Photo collage representing five of the Spring 2026 Grant-in-Aid projects. Photo Credit: stock.adobe.com (top and bottom right) and Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station (raspberry), College of Design (textile), UMD (St. Louis River).
The Research and Innovation Office (RIO) has awarded approximately $900,000 to 24 projects as part of the spring cycle of the Grant-in-Aid of Research, Artistry, and Scholarship (GIA) program. This cohort includes principal investigators from 12 colleges across two campuses, with an average award of $37,377. As RIO’s longest-running program, the GIA supports the University’s strategic plan, Elevate Extraordinary 2030, by bolstering the research, scholarly, and artistic activities of faculty university-wide.
The program’s impact is significant: from fiscal years 2019 to 2023, every dollar RIO invested in the GIA generated thirteen dollars in external funding.
Supporting Diverse Research Directions
The GIA is specifically designed to provide critical support for:
- Early-career faculty beginning their research journeys
- New directions or partnerships in long-term research programs
- Fields with limited options for external funding
- Equipment updates for shared research facilities
- Research tied to social justice impact and specialty pilot projects