The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) offers many interdisciplinary fellowship, research, and other funding and program opportunities for University of Minnesota faculty, staff, and students, as well as community members.

Fellowship Awards

• IAS Residential Faculty Fellowship
  Spend a semester in residence at the IAS. Join a collaborative, interdisciplinary community while working intensively on your research or creative projects. Fellows meet regularly to discuss their work, build community, and exchange ideas. Eligible: All regular U of M faculty systemwide. 
  2026–27 Fellowship Award Deadline: November 3, 2025
• Interdisciplinary Doctoral Fellowship at the IAS
  IDFs work closely with a faculty mentor of their choosing. They also join the Institute for Advanced Study’s supportive cohort of residential fellows and participate in workshops and sharing feedback while developing their own work. Eligible: mid-career PhD students at the U of M. This program is facilitated by the Graduate School. 2026–27 Fellowship Award applications open in September. 
  2026–27 Fellowship Award Deadline (to IAS first): October 13, 2025.
• MnDRIVE Human in the Data Summer Graduate Fellowship
  Join an interdisciplinary cohort and receive $7,000 and research support for a summer fellowship focused on the humanistic implications of data in one of five MnDRIVE areas of concentration: robotics, global food, environment, brain conditions, or cancer clinical trials. Eligible: U of M doctoral students or graduate students in a terminal degree program. 
  Summer 2025 Deadline: February 17, 2025

Project Support Awards

• IAS Research and Creative Collaboratives
  Up to $12,000 for interdisciplinary collaboration, including public engagement activities, the creation of an intellectual community, the exploration of a research area through different disciplines, etc. Eligible: U of M faculty, instructors, staff, or students systemwide, and community members. 
  Fall 2025 Deadline: October 6, 2025
  Spring 2026 Deadline: February 9, 2026
• Imagine Fund Special Events Grant
  Budgets of up to $15,000 to support innovative, publicly engaged events relating to the arts, humanities, or design. Eligible: UMN faculty (tenure-line, or full-time continuous) or academic professional staff systemwide. 
  Fall 2025 Deadline: September 29, 2025
  Spring 2026 Deadline: February 16, 2026
• IAS Incubator Call for Concepts
  Get practical, collaborative support bringing your ideas to a fundable state of development. The IAS works with faculty, instructors, and staff from across the University system as they seek external funding for concepts that will become IAS administered projects. 
  Deadline: Rolling

Professional Development

• Open Rivers: General Queries
  Open Rivers is an open-access digital journal of public scholarship that brings together academics and community practitioners who share concern for our water futures. Authors wishing to propose a feature or column should contact the editors with a brief abstract. Authors of feature articles who may be interested in double-blind peer review (e.g., to meet specific requirements of their academic institution or discipline) should contact the journal editors. 
  Deadline: Rolling
• Open Rivers Graduate Student Committee
  Open Rivers: Rethinking Water, Place & Community welcomes participants from any university and any graduate program to join its new Graduate Student Committee. Members will gain practical professional experience while exploring public scholarship in their own practice. 
  Next Deadline: Fall 2025

Graduate Assistantships

The Institute for Advanced Study occasionally offers Graduate Assistantships, or administers Assistantships offered by its supported projects. The current minimum GA rate of pay for the Institute for Advanced Study is $27.00/hr to $29.98/hr.

Cosponsorships

The IAS offers occasional cosponsorships. Please contact [email protected] with inquiries about departmental event cosponsorship inquiries, or questions about community cosponsorships.

Additional Funding Resources

• University of Minnesota Foundation’s Charitable Grants Resource Hub
  For University of Minnesota system faculty and staff who want to work with UMF on grant seeking. This resource includes a search function for UMF-managed funding opportunities. 
   
• University of Minnesota Libraries Funding & Grants
  A resource curated by the University of Minnesota Libraries that includes resources around the University, including internal and external funding opportunities managed through the Sponsored Projects Administration office, and powerful tools for seeking opportunities. 

Connect with the IAS

Want to share your opportunities with our community via our newsletter? Send news to Abby Travis at [email protected].

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