FAQ

Franco Institute grants and fellowships support faculty endeavors across the arts, humanities, and social sciences, from the initial formation of research questions and teams to dissemination through conferences, publications, performances, and more. We offer services to help faculty develop competitive external funding proposals and plan academic events.

The Franco Institute does not fund course development, teaching initiatives, textbooks, book launches, book manuscript workshops, or festschriften.

Faculty with primary appointments in the College of Arts & Letters can visit the Franco Institute’s faculty fellowships and grants page.

The Franco Institute works closely with ND Foundation Relations and ND Research to identify and support faculty in the College of Arts & Letters who are thinking of applying for external grants and fellowships. Interested faculty can visit the institute’s external fellowships & grants page or contact Kevin Gallin, assistant director of research development.

No. For post-doctoral support in the College of Arts & Letters, please visit the Postdoctoral Fellowship Program and the Graduate School’s Office of Grants and Fellowships.

No. Franco Institute funding is available to all regular, full-time faculty with a primary appointment in the College of Arts & Letters. Faculty remain eligible for most Franco Institute grants for two years after transitioning to emeritus status. Visiting, term, part-time, and concurrently appointed faculty are ineligible.

In most cases, yes, provided they are regular, full-time faculty with a primary appointment in the College of Arts & Letters. Franco faculty fellowships are limited to tenure-line faculty members, and TPAC faculty members require prior approval before applying to be a principal investigator on a Franco-funded Research Innovation Collaborative. Note that assistant and associate professors receive priority consideration for Franco Institute publication grants.

Some of our funding programs, such as Franco faculty fellowships, large research grants, and Research Innovation Collaboratives, have set deadlines. We also accept applications on a rolling basis while funding remains available for programs including small research grants, small Henkels grants, and the annual research theme grant. All funding programs require that faculty apply at least one month in advance of any planned travel or sponsored activity, and some programs, including large Henkels grants, require that applications are submitted further in advance of any sponsored activity. We do not accept any applications from June 1 to July 15. Check each funding program’s call for proposals on the website for detailed information.

Please contact Kevin Gallin (kgallin@nd.edu), the Franco Institute’s assistant director of faculty research development.

The Franco Institute supports the research and creative endeavors of current Arts & Letters undergraduates and graduate students (those enrolled in Ph.D., DMA, and MFA programs). Unless otherwise specified, most grants are available to undergraduates with a major or minor within the College of Arts & Letters.

The Institute offers a variety of academic year and summer funding opportunities. Some grants focus on supporting scholarship on particular themes and topics, while others are dedicated to supporting general scholarly and creative endeavors.

Please note that stipends, living expenses, and childcare are not covered in research costs.

With the exception of the DaVinci Grant, Franco Institute grants are available only to students with a major or minor in the College of Arts & Letters.

Graduate students in Arts & Letters can visit the Franco Institute’s graduate funding page.

Undergraduate students in Arts & Letters can visit the Franco Institute’s undergraduate funding page.

• The following grants all have set deadlines: American Dream, DaVinci, Summer Comprehensive, and Graduate Student Research Award (GSRA).

• The following grants have rolling deadlines between September 1 and May 31 and will accept applications while funding remains available: Sciola, Research and Materials, Senior Thesis, and Graduate Creative and Performing Arts Grants.

• The Franco Institute recommends that students submit their applications six (6) weeks out for international travel and four (4) weeks out for all other projects.

Please note that there may be special deadlines for seniors applying for Franco Institute funding during their final year of study.

Please contact Lindsay Paturalski (lpatura2@nd.edu), the Franco Institute’s assistant director of graduate and undergraduate research.

We’re here to help you bring your academic events to life! Our conference and events team assists with planning and executing dozens of conferences each year—both right here at Notre Dame and across the University's 12 global locations. We can partner with you on budget development, materials preparation, facility and catering logistics, and day-of event management.

For more information, visit the Institute’s conference and events page.

Please note that each conference and event is unique. For further clarification, please schedule a consultation via our Calendly link.

Yes, it is! We want to help ensure your application is as strong as possible. Before you apply, please connect with the appropriate team member to chat through your ideas:

• For domestic events, please schedule a consultation with Kayla Jewell.
• For international events, please schedule a consultation with Alicia Sachau.

All of our event funding is channeled through our established grant programs rather than direct, ad-hoc co-sponsorships. We encourage you to look through our established grant programs to find the best fit for your project.

Because large-scale events require significant lead time, we highly recommend submitting your application 12 months in advance of your proposed conference date. At a minimum, applications must be submitted at least 10 months before the event.

We provide full day-of coordination only in specific circumstances. Please check our Level 3 Support Tier guidelines to see if your event's scope includes on-site staffing.

We certainly can. Building a solid financial roadmap takes a little time—usually a minimum of 45 minutes depending on how complex your event is. To make the most of our time together, please fill out our event support request with as many details as you have so far, and we'll hit the ground running during our consultation.

Our team can check local hotel availability and gather options for you, though hotel contracts will ultimately need to be reviewed and signed by you as the faculty host.

For flights, we can connect you directly with Anthony Travel, the University’s preferred agency. They can book travel using a FOAPAL directly, which is highly recommended because it saves your guests from paying out of pocket and avoids the reimbursement process entirely.

While we can't navigate the formal immigration channels directly, we are happy to draft and facilitate official institutional invitation letters that your guests can use as proof of participation for their applications.

To ensure everyone is reimbursed promptly, University policy requests that all travel expenses be submitted within 30 days of your event's conclusion. Who processes them depends on where your event takes place:

• International Events: If your international conference is supported by a large Henkels grant, the Franco staff will gladly manage and process those travel reimbursements for you and your guests.

• Domestic Events: For conferences hosted on campus or domestically, travel reimbursements are processed by your home department’s administrative support team.

Yes! Please see this list of commonly used local vendors.

We can manage vendor payments in limited, specific, and pre-arranged scenarios. Take a look at our Level 3 Support Tier to see if your event qualifies for this level of hands-on financial management.

For general questions about Event Planning and Facilities as they relate to Arts & Letters, please see the Faculty & Staff Resources page on the A&L intranet.

For more information about on-campus and domestic conferences, please contact Kayla Jewell, Event Specialist, at kjewell2@nd.edu.

Schedule a consultation with Kayla.

For more information about international conferences and special events, please contact Alicia Sachau, Assistant Director of Scholarly Conferences and Events, at alicia.sachau@nd.edu.

Schedule a consultation with Alicia

The Franco Institute invites anyone interested in receiving updates about the institute, its programs, and its events to sign up for the monthly newsletter.

Local and national community partners interested in the institute’s Undergraduate Public Humanities Internship (UPHI) can learn more about the internship.

The Franco Institute invites you to contact Jake Schepers, Assistant Director of Outreach and Research Partnerships, using the institute’s Contact Form.

Please contact Jake Schepers, the Franco Institute’s assistant director of outreach and research partnerships, at jscheper@nd.edu.