Advancement for Research and Creative Works - ARC

College of Fine Arts Consortium for the Advancement of Research and Creative works (CFA-ARC)
announces the 2025-2026 Collaborative Research Fellowship Call for Proposals.

Application Deadline: November 3, 2025, 5pm
Duration of Fellowship: November 13, 2025 - March 5, 2026

2025-2026 CFA-ARC Fellowship Overview:
ARC Collaborative Research Fellowships will be awarded to applicants from the College Fine Arts,
College of Education & P-16 Integration, Robert C. Vackar College of Business & Entrepreneurship
College of Business and Entrepreneurship, Social of Work, Institute of Neuroscience, College of
Engineering and Computer Science, and the College of Health Professions. ARC Faculty Fellows will build and support multi-disciplinary teams whose aim will be to further develop proposed projects, write external funding proposals in support of project, and submit competitive external grant proposals aligned with the ARC fellowship project themes.

The ARC Fellowship will focus on collaborative research, i.e., multi-disciplinary, involves cutting across disciplinary boundaries, shares research goals and works on the same problem, but views perspectives from their own discipline; and convergence research, as defined by the NSF as, "a means of solving vexing research problems, especially those focusing on societal needs...and, intentionally bringing together intellectually diverse researchers to develop effective ways of communicating across disciplines.” The CFA-ARC will provide support and facilitate collegial discourse in a robust and crosscutting disciplinary environment. The goals of the CFA - ARC collaborative research initiative are to:

I. Provide keen insight into proposal development processes and strategies to help facilitate project development; and to
II. Write a grant in support of a proposed project with the full intent of submitting the proposal through the Office of Research Administration (ORA), Office of Sponsored Projects (OSP), and/or the Office for Development and Foundation Relations at the completion of the ARC Fellowship.

CFA-ARC Collaborative Research Fellowship objectives include:

• Assemble teams with diverse expertise reflecting the multi-disciplinary nature of ARC project themes.
• Define clear roles and responsibilities including project leads and key personnel.
• Implement regular communication protocols and use collaborative tools for transparent workflow.
• Foster collegial discourse to refine project ideas and build a compelling research narrative.

The ARC Faculty Fellowship will take place:
Fall 2025: November 13th, November 20th and December 4th.
Spring 2026: January 22nd, February 5th, February 19th and March 5th.

Criteria:

1. All full-time faculty, regardless of rank, are eligible and encouraged to apply.
2. When prospective faculty apply through the portal provided below, the Dean’s Office will forward applications to the CFA-ARC collaborative consortium (ADRs from each participating college and school) for review. ARC and the Dean of the CFA will confer and make decisions based on the pool of applicants. The College of Fine Arts Dean’s Office will notify ARC Collaborative Research Fellows selected to participate by Friday, November 7th.

CFA-ARC Collaborative Research Fellowship application portal link here:
ARC application

For more information regarding ARC Fellowship, project themes, content and dates please click on the following link:
ARC Research Fellowship flyer

ARC Research Fellowship flyer

Fall 2025:

SEMINAR I
NOVEMBER 13TH
LOCATION: TBD, IN-PERSON TIME: 6:00PM-8:00PM

Topic: Collabortive Research Fellowship Overview. Building a team dedicated to relationship buidling, increasing productivity, engagement, and efficiency. Disucuss Cohort Assignments.

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SEMINAR II
NOVEMBER 20TH
LOCATION: ZOOM TIME: 3:30PM-5:15PM

Topic: Developing fundable research and creative works projects, and examining external funding RFPs opportunities.

Analyze proposal guidelines and structures to enhance your content and narrative, optimize your project strategies.

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SEMINAR III
DECEMBER 4TH
LOCATION: ZOOM TIME: 3:30PM-5:15PM

Topic: Strategies for working effectively in cohorts: Fostering diversity of thinking; Understanding assignments, roles, and how to prioritization when needed; and Avoid being apprehensive when making decisions when there are no right answers: make decisions, observe the impact of those decisions, and pivot quickly if needed.

 

Spring 2026:

 

SEMINAR IV
JANUARY 22ND
LOCATION: ZOOM TIME: 3:30PM-5:15PM

Topic: Optimizing project deliverables:rtegies for increasing the efficacy of proposal through project assessment. Your needs assessment methodology should identify gaps that your a project will address. It will also help shape of your project’s goals and objectives and provide strategies for measuring success.

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SEMINAR V
FEBRUARY 5TH
LOCATION: ZOOM TIME: 3:30PM-5:15PM

Topic: Crafting compliant grant budgets Your project budget will play a vital role in modeling financial responsibility and viability and sustainability, which in turn will build confidence with your funding agency or foundation. Allowability (aka Cost Principles); Direct Cost (personnel, equipment, travel, participant, or other direct costs).

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SEMINAR VI
FEBRUARY 19TH LOCATION:
ZOOM TIME: 3:30PM-5:15PM

Topic: Crafting compliant grant budgets Indirect Cost: An Overview; Facilities and Administrative Costs in Higher Education; Cost Sharing; Modular Budgets.

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SEMINAR VII
MARCH 5TH
LOCATION: IN-PERSON, TBD TIME: 3:30PM-5:15PM

Topic: Closing presentations by Fellow Cohorts. Research fellows will share an overview of their projects and external funding proposals.

 

Coming soon.