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:

ARII holds workshops in the that encourage W&M faculty and staff to break down their silos and think in multidisciplinary ways about problems in order to find solutions. We work with the Office of Career Development & Professional Engagement to provide resources on integrating career readiness into internships for students supported by ARII and beyond.

2024 Workshops

Tuesday, April 30 3:00-4:00 PM, Chesapeake AB, Sadler Center
Integrating Career Readiness into Research Internships, Kathleen Powell and Phil Heavilin

Funding Details

ARII Full Grant

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

ARII Exploratory Grants

ARII will be offering two additional exploratory grants for its first year of funding. These grants will each be $14,000, providing $10,000 in research funding and $4,000 in undergraduate student support. These exploratory grants will be awarded for a year only and will be in addition to the full funding (up to $170,000) that one proposal will receive for a 2-year project.

Researchers who apply for ARII will first be considered for the full grant. Once the main grand funding is allotted to a project, the remaining projects that do not include the same PI will be considered for the exploratory grants. Being awarded an exploratory grant does not exclude you from applying to ARII with the same project in the next funding cycle.

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 2025-2027 ARII funding cycle will be open Fall 2024. Applications submitted after this will not be accepted. Applicants are allowed to be on more than one submission.

Submit Your ApplicatioN

Any questions regarding ARII can be sent to Candice Vinson, ARII Program Manager, at [[cmvinson]].