The President annually allocates funds for the purpose of supporting small research expenditures that don’t alone justify a request for a research grant and yet can greatly contribute to the completion of scholarly work.

The following conditions apply to the small grant awards:

• Only one award is made to a faculty member in any given academic year.  Typically, only a portion of the research expense is funded, depending on available funding.
• Priority is given to projects that are near completion and for which needs can be appropriately described and justified.  Support is not provided for the planning stages of a project.
• If departmental personnel are unable to assist in the input and/or copying of a final book manuscript, limited support may be provided for part or all of the cost of typing and/or reproduction.  An effort to have the work done in the department should be made first, however, before seeking a small grant.
• Very limited support for research-related travel by a faculty member is possible.  For example, a faculty member may apply for funds to visit an archive that holds non-circulating research materials.  Travel to libraries from which materials can be made available to local libraries and scholars is typically not supported.
• Other expenditures that have been supported have included the purchase of items (such as microfilms, CD-ROMs or rare books) which normally have become the property of Alderman Library after their use by the faculty members who request them.  Funds to establish a digital archive may be requested only if the applicant can show the importance of the archive to ongoing research.
• Most grants awarded are between $75 and $200 per award.  Awards for larger amounts, up to a maximum of $500/award, are made only in exceptional cases. 

An elaborate application is not necessary.  A letter can be sent addressed to the Office of the VP for Research describing the project and the expense for which support is requested. 

Applications for small grants are reviewed twice a year, i.e. shortly after the March 15th deadline each spring and shortly after the November 15th deadline each fall.

Please submit your application via e-mail at vlg9k@virginia.edu.  Feel free to contact Anjula Joseph at auj6n@virginia.edu or Val Spears at vlg9k@virginia.edu with any related questions.