Texas Tech University

Funding Resources

Internal Funding

To assist faculty in securing competitive research funding, the OR&I has created a number of internal support programs meant for Texas Tech University faculty who have exhausted their startup and have few resources to apply for external funding.

The Office of Research & Innovation strongly encourages faculty to utilize all start-up funding specifically provided during the first three-four years of hire to jumpstart research programs before applying to these programs.

Applications and guidelines for the programs listed below are available at https://ttu.infoready4.com/#vpr

Please contact Karen Michael (karen.michael@ttu.edu) for questions about the below programs.

STEM Research Assistance Program

Previously called the Proposal Assistance Program. This opportunity provides research funding up to $8,000 to initiate new lines of research (Research Seed Funding) or resubmissions of previously declined proposals (Proposal Resubmission) for STEM projects. Applications for FY26  are open here.

Scholarship Catalyst Program (SCP)

Sponsored by the Offices of the President, Provost, and Research & Innovation to promote research, scholarship, and creative endeavors of faculty in the Arts, Humanities, or Social Sciences.  Please visit our InfoReady page to apply for the 2025 Scholarship Catalyst Program starting in August 2025. 

Open Access Publication Initiative 

Helps defray the cost of open access publication fees and expedite the dissemination of research findings. Awards are typically first-come, first-served and limited to $1,000 per publication, per faculty member, per academic year. Funds may be used for publication fees for journal articles and book chapters. 

Please note that the application states "Generally, awards will be granted on a first-come, first served basis until expended but priority will be given to faculty who have not received funding from the Open Access Publication Initiative in the past three years." If you have received this award in the most recent fiscal year, you are not guaranteed funding during the current fiscal year.

    • Applications are closed for Fall 2024/Spring 2025 funding, as the OAPI funds are fully expended. New funding will be available Sept. 1, 2025. *Please note invoices paid before Sept. 1, 2025 will not be accepted during the FY26 cycle.*

Many journals provide alternative open access publication options. If our funds are no longer available and you've been accepted to a hybrid OA journal, please consider contacting Heidi Winkler, Digital Services Librarian, at heidi.winkler@ttu.edu, for assistance in free, repository-based open access publication through Green Open Access.

Your manuscript must NOT:

Include any mandatory embargoes or other restrictions that limit or delay access OR
Be considered a predatory journal. Several ways to identify predatory journals are at the following websites (1) Spotting a Predatory Journal; and (2) Everything You Wanted to Know About Predatory Journals.

For assistance with selecting or evaluating open access journals, please contact Brian Quinn (806-834-2148, brian.quinn@ttu.edu). For questions about the OAPI process, contact Karen Michael at karen.michael@ttu.edu.

Faculty Travel Grants

Assists with costs associated with travel up to ($1,000) for faculty to conduct research or present at major prestigious conferences in their field of study. Applications are accepted each semester for travel during the following term. For 2025-2026, funding will be available for domestic and international travel.

Fall 2025 Travel Grant applications are open here. 

TTU Humanities Center/Office of Research & Innovation Working Groups

Working Groups are intended to fund interdisciplinary projects that support innovative thinking and a transdisciplinary research culture at Texas Tech.  Working Groups can request up to a total of $7,500 to be distributed over the course of three years. Learn more at the Humanities Center website 

Internal Funding FAQs

Internal Funding Eligibility

The Office of Research & Innovation has made additional funds available for initiatives supporting the scholarly endeavors of our permanent, full-time research faculty at Texas Tech University. Eligible Faculty, as noted in OP 32.17.2.a-e,i, are categorized with the following faculty professor titles:

Tenured and Tenure Track Professors, Permanent, Full Time: Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor

Non-Tenured Professors, Permanent, Full Time: Assistant Professor of Practice, Associate Professor of Practice, Professor of Practice, Research Professor, Research Associate Professor, and Research Assistant Professor

Internal Funding from OR&I is not available to students (Undergraduate or Graduate), visiting scholars and post-doctoral scholars, researchers from other universities, and research or teaching personnel who do not hold professor titles (e.g., instructor, research aide, research assistant, research assistant-external, research associate, research scientist, senior research associate, and any other similar non-exempt research and teaching titles). Ineligible applications will be returned from our InfoReady portal.

Extension Requests

Award recipients for project-based programs, such as the Scholarship Catalyst Program and the Research Assistance Program, may request one extension not exceeding one year from the original project deadline. Apply for a one-time extension at https://ttu.infoready4.com/#vpr.

Award Recipients for single-use funds, such as Open Access Publication Initiative and Faculty Travel Grants, are not eligibile to receive extensions to award funds. Please contact Josie Solis (josie.solis@ttu.edu) if you are unable to use your award funds for these funding programs.

Progress Reports

OR&I utilizes the InfoReady Progress Reporting module to collect updates and scholarly outcomes from our Internal Funding. When activated, links to progress reports with assigned due dates will be sent from support@inforeadyreview.com for Scholarship Catalyst Program, Research Assistance Program, and Faculty Travel Grant awards.

Please visit https://ttu.infoready4.com/CompetitionSpace/#vpr and select the "Progress Reports" tab along the top of the page to view active progress reports for your awards.

Disqualified and Returned Applications

Please note all application requirements when applying for our Internal Funding. Applications missing key information or additional documents, submitted by ineligible students or staff, as well as not adhering to required formats will not be reviewed for funding consideration. Examples of missing documents include: proposal narratives, a lack of conference acceptance or justification for pending acceptance, a lack manuscript acceptance confirmation and accepted manuscript copies displaying author information.

Open Access Publication Initiative Common Questions

Applications for our Open Access Publication Initiative are accepted on a rolling basis as long as allocated funding remains available. Once the allotted fiscal budget is expended, applications will no longer be accepted for the remaining FY and the application link will be removed from our InfoReady site. The application will reopen on https://ttu.infoready4.com/#vpr on Sept. 1 with the beginning of each new FY.

Applications for funds should be submitted only after the article or book chapter has been accepted for publication, as funds are intended to be disbursed quickly to cover the cost of a publication fee. Funds are available for three months following the granting of the award. For Example, if a faculty member is awarded funds on February 8, the funds are available until May 8.

Publication fees paid prior to Sept. 1 or more than one (1) month prior to the application date cannot be reimbursed with a new fiscal year budget (Sept. 1-Aug. 31). For example, an invoice for an accepted paper paid on Aug. 5 cannot be reimbursed with an OAPI application submitted on Sept. 1 with the new fiscal year.

Internal Funding and Internal Faculty Awards Calendar

Please visit https://ttu.infoready4.com/#vpr to apply for these Internal Funding opportunities and Internal Faculty Award nominations.

Printable Calendar

Internal Funding Opportunities

Funding Opportunity Applications Open  Deadline
FY26 Open Access Publication Initiative  Sept. 1 Rolling: Applications close when budget expended
2026 Scholarship Catalyst Program Early August Monday, Oct. 14, 2025
2026 Spring Faculty Travel Grants Early September Monday, Oct. 27, 2025
2026 Summer Faculty Travel Grants Early February Friday, April 2, 2026
2026 Research Assistance Program Late March Monday, June 29, 2026
2026 Fall Faculty Travel Grants Early May Monday, July 21, 2026

Internal Faculty Awards

Faculty Award Applications Open Deadline
Chancellor’s Council Distinguished Research Award Early August Monday, Sept. 15, 2025 
Barnie E. Rushing, Jr. Faculty Distinguished Research Award  Early September Monday, Nov. 3, 2025
President’s Excellence in Commercialization Award Early December Monday, Feb. 9, 2026
 

Please Consider Nominating Faculty for these External Awards

Office of Research & Innovation

© 2025  Texas Tech University Jun 17, 2025 1:39 PM