Research Working Groups
Applications are due on November 15, 2025. To submit your application, please:
Applications are due on November 15, 2025.
Research Working Groups (RWGs) are faculty teams working on related or collaborative projects in any area of the humanities or humanistic social sciences. RWGs are ideal for early-stage projects and/or emerging areas of inquiry where faculty would benefit from opportunities to work closely together, develop new ideas, explore collaborative opportunities, and/or seek new lines of funding. In addition to incubation activities, RWGs will host two public-facing events, one for a local UT audience in the first semester of the program and another featuring an invited speaker in the subsequent semester. Events may feature lectures, flash talks, workshops, dialogues, or other programming appropriate to the RWG goals.
Questions about the RWG program or application can be directed to Scott Graham at ssg@utexas.edu.
Applications are currently not being accepted. To stay updated on HI programs, subscribe to our newsletter here.
- Award: The RWG will receive $5,000 in funding for RWG activities. Funding can include food, travel, books or other supplies, honoraria, and student stipends; should not include salary.
- Additional Funding: Possible additional funding and support for hosting a visiting speaker in the RWG scholarly area (budget developed in consultation with HI staff).
- Individual Consultations: Opportunities to meet with the HI Directors of Research Development and Research Engagement.
- Campus Space: Use of HI facilities and meeting space.
- Year-Long Program: The program spans one academic year.
To apply, please submit a 1-2 page proposal addressing the following:
- RWG faculty lead, position, department
- Additional RWG members, positions, and departments
- Focal theme or area
- Proposed RWG activities and events
Eligibility:
- RWG teams should engage clear humanities themes
- Each group must be led by a tenure-line faculty member and have at least three faculty members from at least two different UT departments with one department from the College of Liberal Arts represented. Graduate students or non-UT faculty members are allowed, but should not constitute a majority of the RWG.
- Status: Currently accepting applications.
- Application Deadline: April 3, 2026.
- Decisions Communicated: May 2026.
- Program timeline: In addition to incubation activities over the course of one academic year, RWGs will host two public-facing events, one for a local UT audience in Spring and another featuring an invited speaker in the subsequent semester. At the end of the first year of work, RWGs may apply for a second year of funding. Successful applications for a second year will articulate how proposed activities build on the successes of the first year.
- 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: Spring 2027.
- Next Start Date: Fall 2027.
- 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.