Digital Matters Faculty Grant Program, Spring 2027

Program Description

Digital Matters at the University of Utah is pleased to announce the Spring 2027 Faculty Grant. This provides research funding to Tenure-line and Career-line faculty in the Humanities, Fine Arts, Architecture + Planning, College of Social and Behavioral Science, and Marriott Library working in Digital Studies, broadly defined, which challenge and extend their fields. The goal of the program is to support and encourage researchers in pushing the boundaries of their respective fields with and through digital methods, pedagogy, tools, and methodologies and/or researchers looking at the social and ethical implications of technology.

Funding and Benefits

Awardees will receive:

  • $5,000 in research funding to be used for supplies, equipment, software, computing, research assistants, etc.
  • Grant funds cannot be used for: faculty salaries (summer or academic year); travel that is not directly related to project research (e.g., conferences cannot be supported by this grant), funding to purchase society/group memberships, consultants, or office equipment unless specifically justified.

Eligibility

  • Tenure-line faculty and Career-line faculty are eligible to apply. Faculty must be in residence at the University of Utah to be considered for grant funding.
  • No previous experience in digital scholarship is necessary, but applicants should demonstrate interest in OR prior engagement with digital scholarship, broadly conceived.

Responsibilities

  • Share their work at the Digital Matters Research Talks where they will have the opportunity to deliver a work-in-progress talk and receive feedback on their project from faculty and students across multiple disciplines.
  • Write a summary blog post for the DM website about their work.
  • Record a podcast episode with Digital Matters Director.
  • Eventually make the work completed during their residency open access where possible and appropriate.

Application

Applicants are asked to submit a portfolio that includes:

  1. Two-page cover letter explaining your research project and qualifications. Your cover letter should include a project title, work plan, and timeline. Please also describe how your project either uses digital tools, platforms, theory, or methods in a fashion that extends or challenge the boundaries of your field or your methods for engaging in critical inquiry (i.e. social and ethical implications) of technology.
  2. Curriculum Vitae.
  3. Budget.

Submit applications by emailing them as PDF attachments to the Digital Matters Director, Rebekah Cummings at Rebekah.cummings@utah.edu or Program Assistant Blake Dinh at u1501076@utah.edu

Deadline

Applications must be submitted by September 30th, 2026. Applicants will be notified of their status by November 1, 2026.

QUESTIONS?
Please feel free to contact Rebekah Cummings at rebekah.cummings@utah.edu.