VPDoR Propel Grant FY27
Internal — Stanford University only
VPDoR Propel Grant FY27 supports Stanford faculty teams with strategic proposal development to strengthen collaborative proposals for unusually large or complex external funding opportunities.
Funder: Stanford University
Due Dates: Rolling (year-round applications) | At least four months before sponsor deadline (recommended)
Funding Amounts: Small: up to $7,500 for up to 6 months; Large: $7,501–$50,000 for up to 12 months; $50,000 project cap
Summary: Supports Stanford faculty teams with proposal development activities that strengthen collaborative proposals for unusually large or complex external funding opportunities.
Key Information: Proposals must already be submittable; School of Medicine applicants must include a co-PI from another Stanford school.
Description
Propel Grants support the final push on collaborative proposals for external funding opportunities that are unusually ambitious for the applicant’s discipline. Managed by the Stanford Research Development Office (RDO), a unit within VPDoR, the program funds activities that make an already submittable proposal stronger—not work needed to make it ready for submission. It does not fund research itself or routine proposal preparation.
Supported activities include expert draft review or mock review panels, specialist or technical consultants, structured planning workshops for governance or integration, and targeted analysis reinforcing a key claim. Fit depends on the external opportunity’s scale, team complexity, integrated structure, or sponsor requirements relative to disciplinary norms. An innovative research project targeting a standard grant mechanism is outside the program’s scope.
