RI-NEST Workshop Awards help convene working groups that emphasize the collaborative development and advancement of important ideas and theories, cutting-edge analysis of recent or existing data and information, industry engagement in research, industry/academic partnerships for workforce development, academic/community organization partnerships for responding to S&T needs, or the use of science in policy or management decisions.
Proposals will bring together faculty, postdoctoral researchers, students, educators, and subject matter experts to identify and address gaps in Rhode Island’s research and innovation ecosystem. Submissions should focus on catalyzing collaborations across disciplines, facilities, and/or institutions working on topics related to the Rhode Island Science and Technology Action Plan core themes and cross cutting capabilities.
Eligibility & Regulations
- Each application must be submitted by a PI at an institution of higher education (IHE) within Rhode Island and must include collaboration from at least one other group (see above). While at least two organizations are required to be represented at the workshop to receive consideration, collaboration from three or more organizations is encouraged.
- Postdoctoral fellows are welcome to submit applications, but must follow their institution’s regulations on PI eligibility. If you are not permitted to act as a lead PI at your institution, you must find a sponsoring faculty member to support your application.
- Proposals that involve participants from Rhode Island’s primarily undergraduate institutions (i.e., four-year comprehensives or community colleges) are especially encouraged.
- Outcomes of the Workshop Award, including potential for follow-on funding for continued collaboration, must be specified in project description (see below).
- Workshop awards are capped at $7,500.00 and are awards rather than grants. RI-NEST staff will work with your team to help direct-pay expenses and process receipts for expenses your team incurs planning the workshop.
- Workshop Awards cannot fund proposal writing, but be used to generate ideas that will be crafted into a competitive proposal in the future. If a proposal is an intended outcome, the target program/agency should be identified. Similarly, Workshop Award proposals should specify journals targeted for publication outcomes.
- New collaborations with industry or research partners are acceptable outcomes, but the nature and extent of how the Workshop Award will further this collaboration should be fully explained. Proposals should also include plans for sharing what is learned during the workshop with relevant partners.
- Working Groups of 8–12 individuals meeting for 2–3 days (consecutive or non-consecutive) have been shown to be the most productive, though workshop award proposals of shorter duration and varying participant levels (with commensurate budgets) will be considered.
- Workshop Award proposals that have confirmed participants upon submission of the application are rated more highly.
- Grant submissions must be done in coordination with each primary PI’s Office of Sponsored Project office and be approved for institutional compliance before submission to RI-NEST. NOTE: If you are an internal URI applicant, you do not need to coordinate your submission with URI OSP
Deadlines
Applications for workshop grants are rolling, and can be submitted at any time. All proposed workshops for this award cycle must take place between Sept. 1 2026 and August 31, 2027. Please allow 4-6 weeks of review time from date of submission to award date.
If you have questions, please submit them using this google form and a member of RI-NEST staff will be in touch.
*Note that the Infoready portal is open to non-URI applicants. For URI applicants only: submissions for this program do not have to be routed through URI InfoEd. Complete your submission using InfoReady only. Please reach out to Laura Bellavia at lbellavia@uri.edu with your questions about budgeting and overhead costs.
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RI NSF EPSCoR is supported in part by the U.S. National Science Foundation under EPSCoR Cooperative Agreements #OIA-2433276 and in part by the RI Commerce Corporation via the Science and Technology Advisory Committee [STAC]. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the U.S. National Science Foundation, the RI Commerce Corporation, STAC, our partners or our collaborators.