University of Massachusetts Amherst: Graduate School Announces New Rapid Research Grant

The Graduate School is pleased to announce an innovative new grant program that will provide financial support to graduate students conducting time-sensitive, cutting-edge research. Graduate School Rapid Research Grants will award up to $1,000 to doctoral and MFA students for costs associated with data collection.

Jacqueline Urla, dean of the Graduate School, described the Rapid Research Grant Program as an opportunity for graduate student research to evolve in the face of rapidly-changing social, political, and environmental circumstances. “A single unanticipated event can drastically impact a student’s pre-planned research trajectory. We know our graduate students are nimble, creative, thoughtful researchers and these grants will allow them to respond to opportunities as they arise.”

Rapid Research Grant applications will be accepted on a rolling basis throughout the year and program manager Heidi Bauer-Clapp said the Graduate School aims to render an award decision within a month.

“The flexible, accelerated review process enables students to take advantage of a new opportunity for data collection that didn’t exist when developing their original research design,” said Bauer-Clapp. “If an unexpected research opportunity arises outside the cycle of our other Graduate School Grant programs, we want to position our students to make the most of that opportunity.”

Dean Urla characterizes the Rapid Research Grant as consistent with UMass’s commitment to being “revolutionary”. “I don’t know of another funding program that allows graduate student researchers to be so responsive to changing events. We expect exciting, innovative research to come about as a result of this new program.”