Research Opportunities at the University of Hawai’i at Hilo Extramural and Intramural Funding

The University of Hawai’i at Hilo has an Office of Research, directed by the Interim Vice Chancellor for Research and Economic Development. This office seeks to help faculty with their research and scholarly activities, and also seeks to foster hands-on student training through their participation with faculty research projects.

Research funding is divided into two sources: intramural and extramural

Extramural funding refers to all grants, contracts, etc. that support research from sources outside the university. This can include federal agencies, private foundations, and state or county agencies.

UH Hilo has its extramural research administered by the Research Administration and Program Development (RAPD) office, which until 9/1/12 was part of the Research Corporation of the University of Hawaii (RCUH). It is now a division of the UHH Research Office.

The Office of Research helps researchers both with pre-award (preparation and submission of proposals) and post-award (processing of paperwork to spend your money!) services.

UH Hilo has a staff to help investigators administer their grants and contracts. They are located in PB-14, in the office that serves both as the Office of Research and the Graduate Division for UH Hilo.

UH Hilo also has a Research Council. This is a group of senior faculty representing the major academic units at the university. The Council advises the administration about research policies, and administers some intramural programs.

The Research Council is chaired by Dr. Ken Hon, Professor of Geology.

At UH Hilo, research is a growth industry. While we concentrate on our primary mission of undergraduate education, we also are committed to scholarship.

Grant Activity at UH Hilo

External (extramural) grants come with two kinds of money usually: Direct funds – specified in the grant to carry out the program activities (research and/or training). Indirect funds – A percentage of funds in addition to direct funds are provided by many sponsors to help the university administer research.

Intramural funds for research are supplied by UH Hilo, through its Research Council. Funds for these programs are budgeted by the administration from indirect funds that have come from extramural grant activity.

The UH Hilo Research Council has established three major intramural programs: Travel Awards Research Relations Fund Seed Money Grants

Travel Awards Untenured TT faculty may be awarded only one travel award per year; others are limited to one award every other year. These are designed to fund travel to conferences for the presentation of scholarly research or creative activities, and have a maximum of $2200.

Travel awards are granted year- round, as different conferences meet at different dates.

Research Relations Fund This fund was established to provide small (less than $5000) competitive grants to faculty in fields, such as the Humanities, where extramural funding is scarce or absent.

Applications for Research Relations Fund grants are due in early April, and awards are made once a year, with the grants good for one year.

Seed Money Grants These competitive awards fund one year projects that are likely to lead to extramural grant proposal submissions in the near future. The maximum award is $15,000, but usually quite a bit less, with applications due in early April.

“But I don’t have time/resources to do research” Grants can include assistants (students or others) to help you with your work Grants can often include “buyout” where some of your salary is paid for by the grant, and thus teaching load is reduced. This requires prior approval of your department and Dean All tenure-track faculty at UH Hilo have 25% of their time devoted to research and service

For more information, see our web site: Or, go to the UHH home page, click on “Academics” and then click on “Research Programs.”

Or contact me and I’ll try to help: Dan Brown PB-14-8

Research enhances teaching as well as scholarship!