Pilot Grant Program

Great research begins with bold imagination. The Pilot Grant Program (PGP) provides UTEP faculty with the freedom to test ideas and the support to bring them to reality. These projects launch laboratories, inspire collaborations, and open new frontiers for external funding.

Every proposal funded through the PGP is an investment in vision, in faculty who are willing to design, experiment, and lead with purpose.

Purpose

The PGP transforms ideas into momentum. It provides the space and resources to explore untested directions, refine prototypes, and develop the preliminary data essential for external funding.

This is where innovation begins, grounded in rigor, guided by collaboration, and driven by impact.

Vision

• Support early-stage, interdisciplinary research with potential for external funding.
• Encourage collaborations that merge expertise and perspective.
• Strengthens UTEP’s competitiveness for large-scale, multi-institutional funding.
• Enhances the University’s identity as a catalyst for regional and global research.

Crafted for Breakthroughs

• Award Amount: Up to $25,000
• Eligibility: Full-time UTEP faculty (tenured, tenure-track, and research and clinical faculty)
• Launches: Late fall semester
• Application Deadline: Early spring semester
• Apply via: InfoReady

Selection Priorities

Reviewers prioritize proposals that demonstrate:

• Intellectual Merit. Original, clear, and rigorous research or creative ideas.
• Feasibility. Well-designed project with achievable milestones and a solid plan for initial results.
• Potential for External Competitiveness. Strong potential to lead to a fundable proposal within 12-18 months.
• Interdisciplinary Collaboration. Integration of diverse methods or perspectives to enhance impact.
• Capacity Building. Support for mentorship, training, or infrastructure growth at UTEP.

Funding Cycle

Awards are announced in mid-spring, and funding is released after notification. Each project runs for one year and concludes with a report that demonstrates measurable outcomes, data generated, partnerships formed, publications submitted, and planned external proposals. These reports become part of UTEP’s collective story of discovery and competitiveness.

The Start of Something Bigger
(Coming soon: faculty profiles and projects that moved from pilot idea to nationally funded research.)