Pilot Awards

Purpose

The Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention offers pilot project funding for scholars from across the University of Michigan campus to propose transformative solutions to reducing firearm injuries in the U.S. Eligible applicants are research, clinical, and tenure track faculty from any school, college, or institute on the University of Michigan Ann Arbor campus.

The Institute pilot awards seek to build capacity and catalyze impactful scholarship by funding 2-5 projects. These short-term projects, ranging from 3-months to 1-year are funded between $10,000 – $50,000 per award and granted to proposals with the greatest potential to advance our understanding of firearm-related harms and their prevention. Strong consideration will be given to innovative projects that promise a significant return on investment. Applicants may be invited to attend a meeting with Institute leadership to finalize the funding of the proposal. Applicants will be asked to provide a final report within 60 days of project end that describes findings, products, and next steps.

We encourage proposals that span a variety of scholarly activities, including but not limited to: 

• Pilot support for external funding grant submissions.
• Support for writing books, book chapters or other scholarly documents.
• Support for policy brief or white paper research and writing.
• Summer salary or student support for firearm injury related projects.
• Creative and artistic practices.
• Integrating a firearm analysis into ongoing projects.
• Support for prototyping innovative technologies.
• Community engaged partnerships.

About IFIP

Launched as a University of Michigan Presidential Initiative in 2019 and a University-wide Institute in 2021, the U-M Institute for Firearm Injury Prevention engages the breadth of expertise across U-M, with input from nonacademic stakeholders, to generate knowledge and advance solutions that will decrease firearm injury across the United States – while respecting the rights of responsible, law-abiding firearm owners. In order to accomplish this mission, the U-M Institute of Firearm Injury Prevention:

• • Generates actionable research to reduce and prevent firearm injury and death
  • Develops innovative evidence-based programs and scholarship
  • Collaborates with communities most affected by firearm injury
  • Catalogs and mobilizes relevant data to inform new solutions
  • Evaluates new and existing policy solutions