Graduate Research Grant Application

Each year VCUarts awards several Graduate Research Grants to support students’ creative practice, research and scholarly activities relevant to their academic programs and professional goals.

Students who have achieved candidacy in a VCUarts graduate program are eligible to apply for awards up to $2,500. Grant recipients must be enrolled during the Spring 2024 semester in order to remain eligible for funds. Each student may receive no more than one award per student during degree completion.

Please note that the 2024 application cycle is closed.

Expenses can include materials or supplies (disposable goods), equipment (reusable goods), and shipping. Graduate research grant funds can be used to hire actors or other participants in a live or recorded actualization of the work (not for studio assistance/labor). Include a budget justification for why collaborators are necessary and the rationale for the requested pay rate. All payments to individuals must be processed by VCU; you will not be reimbursed for payments made to individuals. Expenses incurred prior to the date of the award are not allowable.

Deadline to apply for Spring 2024 grants is 11:59pm on Wednesday, November 15, 2023. 

Grant awards will be announced on Friday, December 8, 2023.

Grants awarded need to be used prior to expiration on May 31, 2024.


To apply, complete the online application in the VCU Scholarship HUB (AcademicWorks) here, which includes a prompt to upload a single PDF according to the specifications and content categories listed below:

Format specifications: 12-point font, single spaced, no more than 9 pages total; your name in the header at the top of each page; page numbers on the lower right corner of each page.

  • pages 1-2: project narrative
  • page 3: timeline and budget
  • page 4-5: abbreviated cv (professional activities and awards)
  • pages 6-9: work samples

Project narrative, approximately 750 words: Describe the proposed project, including an explanation of your conceptual approach or research theory and methodology, as well as an account of how the proposed project advances your studio practice or research trajectory. Explain how your proposed work contributes to your field—keeping in mind that your proposal will be reviewed by the Graduate Studies Committee (consisting of the graduate program directors from all VCUarts graduate programs). Delineate how the grant award will be used.
Note: A project narrative is not the same as an artist statement!

Timeline of activities: Provide a rationale for the proposed timeline. List specific dates for activities described in the project narrative. If your research involves live human subjects, you must submit your proposal for review to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) prior to submitting your proposal to the Graduate Studies Committee. Please indicate when the approval process was or will be completed.

Budget: Provide a straightforward detailed list of how grant funds would be spent. Clearly indicate the total requested funds. Please do not list expenses for which grant funds will not be used. Before including research travel funds in the budget, refer to U.S. Department of State Travel Advisories for your intended destination.

  • Expenses can include materials or supplies (disposable goods), equipment (reusable goods), and shipping. Graduate research grant funds can be used to hire actors or other participants in a live or recorded actualization of the work (not for studio assistance/labor). Include a budget justification for why collaborators are necessary and the rationale for the requested pay rate. All payments to individuals must be processed by VCU; you will not be reimbursed for payments made to individuals.
  • Expenses incurred prior to the date of the award are not allowable.
  • Grant funds cannot be used to purchase equipment or software that is already available to students in the department or school. Equipment purchased with grant funds will be property of VCUarts.

List of professional activities and awards, up to two pages: e.g., exhibitions, performances, publications, conference presentations

Work samples: Studio and design students may include up to eight work samples. Images may be pasted into the pdf; sound or moving image files (each of which is no longer than 2 minutes) may be provided via a link to Vimeo or SoundCloud. Students submitting proposals to support written research may provide a three-page writing sample as well as images illustrating the subject of their research.


Review process and criteria

All applications are reviewed by a committee consisting of faculty from each of the VCUarts graduate programs. Reviewers rank the applications based on the following:

  • clarity of the proposal narrative, timeline and budget;
  • how the proposed project advances the student’s studio practice or research trajectory;
  • significance of the proposed project to the student’s area of study, as described in the project narrative;
  • quality of work samples

Awards are competitive; students are encouraged to work with their advisors as they prepare their applications.