Research Challenge Grant
Research Challenge Grant supports West Virginia researchers in developing competitive proposals for research-focused NSF EPSCoR programs to strengthen the state’s research capacity.
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Funder: West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission Division of Science and Research
Due Dates: August 1, 2027, by 5 p.m. (Application deadline)
Funding Amounts: Up to $977,500 per award; $1,680,000 total FY28 program funding over a four-year grant cycle
Summary: Supports West Virginia researchers in developing competitive proposals for research-focused NSF EPSCoR programs, with a structure aligned to E-RISE.
Description
The Research Challenge Grant is administered by the STaR Division of the West Virginia Higher Education Policy Commission to increase the competitiveness of West Virginia proposals for research-focused EPSCoR programs. For FY28, its grant conditions and award structure have been revised to align with the National Science Foundation’s EPSCoR RII: E-RISE program, or EPSCoR Research Incubators for STEM Excellence.
Previous Research Challenge Grant awards prepared West Virginia-based researchers to compete for NSF EPSCoR Track-1 awards. Following the discontinuation of Track-1 and its partial replacement by E-RISE, the revised program continues this research-capacity mission through a four-year grant cycle.
