Grants to Enhance and Advance Research

Seed funding for a bold new research direction with a clear path to an external grant submission. Apply first to your college, then to the Division of Research.

Explore this opportunity:  Deadlines  Eligibility  Allocations  Recipients

AMOUNT

$10K - $40K

Over 18 months

DEADLINE

Oct 30

Pre-proposal to colleges

ELIGIBILITY

Faculty

Full-time career-track faculty*

AWARDS

TBD

By college allocations*

 

Deadlines


Pre-proposal to your college Friday, Oct 30, 2026 by 5 p.m.
Full proposal to the DOR Friday, Jan 29, 2027 by 5 p.m.

If assistance from the DOR proposal team is needed, email preaward@central.uh.edu at least five business days before the deadline.


Eligibility

DOR screens every application against eligibility before review and returns those that do not qualify. 

Eligibility criteria below are a summary. Review the full requirements in the 2026-2027 Guidelines before applying.

Eligible

Full-time tenured, tenure-track, or promotion eligible non-tenure-track faculty, individually or in groups

Work that is clearly distinct from your currently funded research lines

Not Eligible

Current GEAR award holders, including extended awards, and last year's recipients

Requests that supplement funded projects or new faculty startup funds

FY27 GEAR Allocations

Tenure College Computed
Bauer College TBD
College of Medicine  TBD
College of Nursing TBD
Education TBD
Engineering TBD
Gerald D Hines Arch & Design TBD
Grad College of Social Work TBD
Hobby School (Ph) TBD
Global Hospitality TBD
Liberal Arts & Social Sciences TBD
Natural Sciences & Mathematics TBD
Optometry TBD
Pharmacy TBD

 

Past Recipients

Hanako Yoshida, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences 
$38,632

Stephan Tetenborg, College of Optometry
$39,414

Xiaomei Li, College of Education 
$34,563

Shuhab Khan, College of Natural Sciences & Mathematics
$40,000

Myoungkyu Lee, Cullen College of Engineering
$38,723

Jiukuan Hao, College of Pharmacy
$40,000