International Collaboration

Grants for faculty to explore or advance collaboration with international partners

The international collaboration grant supports faculty travel (individuals and groups) to advance IU’s partnerships with international institutions of higher education. Awards are limited and, therefore, may be competitive.

The International Collaboration Grant has two tiers:

Exploratory grant: Individual faculty members may propose exploration of collaboration on teaching, research, or creative activity with either current partners of IU or higher education institutions that hold promise as prospective partners. The latter may be institutions with which informal connections already exist, or newly identified institutions; for either one, the chair or dean must provide a letter of support indicating that the proposed partnership will have benefit beyond the applicant. Up to $2,000 for travel-related expenses will be awarded on a competitive basis. Awards will support either outbound mobility only, or mobility on a reciprocal basis (that is, the partner would send a faculty member or other academic staff member to IU). Except in unusual circumstances, the partner would provide matching funds, such as in-kind support for local housing.

Research and creative activity grant: To encourage and support faculty who wish to generate ongoing partnerships for teaching, research or creative activity, OVPIA will provide up to $10,000 for workshops or other research/creative activities with one of IU’s primary university partners. Proposals must involve more than one faculty member from each institution, demonstrate existing connections with the partner, and focus on creating or expanding long-term collaborations. Except in unusual circumstances, the partner university will provide matching funds.

Eligibility

All tenured and tenure-eligible faculty members at any IU campus are eligible to apply. Non-tenure-track faculty members whose evaluation criteria include research or creative activity may also be eligible or may be supported for teaching- or service-focused partnership activities.

Visiting and adjunct faculty, part-time faculty, emeritus faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students are not eligible.

Awards are contingent on the faculty member’s continued employment at IU in the semester following the term in which travel takes place.

Deadlines

The deadlines to apply are October 1, February 1, April 1, and July 1 annually. If the deadline falls on a weekend or university holiday, materials will be due on the first business day following the deadline.

Applications for the exploratory grant should be received at least eight weeks before travel, to allow time for consultation and planning. Applications for the research and creative activity grant should be received at least 3 months prior to proposed activities. No funding will be offered retroactively.

Application rules

Interested faculty are required to first consult with IU Global’s International Partnerships Team before submitting an application. During the consultation, we’ll discuss your proposed activity and project goals in an effort to advise you on submitting the strongest possible application. If necessary, we might steer you to a different grant program that better aligns with your activity and goals.

For the exploratory grant, if your project is with an institution of higher education not among IU’s current partners we ask you to consider whether there is potential for broad collaboration with that prospective partner institution within your IU department or school.

For the research and creativity grant, we encourage you to review the list of IU’s primary university-level partners as your first step. Academic programs and offices across the IU system pursue various types of collaborative activities with these partners—dual degrees and certificates, exchange programs, joint works and conferences, collaborative research and teaching, and more.

Contact the international partnerships team at partner@iu.edu to schedule a consultation.

Funding amounts

There are two tiers of funding, both with matching fund requirements:

Exploratory grant	Up to $2,000
Research and creative activity grant	Up to $10,000

The partner institution will provide matching funds except in unusual circumstances. Matching funds can be in-kind support (e.g., for housing or local transportation) rather than direct contributions for expenses. The amounts listed here are the maximum contributions from OVPIA, meaning that your total support may be up to twice that amount. Travel to Puerto Rico or within the U.S. is not supported.

Ready to apply?

Before beginning the application, make sure you have the following documents available to upload in PDF format:

A narrative statement, no more than two pages in length for an exploratory grant (full research and creative activity grants may be longer), that includes a description of the proposed activity, details of participating individual(s) from IU and the partner institution, and a description of the anticipated outcomes from the collaboration.
A proposed budget that includes a description of the amount of matching funds contributed by the partner institution
Your curriculum vitae
A letter of endorsement from the head of your unit (e.g., your department chair, dean, etc.)
There will be an optional place for you to upload additional support letters or other materials, if needed

Apply now

For more information, review our FAQs or email iagrants@iu.edu.

Explore opportunities with Universität Hamburg

Universität Hamburg (UHH), one of our longstanding partners, has designated IU a strategic partner. UHH has funding available for a variety of partnership activities, including research grants for doctoral students, seed funding for collaboration in research and teaching, support for workshops and conferences, and financial and organizational support for scientific events.

Learn more