Faculty who were not impacted by a grant termination or grant reduction are eligible to apply, but they must specifically convey how the changed funding environment has negatively impacted their prospects for funding. Previous PPG Track B awardees are not encouraged to apply. 

A letter of support from the Dean that acknowledges and specifies the potential for college/school fund-balance support to a faculty member is required.  Applications not meeting the above criteria are not encouraged. If multiple applications are submitted from the same department, the Research Development Office will contact the Dean after the application deadline to obtain a priority ranking of those applications.

Funding and Number of Awards:  

A maximum budget of $50K can be requested. A detailed budget identifying how the funds are intended to be used must be submitted and accompany the narrative.

Number of awards anticipated for Round 3: Approximately 20 awards are anticipated.

Use of Funds:  

Acceptable uses of funds include temporary provision of salary to PTK faculty, business development needs, collection of pilot data to position for future funding. Funds shall not be used for the following purposes: TTK summer salary or routine administrative support. Any repurposing of funding greater than $5K requires prior approval.

Use of fund balance awarded through PPG Round 3 will be one-time funding and must be spent by June 30, 2027. 

Application Requirements:

1. Project Narrative

Upload a three-page narrative addressing all points listed in the “Criteria for Submissions” section above.

2. Budget and Budget Justification

Upload a detailed budget identifying how the requested funds will be used, accompanied by a justification explaining the proposed costs. The total request may not exceed $50,000. All requested funds must be spent by June 30, 2027. 

3. Letter of Support

Upload a letter from the Dean that acknowledges and specifies the potential for college/school fund-balance support to the faculty member.

Submission Link for the Preserve, Pivot & Grow Program: Track B – At-Risk Individual Faculty & Lab Groups

https://umd.infoready4.com/#freeformCompetitionDetail/2034427

Purpose

The Research Infrastructure & Instrumentation track provides one-time funding to acquire or significantly upgrade existing shared research instrumentation and infrastructure that strengthens UMD’s research capabilities and competitiveness for future external funding. The track prioritizes investments that serve multiple investigators, departments, colleges, or research programs rather than resources primarily supporting an individual investigator.

Potential investments could include traditional research instrumentation as well as shared research infrastructure and technology, such as data infrastructure, research software platforms, AI-enabled research tools, cyberinfrastructure, and shared data resources.

Criteria for Submissions

Proposals must:

• Demonstrate broad benefit to multiple investigators, departments, colleges, or research programs.
• Describe the research capabilities that would be created, expanded, or significantly enhanced.
• Demonstrate how the absence of the requested resource represents a meaningful barrier to pursuing otherwise viable external funding.
• Identify existing or anticipated external funding opportunities that the investment could help UMD investigators pursue.
• Describe anticipated users/user base and institutional benefit.
• Address sustainability, ongoing support, and access to the resource.

Eligibility

Proposed instrumentation or infrastructure must provide shared research benefit beyond the needs of an individual investigator or research project. The PI of the proposal must be a tenured faculty member.

A single letter of support from Dean(s) and/or Department Chairs who are committing fund balance in support of the proposal is required. If the instrument will draw upon fund balance from multiple colleges, the letter must describe the fund balance split between the colleges. 

If multiple applications are submitted from the same department, the Research Development Office will contact the Dean after the application deadline to obtain a priority ranking of those applications. 

Funding Amount and Number of Awards

Important: 

A minimum of $250K and a maximum of $2M can be requested. Approximately 5–6 awards are anticipated. Requests above $1.5M should contact (email) Dylan Baker and Eric Chapman ahead of the RFP deadline to share information about the proposed request. For proposals greater than $1.5M, 25% of the fund balance used for the instrumentation purchase will come from central sources.

The number of awards is an estimate and may change based on the quantity and quality of submissions.

Use of Funds

Potential uses could include:

• New shared research instrumentation or major upgrades to existing instrumentation.
• Shared research data infrastructure.
• Research software platforms or specialized research technologies.
• AI-enabled research tools and cyberinfrastructure.
• Specialized datasets benefiting multiple investigators or research areas.
• Other costs necessary to establish or significantly enhance a shared research capability.
• Termed annual servicing contracts, if applicable, for instrumentation upkeep.

Routine laboratory equipment, standard computing equipment, and general infrastructure are not the intended focus of this track.

Funds must be spent by June 30, 2027.

Application Requirements:

Applicants must submit the following:

1. Project Narrative

Upload a 3–5-page narrative addressing all points listed in the “Criteria for Submissions” section above. The narrative must include:

• A description of anticipated users and institutional benefit.
• A sustainability and user-access plan, including ongoing support and the number of departments and colleges that would use the shared resource.
• Identification of external funding opportunities that could be enabled or strengthened by the investment.
• A timeline for use of funds.

2. Budget and Budget Justification

Upload a detailed budget identifying how the requested funds will be used, accompanied by a justification explaining the proposed costs. Requests must be between $250,000 and $2,000,000. All requested funds must be spent by June 30, 2027.

3. Letter of Support

Upload a single letter of support from Dean(s) and/or Department Chairs who are committing fund balance in support of the proposal.

4. Equipment Purchase Quote

For requests that include equipment, upload a purchase quote for the requested equipment.

Submission Link for the Preserve, Pivot & Grow Program: Track C — Research Infrastructure & Instrumentation: 

https://umd.infoready4.com/#freeformCompetitionDetail/2034430