Small Planning Grants Program

Overview

The Detroit URC's Small Planning Grant Program facilitates new community-academic research partnerships and new collaborative research efforts aimed at promoting health in Detroit. The program has funded 41 projects since 2010 and over $180,000 has been allocated overall.

The Small Planning Grant Program invites proposals that, for example:Quotations from participants

  • Build equitable relationships between partners
  • Explore shared research interests and identify capacity building needs
  • Develop partnership infrastructure and collaborative operating procedures
  • Conduct community assessment(s) to inform new collaborative research efforts
  • Analyze existing data to help inform future collaborative research
  • Disseminate and translate research findings
  • Evaluate the partnership process

The program aims to foster the establishment of new community-academic research partnerships and new collaborative health research efforts in Detroit. 

Funding Support

The Detroit URC’s Small Planning Grant Program is supported by funds from the following sources: William T. Grant Foundation, School of Social Work (SSW), School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), and Michigan Institute for Clinical Health Research (MICHR).

Past funding sources include the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities, the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars Program at the University of Michigan, University of Michigan Poverty Solutions, and the University of Michigan Vice Provost for Global Engagement and Interdisciplinary Academic Affairs. 

Eligibility

The Detroit URC Community-Academic Research Network (CAR-Net), as well as academic researchers and community entities who are not CAR-Net members but are committed to engage in collaborative research, are eligible to apply.

Funding Level and Project Period

Grants may be funded up to a maximum amount of $5,000, with a grant duration period of up to one year beginning June 1, 2024. Between six and seven awards may be made for round 14. The number and amount of awarded grants is based on the quantity and quality of the submitted proposals.  

Selection Criteria 

Grant applications are reviewed by a committee of faculty, board, and staff from the Detroit URC, Michigan Institute for Clinical Health Research (MICHR), School of Social Work (SSW), and School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), composed of both community and academic partners with extensive experience in and understanding of community-based participatory research. The Detroit URC seeks proposals with the potential for creating new or developing existing effective collaborative research efforts that will address the social and physical environmental factors that contribute to health inequities of relevance to Detroit communities. Selection criteria specific to each proposal type is included under each grant heading, above.

Planning Grant Program Round 14 Timeline

  • Planning Grant Announcement:  February 6, 2024
  • Proposal Submission Deadline:  April 5, 2024
  • Anticipated Notice of Awards:  Week of May 6, 2024
  • Anticipated Award Start:  June 1, 2024

Planning Grant Program Round 14 Documents

The Detroit URC’s Small Planning Grant Program is supported by funds from the following sources:  William T. Grant Foundation, School of Social Work (SSW), School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS), and Michigan Institute for Clinical Health Research (MICHR).