Cal Poly Internal Funding: New Initiatives/ Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activities Grant Program
Proposals are due Thursday, October 8, 2026 @ NOON PDT via InfoReady.
No late submissions will be accepted. Applicants are strongly encouraged to submit their proposals early. (Standard practice is 24 hours ahead of deadline).
Important documents:
1. The New Initiatives/ RSCA Info Sheet (includes rating definitions)
2. The Internal Funding_2027-28 RFP for full details
3. The Excel budget template.
When creating your project budget, we recommend starting with the excel budget template before filling out the budget fields in the InfoReady application.
Background
Cal Poly is committed to the teacher-scholar model in which faculty integrate excellence in teaching with excellence in research, scholarly and creative activities. The teacher-scholar model enables faculty to fulfill Cal Poly’s mission as an institution committed to quality undergraduate and graduate education, to the advancement of knowledge through basic and applied research, to the enrichment of society through creative activities in the arts and humanities, and to serving our community. The New Initiatives/ Research, Scholarly and Creative Activities (RSCA) Grant Program, supported by funds from the CSU Chancellor’s Office and the Cal Poly Office of the Provost, is intended to help faculty remain engaged in their disciplines beyond the classroom and to contribute new knowledge through robust programs of scholarship focused on strengthening California socially, culturally and economically. The annual funding from the program is intended to provide internal resources to help faculty pursue a broader array of professional activities.
Synopsis of the Program
New Initiatives - Research, Scholarly and Creative Activities (RSCA): The primary focus of this track is to provide “seed” funding for all types of research, scholarly, and creative activities. This includes but is not limited to empirical and theoretical research, applied design and development, scholarship of teaching and learning, writing of books, and the production of art and other creative activities. Proposed projects must be related to the generation of new knowledge, and it is incumbent upon the PI to clarify these potential contributions.
Eligibility
All faculty unit employees are eligible to compete for funding, including lecturers, tenure-track and tenured faculty. Awards are provided only to those who hold a current appointment for the duration of the program (July 1, 2027 - June 30, 2028); exceptions may be granted but require review by the Office of the Vice President of Research and the Dean of the respective college. This funding is intended to provide support to new, early career, tenure-track probationary faculty and lecturers at any stage of their career at Cal Poly. To be eligible to apply as a PI or co-PI, applicants must be faculty (unit 3) employees (i.e. tenure-track, tenured, or lecturer faculty). Non-faculty unit employees (i.e. MPP, staff, etc.) are not eligible to serve as PIs or co-PIs. Support for temporary personnel: non-unit 3 employees may be compensated as temporary personnel; they must demonstrate that any work on this internally funded program falls outside their regular position duties.
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You may submit one proposal to each funding option (as PI or co-PI). Project topic and scope must be different for each proposal.
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Applicants cannot apply to New Initiatives-RSCA program as a PI if they have received RSCA funding in the preceding 3 award cycles (2024-25 to 2026-27); i.e. the fiscal year for the original active term of the project, not the fiscal year when the PI received the notification of award. This limit does not apply to submissions as a Co-PI.
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Previous recipients of RSCA funding must submit evidence of external development to demonstrate eligibility. Examples of external development include (but are not limited to): peer-reviewed publication, external funding application/award, public distribution of creative work. Please direct any questions about external development examples to research@calpoly.edu.
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For tenured faculty applying to the New Initiatives/RSCA program, it is the PI’s responsibility to provide the reviewers with specific information that makes the case that the proposed research is a new scholarly direction for the PI (please see the “New Scholarly Direction” section on the New Initiatives/RSCA info sheet for more information). In order to be considered for funding, you must address this or your proposal will be considered ineligible. You may refer to your submitted CV as part of this demonstration.
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Applicants can only re-submit the same proposed project three times – one original submission and two resubmissions. Applicants must denote when they are resubmitting a proposal.
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PIs and Co-PIs are not eligible to receive a new grant if they have any past-due progress reports for previous Internal Funding awards (previously denoted as RSCA/TSMG).
Note that this program does NOT require any processing through the Office of Research pre-award offices for proposals to external funders.
Applicants will be notified whether their proposals have been awarded by February 2027.
The Office of Research thanks you for your participation! If you need assistance, please e-mail research@calpoly.edu.
Please also see our two other tracks: Continuing Initiatives/ Teacher-Scholar Mini Grant (TSMG) and Proposal Development Program (PDP).
Info Session
To learn more, we invite you to attend our internal funding Information session on Friday, September 4, from 11:00.-12 noon. Phil Costanzo, Academic Senate Grants Review Committee chair, will explain the internal funding program, answer questions and provide tips and suggestions for drafting competitive proposals.
Zoom link will be added here.
The presentation slides will be linked here and recording will be linked here.
