Special Programs

Overview

The University of Illinois Extension and Public Engagement Connection Center (EPECC) announces an opportunity for UIUC researchers and Extension professionals to apply for Extension Collaboration Grants. These grants are designed to fund collaborative work among University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign researchers and Extension personnel. Grants will support discovery and translation of university research into applied information and education that will be disseminated through Extension’s statewide network with the goal of applied use by the target audience. Approximately 19 grants, with total funding of up to $60,000 per project over two years, will be supported.

Purpose of Extension Collaboration Grants

• To ignite and strengthen interdisciplinary collaborations among University of Illinois researchers and Extension professionals.
• To build sustainable communities of practice that engage in research-based practice and practice-based research that enhances Extension and outreach initiatives.
• To foster the development of collaborative, change-oriented projects that solve locally or statewide identified problems that are addressed through interdisciplinary approaches.

Eligibility

Extension has identified the following five critical issue areas: Food; Economy; Environment; Community; and Health. Extension Collaboration Grant funds are targeted to address these priority issues with collaborative research and outreach. Proposals should describe how the project addresses one or more of these focus areas.

Proposed research and outreach should address locally or statewide identified problems of public importance, i.e. to benefit individuals, groups or communities who do not currently have a formal relationship with a higher education institution but who may have general or vested interests in the proposed project. Projects must be broadly accessible, not proprietary, including those that aim to target policy makers or engage business and industry. Projects that aim to reach undergraduate students as the primary stakeholders or to increase student applications to UIUC are not eligible.

Principal Investigators (PIs) and Co-PIs must hold appointments at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign campus and be approved by a unit executive officer or administrative equivalent. Individuals with titles including, but not limited to, Assistant, Associate, and Full Professor, specialized faculty with Extension appointments, Extension Specialists, Program Leaders, Regional Directors, County Directors, and Extension Educators are encouraged to submit proposals. Extension Program Coordinators and Community Workers may be included as team members; however, they may not serve as PIs or Co-PIs. Collaborators may be from non-university units and/or stakeholder groups (e.g., non-profit organizations, public agencies, professional associations, hospitals, etc.) but may not serve as PIs or Co-PIs.

PI Requirements

Awarded teams are expected to track project progress and outcomes through contact with the grant program manager, a year one progress report, and a final report. Distribution of Year 2 funds is contingent upon satisfactory progress towards the stated project expenditures and research and outreach deliverables. Additionally, awarded teams are expected to participate in a final showcase of their projects in 2022.