In line with its goal to elevate the visibility and impact of the liberal arts, the Franco Institute now offers grants of up to $10,000 to support projects that expand the audience for faculty research. These internal grants may support open access publishing, translations, and diverse scholarly products designed to expand the reach of scholarly research to the wider public (including but not limited to graphic novels, digital media, performances, recordings, exhibitions, etc).

Restrictions

Expanding Research Access Grants may not be used to cover publication costs for books or articles written in English for a primarily academic audience (see Publication Grant) or an exhibition or performance of an artist’s work in a typical performance space (see the Small Creative and Performing Arts Grant).

A faculty member who is awarded an Expanding Research Access grant cannot apply to the program again for a period of 3 years (eligibility for other grant programs is unaffected).

Eligibility

Expanding Research Access Grants are open to all regular faculty with a primary appointment in the College of Arts and Letters. Collaborative projects are eligible, as long as one of the primary researchers or artists (who must be the applicant) is a regular faculty member in the College.

Students, staff, and emeritus faculty are ineligible.

To apply, please submit a proposal through the Franco Institute's web portal with the following:

• A brief proposal (no more than 1200 words). Your proposal should include:          
• The primary questions, arguments, and scholarly contributions of the research.
• A description of the proposed project, including its role in expanding the audience for scholarly research.
• A timeline for completing the project.

• A list of any previous Franco internal funding for the last 5 years (when, how much, and for what project).
• An abbreviated, 2-page CV.
• Supporting documentation (correspondence with publishers, contracts, etc.), if available.
• A well-justified budget. Your budget should include:          
• Specific amounts for each budget item and an explanation of how you arrived at that cost or estimate. Provide sources for estimates when possible.
• All (planned) sources of funding in your budget, showing how the planned / secured funding sources will cover the total costs of the research or event. 

Subventions

When a reputable academic press initiates a request, the Institute may make a subvention to support the publication of manuscripts, if funds are available. Similarly, the Institute will consider a subvention to support a scholarly or artistic sound or video recording upon request by the producer. You must have a contract from the publisher before the Franco Institute will negotiate with them. The typical range for a book subvention is from $1,000 to $3,000. 

Imaging Grants

        Image Grants are ordinarily limited to $2,000. In extraordinary cases where the cumulative image costs exceed this limit, faculty members may discuss an exception with the Institute Director before submitting an application.

• Please provide a list of images to be acquired and their associated costs.
• Franco Institute funding may not be used to pay image researchers or research assistants.
• Recipients of publication support must acknowledge the Franco Institute in the final product. 

Indexing Support

The Franco Institute will provide up to $1,500 to cover indexing costs for faculty book projects. 

These funds must be used to hire a professional indexer.

• Please supply budget justification and information about the indexing service you are using in your proposal. 
• Limit: one indexing grant per book and academic year.
• Recipients of publication support must acknowledge the Franco Institute in the final product and provide the Franco Institute with a hard copy of the book once published.

Editing Grants

       The Franco Institute will provide up to $1,500 to defray costs associated with hiring a professional editor for copyediting or developmental editing of a manuscript.

• Applications must be accompanied by an estimate or invoice provided by the editor. 
• Recipients of publication support must acknowledge the Franco Institute in the final product and provide the Franco Institute with a hard copy of the book once published.

No publication grant applications are accepted between June 1 and July 14.

The Franco Institute can provide partial support (up to $3,500) for academic conferences or lectures held on the Notre Dame campus (including gateways). Preference is given to projects that have matching funds from other sources (e.g., foundations, departments or institutes). 

Researchers must apply for their own grants. Grants submitted on behalf of a faculty member by a student, staff member, or outside entity will not be reviewed.

When submitting an application, please note that the Franco Institute policy limits speaker honoraria to $1,000 per person.  All applications must include an itemized budget and must use the Institute's budget template for faculty programs.  

Please list all (planned) sources of funding in your budget, showing how the planned / secured funding sources will cover the total costs of the research or event.

Faculty are limited to one Small Henkels Lecture Grant or Mini-Conference Grant award per academic year. Small Henkels Grant do not support fetschrift or book launches.

Applications are accepted at any time for a Mini-conference award up to $3,500.00 (except between June 1 and July 14)

Event Co-Sponsorship Grants of up to $10,000 support lectures and annual meetings co-sponsored by another unit at the University of Notre Dame. Event Co-Sponsorship Grants do not support fetschrift or book launches. 

All Arts & Letters faculty seeking to consult with Franco event staff must submit an intake form through Submittable. This intake form asks for:

• Main faculty organizer first and last name, email address, and department
• Tentative title, date, and location for the event
• Estimated number of attendees
• Preliminary schedule
• List of co-sponsors
• Level of services requested with related eligibility questions
• Option to upload draft budget and supplemental materials

After submitting this form, please schedule a consultation with the events team using this link.

To complement the ND Arts Biennial theme of “symbiosis,” we are pleased to announce that the Franco Institute’s annual research theme for 2026-2027 is Interdependence.

With this year’s theme, we invite proposals that probe the interrelations of species, communities, ideas, and economies, past and present. 

Grants of up to $25,000 to cover the costs of:

• an academic conference on campus or in one of the University’s Global Gateways,
• a series of lectures or performances, or
• a single, significant visiting lecturer or performer.

Departments, institutes, and interdisciplinary groups can bring scholars to Notre Dame for two or more days of public events including a lecture, colloquium, panel, or performance. Visiting scholars and performers must be among the leaders in their field. While all events may not result in a publication, the Institute expects that proposals will be designed with the goal of having a lasting effect beyond a series of lectures or performances. In addition to the support requested from the Franco Institute, please list all other sources.

Restrictions

The Franco Institute strongly advises that proposals be submitted at least one year in advance of the proposed event. The Institute requires that applicants schedule a consultation with Franco events staff at least 10 months in advance of an event to be eligible for a Large Henkels Grant. Large Henkels Grants do not support fetschrift or book launches. Proposals will be evaluated according to intellectual merit as well as feasibility. Faculty working on shorter timelines are encouraged to apply for a Small Henkels Grant or Event Co-Sponsorship Grant.

A faculty member who is awarded a Large Henkels Grant cannot apply to the program again for a period of 3 years (eligibility for other grant programs is unaffected). 

Awards are given on a competitive basis for research travel, summer student research assistance, research materials, artistic creation, and other costs of carrying out research and creative work. Both individual and collaborative projects are eligible. Whereas the Small Research Grant cannot be used for domestic travel for conferences, it can be used for research-related domestic and international travel. International travel for presenting at conferences is covered under the Franco Institute International Conference Travel Grant.

Restrictions: Small Grants for Research cannot be used to cover:

• Domestic or international conference expenses
• Funds to upgrade Campus Workstation Program (CWP) computers
• Equipment; Notre Dame Research has a yearly competition for equipment purchase and replacement
• Electronic devices such as cameras, recorders, laptops/computers
• Salary for course buyout or summer salary for faculty
• Publication Costs; Please see our Publication page  

 Application Instructions

Researchers must apply for their own grants. Applications submitted on behalf of a faculty member by a student, staff member, or outside entity will not be reviewed. While researchers may use multiple Franco Institute grants to cover various phases of a long-term research project, applicants should not submit the same (or very similar) proposals or budgets to multiple grant programs.

To apply, please submit a proposal through the Franco Institute's web portal with the following:

• Brief proposal (1000 words max). Your proposal should include:          
• A description of the proposed project that outlines the chosen materials and methods and a rationale for your choices
• A discussion of the impact the project will have both within and beyond the applicant’s field
• Information about the project director and collaborators, if any. Explain how and why the people involved will make for a successful project.

• An itemized budget (must use the Institute's budget template for faculty programs). Please list all (planned) sources of funding in your budget, showing how the planned / secured funding sources will cover the total costs of the research or event.

Faculty are limited to one Small Research Grant or Small Creative and Performing Arts Grant per academic year. Applications must be received at least one month prior to the start of the proposed research or creative work.

Partial support is available to faculty members who present a paper or poster at a professionally organized conference located outside of the United States. The conference must be a society conference or a conference sponsored by a professional organization. Typically these organizations have an annual meeting, membership, registration fees, call for papers, peer review of submissions, and so forth.

Restrictions

Submissions must be completed at least one month in advance of the conference. No post awards will be given.

This award does not cover:

• Invited lectures
• Time-limited organizations 
• Informal gatherings of scholars

Application Instructions

Researchers must apply for their own grants. Grants submitted on behalf of a faculty member by a student, staff member, or outside entity will not be reviewed.

While researchers may use multiple Franco Institute grants to cover various phases of a long-term research project, applicants should not submit the same (or very similar) proposals or budgets to multiple grant programs.

To apply, please submit a proposal through the Franco Institute's web portal with the following:

• Information about the conference’s significance (provide link to the conference website)
• Synopsis of the presentation (conference abstract is sufficient)
• Documentation or confirmation of an accepted paper/presentation
• Travel budget with an explanation of budget items (awards will not exceed $1,500).  Please list all (planned) sources of funding in your budget, showing how the planned / secured funding sources will cover the total costs of the research or event.
• Applicant's CV   

Cancelations

• The Franco Institute will not be responsible for canceled ticket fees or any charges due to changes in travel plans.
• If a conference trip is not taken due to an emergency, all unused award money must be returned to the Franco Institute.

Faculty are limited to one award for travel to an international conference per academic year. Proposals are accepted at any time except June 1 to July 14.   

All proposals should have the following:

• Abstract
• Title Page
• Proposal (Times New Roman, 12 point font, double spaced, pages numbered at the bottom)
• Franco Institute Budget Template   

Application form through Submittable

A personal statement (2-3 pages) that discusses:

• Your interest in the public humanities
• Relevant skills and classes (including work experience)
• Educational and career goals

A letter of recommendation from a Notre Dame professor familiar with your academic work. 

(Selected candidates will be asked for an in person or video interview.)

Completed applications will include: 

1. Application form through Submittable
2. Name and contact information for administrative staff in the sponsoring unit. This staff member will be asked to confirm the unit’s sponsorship prior to application review.
3. Abstract of your proposal (250 words max.) This will be used for promotional materials if funded.
4. Proposal (1000 words max.)     
   1. Description of the topic/s that will be explored. 
   2. How your group advances interdisciplinary thought or enhances community collaboration.
   3. Tentative list of activities that the GWG intends to carry out. (We understand there may be some modifications. Extensive modifications will require prior approval from the Student Grants Program Manager and an updated budget.)
   4. Itemized budget up to $5000. 
5. Two-page CV for each organizer combined into one document. 
6. List of planned participants with department/organization affiliation. 

Max Award: $5,000 for graduate students. 

Required application materials

•  An application form through Submittable.  
•  A 100-word abstract that outlines your project's primary goals,  planned contribution, and engagement with this year's research theme.  
•  A proposal (1000 words max.) that includes 1) the primary goals of  your project; 2) your sources and methods and how they will help you  achieve the goals of the project; 3) the specific contributions your  project will make to scholarship, society, or both; and 4) how your  project responds to this year’s research theme as outlined in the call  for proposals.  
•  A project timeline outlining your plan for the grant period,  including key goals and targeted completion dates for each. (1 page  max.).  
•  An itemized budget (must use the approved budget template).  
• A CV (for graduate students only).

Applications will be evaluated based on the level of engagement with  the research theme, intellectual merit, the potential impact of the  project for scholars and the public, and the researcher’s qualifications  to conduct the proposed work.

Budget items with insufficient justification may be reduced or eliminated in an award offer.

The Glynn Family Honors Program supports a variety of undergraduate research projects and training opportunities. Students are eligible to receive up to $6,000 in research grants over the course of their study and up to $5,500 in summer language study support. Glynn prioritizes projects relating to senior thesis research. Students may also apply for funds to jumpstart preliminary research, acquire foreign language skills, and receive training that they cannot obtain at Notre Dame. If a student has questions about whether their project idea qualifies for Glynn funding, please contact the Glynn team before submitting a proposal.

You may find more information regarding proposal requirements and funding information on our website.