Applied Research & Innovation Initiative
A W&M initiative aimed at funding multidisciplinary applied research.
The Applied Research & Innovation Initiative (ARII) is an externally-funded program that aims to seed and scale applied research across the university. In this pilot version of the program, which we hope to expand over time, ARII will support multidisciplinary (3+ disciplines) teams of researchers, including faculty, staff and students, to work on applied projects that address societally-important issues that also align with goals of Vision 2026 and intersect with the missions of any of the current host units:
- Global Research Institute (GRI)
- Institute for Integrative Conservation (IIC)
- Whole of Government Center for Excellence (WGC)
ARII holds workshops in the fall semester that encourage W&M faculty and staff to break down their silos and think in multidisciplinary ways about problems in order to find solutions.
2023 Workshops
- September 26: Entrepreneurial Thinking with Graham Henshaw
- October 18: Upcoming Call for Proposals Information with John Swaddle, ARII Faculty Director and Candice Vinson, ARII Program Manager
- November 8: Leveraging Corporate Funding with John Meck, Executive Director W&M Corporate & Foundation Relations
Funding Details
- Direct research funding: $25,000 per year for 2 years ($50,000 total)
- Three faculty/research personnel: $15,000 each per funding year ($90,000 total)
- Three students: $4,000 each per funding year ($24,000 total)
- Conference presentation support: $6,000 in second year only ($6,000 total)
- Direct funding total: $170,000
Other Support
ARII will help projects sustain the work past the two years of seed funding through internal and external partnerships.
How to Apply
The application period for the 2024-2026 ARII funding cycle will be open October 31, 2023 - January 14, 2024. Applications submitted after this will not be accepted.
Applications must be submitted through the Google Form. For ease of application, a Word Doc and PDF version of the Google Form are available for download. Responses must be transferred into and submitted on the Google form by 11:59 p.m. on January 14, 2024 to be considered for this cycle of funding.
Any questions regarding ARII can be sent to Candice Vinson, ARII Program Manager, at [[cmvinson]].
Information regarding data management plans and reporting requirements will be discussed further into the selection process.
