Research grants and funding

Research grants

Iowa State University funding

Office of Sponsored Programs Administration

Visit the OSPA website.

• OSPA (Office of Sponsored Programs Administration) is the central point of coordination for research and sponsored programs and the university's authorized representative for grants, contracts, and other agreements from external sponsors.
• The OSPA homepage right column provides quick links to Cayuse information, logins, and other helpful sites.
• OSPA news page features links to funding opportunities, due dates, and announcements.

Office of the Vice President for Research

Visit the VPR website.

• VPR (Office of the Vice President for Research) serves faculty and staff conducting research, encourages student research, and works with industry partners.
• VPR works with faculty to establish collaborative research programs and centers, both at Iowa State and with other research institutions.

Grants administered by VPR

VPR workshops and training

VPR news, announcements, and events

Strengthening the Professoriate at ISU

Visit the SP@ISU website.

• SP@ISU (Strengthening the Professoriate at ISU) helps strengthen the professoriate by enabling professional development in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), while promoting and enhancing a diverse community of scholars and learners.
• The target audience is faculty, postdoctoral research associates, and advanced graduate students in STEM.

Community of Science

Visit the COS website. 

VPR sponsors Iowa State University's membership in COS (Community of Science) and encourages all members of the research community to submit a profile to the COS Expertise Database and to tap into the COS resources regularly:

• COS provides an easily searchable database of funding opportunities.
• COS maintains a database of researcher expertise.

Institutional Review Board

Visit the IRB website.

• The IRB (Institutional Review Board) is a committee that reviews all research at ISU involving human participants, including proposals to gather data from participants for theses, dissertations, and other student projects.
• Prior to implementation, all research involving human participants at ISU must receive IRB approval in accordance with federal regulations set forth by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration.

IRB Bailey Award

• The overall goal of the Bailey award is to foster innovative (outside of established research program) research that increases knowledge and has practical applications.
• The award allows faculty to devote time toward high-risk, high-impact research addressing emerging scientific technical and/or societal problems. The research should result in practical applications and, in appropriate disciplines, extramural funding.
• Two awards of $50,000 per year for two or three years will be made competitively in spring 2011. The award number may vary in subsequent years.

Diversity grants

Diversity Grants Program page The Diversity Grants Program supports diversity in education, research, and outreach to positively impact and advance faculty, staff, and student minorities and under-represented groups at Iowa State University. Funds also may be requested for seed money to leverage resources for scholarly projects in support of diversity.

External funding