5x5 Incubator Grants
The 5×5 Incubator Grants are intended to encourage faculty and research specialists from a variety of fields to organize around a theme or topic of shared interest, an approach to work in the humanities, an experimental form of dissemination, or simply a productive common ground for future research explorations. Five faculty will meet five times over a period of a few months.
Why Apply: These grants will help researchers focus attention on:
- expanding intellectual and institutional networks;
- exploring research questions in the context of similar interests with other faculty; and
- developing a new kind of scholarly research project.
Applications are currently not being accepted. To stay updated on HI programs, subscribe to our newsletter here.
- Award: Each team member of an awarded grant will receive $500.
- Semester-Long Program: The program spans a few months.
- Groups: Groups will encourage collaborative thinking about work in the humanities; create a space for low-stakes exploration of shared interests; and facilitate the development of collaborative scholarship in the humanities.
To apply, please submit a 1-2 page proposal addressing the following:
- 5x5 faculty lead, position, department
- Additional 5x5 members, positions, and departments
- Focal theme or area
- Proposed 5x5 meeting plan
Eligibility:
- Each group must be led by a tenure-line faculty member and can also include lecturers, research scientists, librarians, curators, archivists, post-docs, and other university scholars (this grant is not intended for graduate students).
- Preference will be given to teams with representatives from at least two departments or schools.
- The team organizer must be a tenure-line faculty in the College of Liberal Arts. While five faculty members is the ideal number, HI will consider proposals from teams comprising four to six members.
- Status: Currently accepting applications.
- Application Deadline: April 3, 2026.
- Decisions Communicated: May 2026.
- Meeting timeline: Each team member of an awarded grant will receive $500 in salary or research funds upon submission of a short description of the conversations and the ideas that emerged from the five meetings. We anticipate teams to complete their grant within 6 months of being accepted.
- Award: Each team member of an awarded grant will receive $500.
- Semester-Long Program: The program spans a few months.
- Groups: Groups will encourage collaborative thinking about work in the humanities; create a space for low-stakes exploration of shared interests; and facilitate the development of collaborative scholarship in the humanities.
To apply, please submit a 1-2 page proposal addressing the following:
- 5x5 faculty lead, position, department
- Additional 5x5 members, positions, and departments
- Focal theme or area
- Proposed 5x5 meeting plan
Status: Not currently accepting applications.
- Next Deadline: Fall 2026.
- Next Start Date: Spring 2026.
- Meeting timeline: Each team member of an awarded grant will receive $500 in salary or research funds upon submission of a short description of the conversations and the ideas that emerged from the five meetings. We anticipate teams to complete their grant within 6 months of being accepted.
Eligibility: Each group must include a minimum of three tenure track faculty and can also include lecturers, research scientists, librarians, curators, archivists, post-docs, and other university scholars (this grant is not intended for graduate students). Preference will be given to teams with representatives from at least two departments or schools. The team organizer must be a member of the tenure-track faculty. While five faculty members is the ideal number, the Collaboratory will consider proposals from teams comprising four to six members.