Pilot Project Grants for the Study of Rural Contexts

Pilot Project Grants for the Study of Rural Contexts is sponsored by Institute for Social Research, University of Michigan. This pilot grant program provides seed funding for interdisciplinary teams conducting innovative research on rural living.

This pilot grant program provides seed funding for interdisciplinary teams conducting innovative research on rural living. Past awardees are investigating watershed management technology, healthcare access in remote areas, and even energy poverty and political behavior.

By leveraging the expertise of multiple disciplines, this grant provides the foundation for researchers to tackle complex issues facing rural people and communities across the globe. The Study of Rural Contexts pilot grant program invites proposals for projects that bring together faculty from across the University of Michigan with a focus on rural areas.

The intent of this program is to promote interdisciplinary research among faculty members, as well as gain novel insights into rural living. The **Study of Rural Contexts** pilot grant program will make funds available to support research concerned with rural contexts.

Proposals may involve but are not limited to behavioral and social science research, studies of geographic and socioeconomic contexts, mobility technology research, health related studies, research on the effects of climate change, projects in infrastructure and public health, and computer science/information technology research.

The purpose of this program highlights the lack of research in these fields that focuses on rural contexts, and only requires that the collaborative project be centered on a rural setting.

The project team must be interdisciplinary and include at least one collaborator with an affiliation with the Institute for Social Research (ISR) and one collaborator with an affiliation with another school, college, or unit at the University of Michigan. A strong preference will be given to proposals including at least one collaborator with a primary affiliation outside of ISR.

Primary investigators should hold a faculty position (including non-tenure track) or an approved postdoc-to-faculty transition at Michigan. The pilot grant application is not currently under review with any other grant-administering program. The amount awarded will be up to $75,000 per year for two years, based on the needs of the project.

Full proposals for the 2026 application cycle were due April 6, 2026 at 11:59 p. m. Updates on the 2027 application cycle, including the application deadline, will be added to this website by early Winter 2027.

Questions may be directed to Abby Bossio. Please attach the following in PDF format using 12-pt Times New Roman or Arial Font and margins of at least ½ inch.

* Cover page that lists the following: * Names, email addresses, and institutional affiliations of key investigators (please note your primary affiliation first) * Abstract (300 word maximum) * Technical proposal up to 3 pages that incorporates the following: * Specific aims of pilot project (½ page maximum) * Significance of the topic of the project, and its contribution to the field (1 page maximum) * Brief statements that explicitly address the following: * How does this project highlight interdisciplinary collaboration that could not be achieved by a single field?

* How does this project contribute to the study of rural living * Research plan, including timeline showing start/completion of major activities * Documentation of human subjects approval (if necessary) by the appropriate U-M institutional review board (IRB), including PI Name, HUM Number, IRB Study Title and approval period. If the project has not yet received IRB approval, this should be explained in the application.