Research & Innovation
Research & Discovery Fund
Seed funding that turns early ideas into evidence.
- Innovative Education
- Impactful Practice
About this fund
The Research & Discovery Fund underwrites the earliest stage of scholarly work — pilot studies, preliminary data, and the first round of evidence that no one else will pay for. Gifts give faculty and student researchers the runway to test a question before it qualifies for larger grants.
The year that makes everything after it possible
Most major research grants require preliminary evidence. That evidence has to come from somewhere — usually a small, unfunded pilot run on borrowed time and borrowed equipment.
Seed funding buys that first year of evidence. It's the year no one else will pay for, and the year that makes every subsequent grant, publication and protocol possible.
"Seed funding bought the first year of evidence. That's the year no one else will pay for — and the year that makes everything after it possible."
Ways to give
Illustrative levels for this fund. When you're ready, our team confirms the current need and walks you through how to make the gift.
$1,000
Research materials for a pilot study.
$10,000
A year of seed funding for one project.
$50,000
A named research initiative.