Find Internal Funding

Internal funding helps to support faculty and student research while fostering innovation and collaboration.

Key funding programs:

  • Grand Challenges seed grants, which support the development of large-scale interdisciplinary research programs across KSU;
  • Research, Scholarship and Creative Activitygrants, which support projects that will enhance KSU's national prominence in all areas of research, scholarship, and creative activity;
  • High-Impact Travel grants, which support travel that will show KSU faculty are leaders in their disciplines and/or enable KSU faculty to engage with decision makers at key sponsors to secure external funding;
  • Postdoctoral Researcher Funding, which provides valuable training for emerging researchers while also supporting faculty research efforts.

More opportunities funded by the Office of Research and Office of Undergraduate Research are listed below. Which program is right for you? Scroll down to learn more!

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Internal Grants

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Grand Challenges

The Grand Challenges seed grant application is closed. The next application cycle is anticipated to open in October 2026. This seed funding program is intended to support high-impact, interdisciplinary projects that create and advance large-scale, competitive research programs.

Projects will need to involve one of several specified topics, which remain to be determined.

Required letters of intent (LOI) are anticipated to be due on December 17, 2026. Full proposals, by invitation only, are anticipated to be due on February 25, 2027. 

Browse funded projects
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Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Grants

The Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity grant application is closed. The next application cycle is anticipated to open in March 2027. This funding program is intended to help develop projects that enhance Kennesaw State University's national prominence in all areas of research, scholarship, and creative activity.

Tenured/tenure-track faculty at all levels are encouraged to apply. Other full-time faculty with at least 10% of their workload in research may also be considered. Applicants from Bagwell, Architecture and Construction Management, Coles, Geer, and Radow colleges will receive highest priority for funding. Individuals who received funding through the previous RSCA call (spring 2026) will have lower priority for funding in this cycle. Anyone who is currently receiving start-up and whose start-up package is more than $50,000 is ineligible. Anyone who is participating as a PI or co-PI in other grant funding administered by Research Development (i.e., Initiatives or Grand Challenges) as of the RSCA application deadline is ineligible.

Applications are due at 5 PM on September 8, 2026.

View the Fall 2026 call
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High-Impact Travel Grants

The High-Impact Travel grant application is open. This funding program is intended to enhance KSU's national prominence and/or to increase our external funding by supporting travel that will show KSU faculty are leaders in their disciplines and/or enable KSU faculty to engage with decision makers at key sponsors to secure funding.

Tenured / tenure-track faculty at all levels are eligible to apply.

Applications are accepted any time, and will be reviewed on a rolling basis with the aim to return decisions within two weeks of proposal submission.

Learn more and apply
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Postdoctoral Researcher Funding

The Postdoctoral Researcher Funding application is closed. The next application cycle is anticipated to open in March 2027. Postdoctoral Researcher Funding is intended to enhance the research community at KSU by providing valuable training for emerging researchers while also supporting faculty research efforts.

Learn more View the Fall 2026 call

 

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Initiatives

The Initiatives seed grant program supports interdisciplinary research teams among KSU’s researchers in all areas of research, scholarship and creative activity. This one-year support is given for collaborative proposals with the anticipation of a major grant submission upon its conclusion. 

The Office of Research has funded the final round of Initiatives seed grant projects and pivoted to different funding mechanisms in the 2026-2027 academic year.

Browse funded projects

 

Additional Opportunities

 

 

Previously Available Programs