Funder: University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Due Dates (Anticipated): October 2027 (Application deadline)
Funding Amounts: Catalyst Spark: up to $10,000; Catalyst Accelerate: up to $75,000; one year of funding
Summary: Supports UNC-Chapel Hill faculty pursuing early-stage, high-risk research and scholarship with potential for discovery, societal impact, and larger funding opportunities.
Key Information: Projects must be unfunded or significantly different from existing funded work; supplemental and bridge funding are excluded.
Description
The Carolina Catalyst Fund is an internal funding program jointly supported by UNC-Chapel Hill’s Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and the Provost’s Office. Restructured from Creativity Hubs, it backs consequential ideas that are too preliminary or risky for conventional funding. The program welcomes all disciplines, including the humanities and arts, and seeks research and scholarship that expands human knowledge and enables societal progress.
Catalyst Spark supports feasibility testing, pilot work, convenings, preliminary data, and proof of concept. Catalyst Accelerate supports teams preparing to pursue major external funding within approximately 18 months. Special consideration goes to AI, machine learning, large-scale data infrastructure, engineering design, and translational approaches, as well as projects aligned with Carolina’s strategic research priorities. These approaches and alignments are not required.
