F.R.E.S.S.H. | Fostering Research Expansion in the Social Sciences & Humanities

• Gain a better understanding of resources for funding and grant development on campus.
• Learn more about how their research can benefit from external funding.
• Learn about the options for external funding in their field.
• Develop the skills to submit a proposal for external funding.
• Provide feedback to others and respond to feedback on their own work.
• Develop connections with colleagues on campus.

• Attend workshops and activities, most of which will be in person, some on Zoom. They will take place on Friday mornings throughout the 2025-26 academic year.
• Complete assignments, consisting of drafts of applications and portions thereof.
• Participate in workshops, including providing feedback on peers’ proposals and other writing.
• Learn about and utilize KU’s research support systems and offices.
• Identify potential funding sources.
• Adhere to KU’s research guidelines.
• Submit a research proposal to an approved foundation, federal agency, or non-KU university-based fellowship program during the period from 2025-2027 (within approximately 18 months of beginning the FRESSH program, i.e., by April 1, 2027).
• Complete program evaluations and provide feedback on the FRESSH program.
• If participants are awarded a fellowship or grant, they may be asked to present at, or serve as mentor to, a future session of FRESSH.

• Any College faculty member—including postdoctoral fellows with supervisor approval—who can meet the expectations above is eligible to apply.
• Faculty must be eligible to take leave (in case of fellowship) or serve as PI (in case of grant).
• The program is open to all ranks.
• Applicants need not have experience applying for external funding, though some experience is not disqualifying.
• Although we recognize that teams and partners do apply for external funding, and we hope that participants will make important connections in the program, we request that scholars apply to this program as individuals.
• Applicants must have the support of their department chairs; we will check with chairs of all applicants.

• Please submit your CV and a statement of no more than two pages, single-spaced, documenting your research and publication record, an idea of the project for which you would like to seek outside funding, and some sense of why you wish to participate in the project.
• Please submit to fressh@ku.edu by August 12, 2025.
• Competitive applications will demonstrate a research vision, interest in external funding, some sense of the agencies/foundations to which they would like to apply, and a commitment to meeting the program expectations.
• Preference will be given to those who applied last year and were not selected.

We understand that this program, while it is intended to benefit participants’ research program, will also entail considerable time and effort. To that end, each participant will receive $3,000 in research funding contingent on program attendance, participation, and the submission of one major grant or fellowship application within 18 months of beginning the program. The funding will be distributed in two rounds: $1,000 upon completion of the training program and $2,000 upon the submission of a grant proposal. If participants do not meet the expectations listed below, they will not receive full funding.

To receive the first $1,000, participants are expected to:

1. Attend at least 80% of the formal workshops and activities.
2. Participate constructively in discussions and activities.
3. Complete all assignments in the program, including meeting with funding officers, reading others' proposals, and meeting milestones for proposal development.

To receive the additional $2,000, participants are expected to:

4. Complete steps 1, 2, and 3.  
5. Submit an approved external funding proposal through KU within approximately 18 months of the start of the FRESSH program or as close to that deadline as possible, depending on the grant/fellowship.
6. Complete program evaluation and provide feedback for future programs.

Please communicate with program officers (tswelch@ku.edu, zhang@ku.edu, or fressh@ku.edu) about any circumstances that might prevent you from participating in all parts of the program.

Please email fressh@ku.edu with any questions.  

All details here: https://collegedean.ku.edu/fressh