Priming Grants

As part of the Pitt Momentum Funds, Priming Grants support significant and innovative scholarship by faculty or groups of faculty members at the University of Pittsburgh. Applicants that are early in their career or are in fields with limited external funding are encouraged to apply. Applicants from the regional campuses may reasonably be expected to integrate their research proposals with their undergraduate teaching responsibilities. Awards are made up to $25,000 for one year.

Priming Grants have four distinct focus areas:

• Creative Arts, Performing Arts & Humanities   
• Engineering, Technology, Natural Sciences & Mathematical Sciences   
• Health & Life Sciences   
• Social Sciences (includes Business, Policy, Law, Education, Informatics & Social Work)  

View the Guidelines to apply for a Priming Award >>

Apply for a Priming Award through InfoReady >>

Eligibility

• Awardees from the immediate previous funding cycle may not apply to the same award-type they were awarded funds for previously (e.g., Priming Awardees from FY24 cannot apply for a Priming Award in FY25). This applies to all PMF award types.  
• Applicants must be full-time faculty members at the University of Pittsburgh. Eligible appointment stream faculty must have research as their core responsibility.  
• Applicants may not be undergraduate or graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, research associates, or visiting (non-permanent) faculty members. These individuals may participate in PMF projects; however, they are not to be listed as co-Investigators.  
• Faculty from outside the University of Pittsburgh are not eligible to lead Priming Awards.  
• Faculty from the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine are not eligible to apply for Priming Awards as these awards are analogous to the Competitive Medical Research Fund (CMRF) grants administered through OOHRS. School of Medicine faculty are eligible to apply for Teaming Grants and Scaling Grants.  

2024-25 Priming Awards Timeline

Below is a table that outlines the timeline for the 2024-25 Pitt Momentum Funds Priming Grants.