Research Grants

Life of the Mind (LOM) Research Grants

The Life of the Mind (LOM) Research Grants are administered by the SMU Office of Research in consultation with the SMU Retired Faculty Association Board.  The specific purpose of the LOM Grant is to support retired faculty in their research, publication, creative activity, and conference presentations. It is also intended to assist retired faculty in applying for other professional and academic grants. The award limit for an LOM Grant is $5,000. To date the RFA has granted nine awards totaling over $30,000. If you have a project that fits the criteria for the grant, we encourage you to apply not only for an LOM grant, but also a URC grant. New, this spring 2026 the RFA board will also be offering an LOM grant with endowed support via a very generous gift from David Matula, Professor Emeritus, Centennial Chair in Engineering. Thus, there will be grants from yearly contributions and grants from the endowment. David’s inspiration for his gift focuses on research projects in the arts or humanities that include a contribution from the discipline of informatics, the science of processing data for storage and retrieval for human use, understanding, and benefit.

There is one granting cycle per year. Retirees will receive notification and details on deadlines via email in January and awards will be announced in March.  The guidelines for application for these research grants can be found on our website https://www.smu.edu/orgs/retiredfaculty. If you have questions, please direct them to the Vice President of the RFA Board, who is listed on the website.

 
Guidelines for the LOM Grant

Award

Consideration and awarding of Life of the Mind (LOM) Grants are administered by the SMU Office of Research in consultation with the SMU Retired Faculty Association Board. The LOM Grant is offered once a year to retired faculty. The specific purpose of the LOM Grant is to support retired faculty in their research, publication, creative activity, and conference presentations. It is also intended to assist retired faculty in applying for other professional and academic grants.

We highly encourage LOM Grant applicants to also apply for a URC Grant, which has two granting cycles each year. Information on URC Grants is available at https://www.smu.edu/research/faculty-grants/faculty-research-grants (please note that both research and travel grants are available).  We encourage you to apply for both an LOM and a URC Grant to avail yourself of all funding sources to which you are eligible through SMU. Utilizing URC funds also enables the Retired Faculty Association (RFA) to fund more projects over time. The award limit for an LOM Grant is $5,000.

Proposal/Project Requirements

LOM Grants are available only to members of the RFA. Funding for computer equipment and/or accessories is generally not granted unless it can be clearly demonstrated they are essential for conducting the research. If a salary for a project participant is included, the value of their unique contributions to the overall success of the project needs to be clearly defined. Funds are expected to be utilized within 12 months of the award.

Application Due Date is announced in January

Awards are announced in March

Selection process

The Board of the SMU Retired Faculty Association will review applications and make recommendations to the SMU Office of Research. Final approval and awards will be made by the Office of Research.

Notification

Applicants will be notified of award status by the Vice President of the Retired Faculty Association Board within one month of the pertinent application deadline.

How to Apply

Grant proposals must be submitted via email to rfa@smu.edu. as a single PDF file. If you would like assistance combining your documents into a single PDF, please contact the SMU Help Desk (8-HELP).

Proposal Format (combined documents should not exceed ten pages)

  1. A cover letter that explains the nature, significance, and relevance (to your field and society) of the project
  2. Project objectives
  3. Project plan and schedule (Please state IRB approval status, if applicable) 
  4. A budget outlining project expenses - be sure to provide the source for the costs of airfare, hotels, meals, and equipment, supplies, etc.
  5. Expected outcomes of the project (e.g., publication, exhibition, concert, lectures, etc.)
  6. Summary, if applicable, of prior RFA funded projects and their effect on your research (e.g., outcomes, resulting proposals, publications, and progress)
  7. A brief CV that includes research/creative projects relevant to the proposed project
  8. A letter of support from someone currently active in the field pertaining to the project
  9. Proposals should be well-written and accessible to those outside your field of study.

Post-Award Requirements

  • A report summarizing how the funds were spent and what resulted from the research/creative activity should be submitted via email to rfa@smu.edu. Access to future granting cycles will be contingent on the submission of said report.
  • Grant recipients must agree to acknowledge grant funding by the SMU Office of Research in conjunction with the Retired Faculty Association in any publications or exhibitions.
  • Grant recipients must agree to present a discussion or exhibition/performance of their funded work at a meeting of the SMU Retired Faculty Association if requested.