Ball State University's Aspire Internal Grant Program provides funding to faculty, professional staff, and students to support projects in the areas of research, scholarly studies, and creative endeavors.

Aspire awards advance the goal of ultimately seeking sponsorship from external funding agencies.

Available Grants

Faculty

Published Scholarship Support

Provides support to aid in expenses associated with publication, reprints, article processing or open access charges, page charges, and subventions. Work must be accepted for publication or published in a refereed or other scholarly journal. Support can be used for open access, peer-reviewed publications listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals or for publication in subscription journals that allow some articles to become available openly based on a published fee schedule (sometimes known as hybrid open access). The deadline for this competition is the 15th of every month.

External Reviewer Support

Provides support for expenses associated with the external review of external sponsored project proposals. Specifically, the Principal Investigator/Project Director should have identified an expert in their field, preferably a current or former reviewer of the same sponsor. Sponsored Projects Administration (SPA) can assist in the identification of potential external reviewers. Funding is typically in the $200-300 range and includes a detailed narrative review and follow-up call/video chat. The external review process typically takes 6-9 weeks. There is no deadline, the opportunity is ongoing. 

Travel Support

Faculty members looking to travel for the purpose of securing external funding or support the preparation of external proposals. Funding is available for expenses associated with travel primarily for face‐to‐face meetings with program officers of funding agencies or foundations. The maximum award for this program is $500. The deadline for this competition is the 15th of every month.  

International Travel

For tenured and tenure-track faculty members looking to travel abroad for academic or creative activity Aspire offers the International Travel Program. The deadline is Bi-Monthly and the first of each month. Learn more.

Hollis Fund

Faculty members and graduate students who plan to conduct psychology based research projects may apply for the Aspire Hollis Fund Competition. Proposals from any department may be submitted as long as the research is psychology based. The deadline for this fund is October 1, and April 1. Learn more.

Start-Up Program

Aspire aims to support new tenure-track faculty members jumpstart their research and creative arts agenda. The Start-Up Program assists new faculty in purchasing supplies, research-related items, and to assist in travel by offering a one-time SEET grant. The deadline for this program is September 20. Learn more.

Junior Faculty Research

Aspire offers research competitions for junior faculty to provide seed money for research findings that will lead to further support from external funding agencies. The Pre-Submission Review is due December 15 and the Final Submission Deadline is January 8. Learn more.

Junior Faculty Creative Arts

The Aspire Junior Faculty Creative Arts program provides seed money to support and develop projects in the areas of research and creative endeavors. The Pre-Submission Review is due December 15 and the Final Submission Deadline is January 8. Learn more.

ADVANCE Program

Tenure or tenure-track faculty members and professional personnel preparing to submit proposals to external sponsors may apply to the ADVANCE Program. The program aims to encourage and promote proposal submissions to external sponsors by providing various levels of support during the proposal development process and in the support of ongoing research. The deadlines for this program are November 1 and March 1. Learn more.

CREATE Program

The CREATE program aims to encourage the artistic and creative endeavors of tenure or tenure track faculty. The program hopes to support the creation and presentation of works of those in the fields of Art, Dance, Design, Folk, Literature and more. The deadlines for this program are November 1 and March 1. Learn more.

Student Research 

Projects submitted to the research competition involve a process of study or discovery that will produce new insights, theories, or will apply such knowledge to problem solving within the discipline or in society. Learn more.

Student Creative Arts 

The Student Creative Arts program provides support to those projects that propose the creation and/or presentation of original works of creative art. Eligible creative arts projects include Arts Education, Dance, Literature, Media Arts, Music, and many more. Learn more.

Student Travel

The Student Travel Program is available for currently enrolled students at either Ball State, Burris Laboratory School or Indiana Academy to present works at a professional meeting, or perform or exhibit creative works. The maximum award is $700 for graduate students and $300 for undergraduate/high school students. This competition is limited to invited presentations of papers, posters, creative works, or performances. The deadline is the 15th of every month. Learn more.

Hollis Fund

Faculty members and graduate students who plan to conduct psychology based research projects may apply for the Aspire Hollis Fund Competition. Proposals from any department may be submitted as long as the research is psychology based. The deadline for this fund is October 1, and April 1. Learn more.