The Office of the Vice President for Research is pleased to announce a streamlined 2023 ASPIRE funding program request for proposals (RFP). Since it was founded in 2012 the ASPIRE program has evolved and changed, and the 2023 funding year will be punctuated by significant program changes.

As in past years of the ASPIRE program, tenure-track and tenured faculty on all campuses will be eligible to apply for 2023 ASPIRE funding to support meritorious research projects. But ASPIRE 2023 will have several key changes:

• ASPIRE 2023 will not include the traditional funding tracks. All responsive 2023 ASPIRE proposals will be reviewed as part of one funding competition.
• ASPIRE 2023 will prioritize funding support for early-career faculty (within 10 years of completing their terminal degree) who intend to pursue subsequent extramural funding.
• Faculty who received an ASPIRE I award in the last two years (2021 or 2022) are not eligible to receive an ASPIRE award in 2023.
• Eligible faculty members may only submit one ASPIRE proposal for the 2023 funding cycle.
• ASPIRE 2023 projects may be funded up to $15,000.

Complete details about applying for ASPIRE are available in the ASPIRE 2023 RFP (pdf), and all relevant templates, etc., are available on the ASPIRE program page. ASPIRE 2023 applications are due via USCeRA before 5:00 p.m., on Thursday, February 16, 2023.

To ensure faculty members who are interested in applying for a 2023 ASPIRE award have all of the information they need, the Office of the Vice President will offer Q&A webinars in the coming weeks. Interested faculty are encouraged to sign up here to be notified as soon as the sessions are announced.

For questions about ASPIRE, please contact Beth Herron or Julie Morris with the Research and Grant Development Office, bherron@mailbox.sc.edu or jamorris@mailbox.sc.edu.

17 November 2022