faculty affiliate program
To better fulfill and expand its mission to “…provid(e) a framework in which curiosity, creativity, collaboration, and passion are engaged through interdisciplinary teaching, learning, research, and community”, ArtsEngine is announcing the launch of a new Faculty Affiliate program in Fall 2023. This new effort is designed to bring together faculty from the five North Campus schools and colleges who are interested in expanding the impact of interdisciplinary research, teaching, and collaboration through their individual efforts and collectively, with other Faculty Affiliates and ArtsEngine, at UM and beyond.
The ArtsEngine Faculty Affiliates program brings together a diverse group of scholars who have a central interest in working across interdisciplinary boundaries in the arts, engineering, information science, and technology. Membership as a Faculty Affiliate is open to all University of Michigan faculty members in the North Campus schools and colleges whose teaching and/or research activities require and appreciate the input, collaboration, and processes associated with broadly interdisciplinary work. Affiliates will bring a wide range of professional research, teaching, and mentoring experiences to this effort and will provide input to help shape the future direction of ArtsEngine.
Faculty Research Opportunity Grant (FROG)
Open to ArtsEngine Faculty Affiliates
The ArtsEngine Faculty Research Opportunity Grants (FROGs) are open to faculty teams engaging in interdisciplinary research that engages the arts, design, engineering, and/or information sciences in necessary partnership toward achieving the development of new knowledge or solutions to complex problems. Awards are up to $10,000/year and renewable on some level for up to three years. Three to five grants are expected to be awarded in any given year.
Applicant faculty research teams may be of any size but must include at least one member currently participating in the ArtsEngine Faculty Affiliate program, and one member from a different U-M school or college (2+ members).
Initial Proposal Criteria
- Must be collaborative, interdisciplinary research efforts and activities, with art or design as a central tenet.
- Must be relevant to and significant for advancing disciplinary practices, perceptions or capabilities in the domains represented in the proposal.
- Must articulate potential impacts beyond the specific domains and communities directly involved in the research.
- Include a detailed budget reflective of necessary resources and costs associated with the proposed research activities.
Renewal Criteria
- Must continue to meet all Initial Criteria.
- Must articulate progress toward specific outcomes expected at the end of the second and/or third year of funding (i.e. application to external grant, installation, performance, or exhibition, published research or other publication, conference presentation, etc.)
Note: This award may be used in conjunction with other funding sources, or as matching funding. FROG funds are also not typically intended to increase or extend FEAST course research stipends.
Applicants will be asked to submit a project abstract, a detailed narrative proposal (no more than 1500 words), list of research team members (including graduate assistants or external partners), and a project budget. Please submit any relevant literature, citations, precedents, images, web links, prior work, or other documentation that will help the committee understand the impact and rationale for the project.
The detailed project budget should reflect the described project activities and include any other requested or acquired funding sources. If anticipated costs for the overall project exceeds the FROG granting amount, please explain what portions of the project this grant will fund or what funds will be used to complete the project.
Initial applicants may apply for funds three times per academic year (Aug, Nov/Dec, Feb/Mar) but may only receive one grant in a 12-month period. New projects and collaborations are given some preference for initial funding grant awards.
Unsuccessful applicants may be invited to consult with ArtsEngine to adjust and re-submit their application if the project is determined to be fundable with reasonable changes or additional information. We strongly encourage a pre-application consultation – you may email us at artsengine@umich.edu to schedule a meeting.
Deadlines
Grant application submission deadlines and notification dates:
| Submission Deadlines | Notification Dates |
| August 9, 2024 | August 22, 2024 |
| November 1, 2024 | December 2, 2024 |
| February 28, 2025 | March 31, 2025 |
Note: Grant funds may be expended prior to the later cycle deadlines, which would suspend the program until the following fiscal year. Early applications are encouraged, with the possibility of deferral of applications to later funding cycles as appropriate.
benefits
- ArtsEngine provides a supportive scholarly environment where affiliates have access to a network of faculty members and graduate students who share experiences, act as mentors, and collaborate on research and teaching related to interdisciplinary efforts across the arts, engineering, information, and technology.
- ArtsEngine organizes colloquia, conferences, coffee hours, and other related activities, which foster interdisciplinary contacts, connections, and community; and improve research opportunities.
- ArtsEngine facilitates and amplifies affiliate interdisciplinary research, teaching, projects, and community on its website, on social media, and in the larger campus and local community.
- ArtsEngine provides information and workshops about funding opportunities and has its own small grants program for which only Faculty Affiliates are eligible.
- ArtsEngine, in partnership with a2ru, facilitates and supports participation in annual national conferences and inclusion of research in the interdisciplinary journal, Groundworks.
- ArtsEngine, in partnership with the Duderstadt Center, provides access to technological resources and expertise, as well as Faculty Commons space for collaboration, exhibition and project work.
- Invited to participate in ArtsEngine symposia, showcases, conferences, workshops, and faculty focused events.
- Advise ArtsEngine on advocacy efforts for the support and expansion of interdisciplinary initiatives.
applying for faculty affiliate
Faculty members interested in becoming affiliates should send the following information to the ArtsEngine Faculty Director, John Granzow at jgranzow@umich.edu by October 9, 2023
- A cover letter expressing interest in becoming a ArtsEngine Faculty Affiliate, a description of current and planned interdisciplinary research, teaching, and/or other interest and expertise, and how becoming a Faculty Affiliate will benefit their personal and professional development, students and faculty at UM, other communities or stakeholders, or their respective fields.
- A current CV
The Faculty Director will review the materials sent by the prospective affiliate faculty member and, in consultation with the UARTS Curriculum Committee, will appoint successful applicants for renewable three-year terms.