USR acts as an internal funding agency overseeing the full development & implementation life cycle of internationally robust funding calls, including external peer-review, which meet the needs to KU faculty. All funding calls have defined objectives, structured reporting requirements and in the case of research centers specific annual KPI’s.
Our main calls can be broken down into the following categories:
- 01Faculty Start-Ups (FSU): These are the first grants awarded to newly recruited faculty to develop and/or continue their research programs at KU. Awards are made for 24 months.
- 02Competitive Internal Research Awards (CIRA): The CIRA program is designed to facilitate the advancement of novel, curiosity-driven scientific research by supporting internal collaborative projects that align with the KU Research Ecosystem. In addition, the program aims to promote the formation and effective collaboration of investigator teams, enhance outputs in order to attract external sponsorship and raise the visibility and reputation of KU research. Research projects can focus on basic or applied investigation. The CIRA program utilizes external reviewers to ensure the proposals recommended for funding are competitively awarded against international standard.
- 03Research Centers (RC): The Research Center Program aims to support targeted growth and broaden activity in areas of strategic interest that align with the Vertical and Horizontal research matrix below. The Centers are expected to initiate and/or build upon complementary areas of activity and expertise in order to create knowledge and technical innovation, resulting in increased capability, critical mass and visibility for the University. The RC program utilizes external reviewers to ensure the center proposals recommended for funding are competitively awarded against international standard.
- 04High Impact Grants (HIG): These are bespoke grants awarded to faculty in order to collaborate with world-class academics with the aim of developing a significant volume of impactful research outputs. Award durations vary.
- 05Joint/Ad Hoc Calls: These are bespoke calls which primarily utilize co-funding mechanisms with other academic institutions or funding agencies. Award durations and areas of focus vary.
