UW Research

Royalty Research Fund (RRF)

The Royalty Research Fund (RRF) is a competitive awards program that provides research support to University of Washington faculty. The RRF is funded by royalty and licensing fee income generated by the University’s technology transfer program. The RRF has been offered twice a year since 1992. In 1994, the RRF Scholar program was initiated to provide one quarter of release time for faculty with full teaching loads to engage in concentrated scholarly activities. The RRF welcomes proposals with budgets up to $40,000. Approximately $1M is awarded per round. The success rate for applicants averages 25%.

Purpose

The purpose of the Royalty Research Fund (RRF) is to advance new directions in research, particularly:

  1. For faculty who are junior in rank.
  2. In cases where funding may provide unique opportunities to increase applicants’ competitiveness for subsequent funding.
  3. In disciplines for which external funding opportunities are minimal.

Proposals must demonstrate a high probability of generating important new creative activities or scholarly understandings, new scholarly materials or resources, significant data or information, or essential instrumentation resources that are likely to significantly advance the reputation of the university, lead to external funding, or lead to the development of a new technology.

While RRF prioritizes funding junior faculty, senior faculty are eligible in specific cases. Please note that senior faculty are evaluated in the context of their more extensive experience as researchers. See Eligibility and Guidelines.

Deadlines & How to Apply

Fall Round

  • Submissions are due 5:00 pm the last Monday in September
  • Awards will be announced by January 15

Spring Round

  • Submissions are due 5:00 pm on the first Monday in March
  • Awards will be announced by June 15

See the Application Instructions. There are two RRF opportunities: the standard RRF program and the RRF Scholar program (which funds the investigator’s release time from teaching). Application materials are the same for both programs. To review funded proposals, please contact past awardees directly.

Proposal Review Process

Proposals are reviewed by faculty committees that recommend funding priorities to the Office of Research. Committee members write reviews and recruit UW faculty peers who provide comments and evaluate proposals based on explicit written criteria:

  • The merit of the proposal.
  • Suitability of the proposal to further the goals of the RRF.
  • Available opportunities and timeliness of the proposal for obtaining subsequent funding.
  • Potential for the proposal to have broader impacts such as: activities that are aimed at increasing diversity and inclusion in the field; supporting and mentoring BIPOC students, post-docs, and/or early-career colleagues; or conducting research that benefits underrepresented or underserved communities.

Guided by the Program Chair, Committee members meet to discuss the most competitive proposals and select which will be funded. Both funded and non-funded applicants receive written comments within a few weeks of the selection meeting.

Questions