Propel Grants

The Stanford Research Development Office (RDO), a unit within VPDoR, supports Principal Investigators (PIs) throughout the proposal development process. To improve the competitiveness of large and complex external funding proposals, RDO invites applications for Propel Grants, which fund the final stages of proposal preparation.

Download the Request for Applications

• Purpose: Support final-stage proposal development for large, complex external funding opportunities.
• Eligibility: Stanford faculty with PI status. School of Medicine applicants must include co-PIs from other Stanford schools.

Propel Grants support the final stages of proposal development for collaborative, often complex proposals in response to large external funding opportunities, enhancing the proposal’s competitiveness. Eligible projects must go “beyond the usual” norms in their field in terms of scope, budget, or team size. These opportunities often involve interdisciplinary partnerships tackling major societal or research challenges.

Propel Grants require established teams to have completed preliminary work and plans to apply for external funding within 12 months. They do not fund initial team formation, concept development, or early-stage data collection. Instead, they strategically position teams for success in upcoming external funding opportunities.

We recognize that large, complex grants often require extensive preparation even before a call is released or may involve multiple proposal stages. Propel Grants can advance your efforts when the external funding opportunity is anticipated with a deadline in the next 12 months or when moving from a preliminary to a full proposal, particularly if highlighting progress or results between the proposal stages would be beneficial.

Eligible applicants include Stanford faculty with PI status (Academic Council members or UML faculty). School of Medicine applicants must have co-PIs from other Stanford schools.

Eligible proposals must focus on preparing applications for large, collaborative, and multi-disciplinary funding opportunities. Proposals aimed at single-investigator projects will not be considered. Please see the FAQs for more information.

Priority is given to Stanford-led teams and for projects that:

• Involve faculty partnerships across two or more Stanford schools.
• Include team members from diverse or underrepresented backgrounds.
• Engage disciplines with limited internal grant support.
• Strengthen collaboration between Stanford and SLAC.

VPDoR is committed to creating an environment that values and embraces diversity; applications from individuals from minoritized communities are particularly encouraged. RDO will award a portfolio of Propel Grants representing Stanford's diversity and breadth of scholarly areas.

Propel Grant activities should focus on fine-tuning the external proposal, solidifying collaborations, and addressing specific gaps. These activities allow teams to make targeted improvements and should be completed during the final stages of proposal development to illustrate the project's feasibility, significance, and impact, thereby increasing its competitiveness. Please see the Propel Grant FAQs for example uses for the award funds.

Small Propel Grants with budgets of up to $5,000 are reviewed biweekly, with funding decisions announced within three weeks of submission.

Large Propel Grants with budgets above $5,000 are reviewed twice a year. Exceptions to the deadlines may be requested under certain circumstances. Please see the FAQs for more information.

All applications will be reviewed to determine whether the requested amount is reasonable and essential for completing the Propel Grant activities. Applicants are encouraged to limit their requests to only what is necessary for these activities. The external funding opportunity's budget is expected to be substantially higher than the Propel Grant request.

• Small Propel Grant applicants may request flexible funds up to $5,000 in direct costs for up to 6 months.
• Large Propel Grant applicants may request a University Research Award up to $50,000 in direct costs for up to 12 months.

Smaller budget requests are welcome and appreciated. In exceptional cases, higher budget requests may be considered if a clear and substantiated need is demonstrated.

Reviewers should be confident that your team has a high level of readiness and will be well-positioned to apply for external funding opportunities upon completion of the proposed Propel Grant activities.

• All applications receive a programmatic review by RDO staff for compliance and programmatic fit.
• In addition, Large Propel Grant applications may undergo peer review to assess the application, focusing on the significance, feasibility, and overall potential for funding success of the proposed research.

All applications will be screened based on the following criteria:

• Significance
• Readiness
• Proposed Activities
• Appropriate Budget
• Feasibility
• Potential for External Funding

Each application should be uploaded as a single PDF via the VPDoR Internal Awards Portal.

Propel Grant reviewers will be from different academic fields or subfields than your own. It is highly recommended that you write your application so a wide academic audience can easily understand it and provide sufficient detail to demonstrate feasibility. 

Font size must be 11 pt or larger with 1-inch margins on all sides. 

Please include the following sections:

1. Research idea for the external proposal
2. Propel Grant activities
3. Team composition
4. External funding plan
5. Budget and justification (Large Propel Grants only)
6. Appendices (optional)

1. Survey/report
   1. Small Propel Grant recipients will be expected to complete a brief survey one month after the award period describing the impact of the Propel Grant activities.
   2. Large Propel Grant recipients will be expected to (a) submit an initial report at the end of the grant period describing what was accomplished or lessons learned, and (b) complete a survey one year after the award period describing the impact and outcomes of the Propel Grant activities.
2. Notification: Teams should notify RDO if the Propel Grants contributed to a noteworthy outcome, or if any external funds were received, for up to two years after receiving the award.

We welcome the opportunity to answer questions from potential applicants. Please contact the program manager, Jessica Boydston, at rdo_seedgrants@stanford.edu.