Dear Research Enterprise Colleagues,
We are pleased to announce a new enhancement to the Intramural Grants Program (IGP) beginning in FY27 that provides an opportunity to significantly expand the impact of institutional research investments.
The existing IGP program remains unchanged. Projects meeting eligibility criteria and selected for funding following peer review will continue to receive intramural awards of up to $30,000.
As an additional, optional opportunity, AURI will now offer an Impact Enhancement Award for eligible projects. Under this enhancement, the investigator will be offered the opportunity to commit up to $15,000 of unrestricted funding (e.g., Research Incentive Account or Residual Balance Account) that will be 1:1 matched by AURI up to an additional $15,000. When combined with the standard IGP award of up to $30,000, this enhancement can increase total project funding to as much as $60,000, effectively doubling the institutional investment in the research.
Participation in this enhancement opportunity is entirely voluntary; it does not influence the IGP application’s peer review process, nor is it required for consideration of funding through the Intramural Grant Program. As stated above, IGP applications will continue to compete for and receive standard IGP funding (up to $30,000) regardless of whether an investigator elects to participate in the optional Impact Enhancement Award process.
The Impact Enhancement Award is intended to encourage strategic investment in high-potential research projects. By leveraging unrestricted research funds that may already be available to investigators, Augusta University can collectively expand support for promising research, generate stronger preliminary data, enhance competitiveness for future extramural funding opportunities, and accelerate research outcomes.
Although the July 15 IGP funding opportunity announcement has already been distributed, the review committee will consider and honor eligible Impact Enhancement Award commitments submitted as part of the current competition, as well as future IGP cycles. Investigators interested in participating should indicate their commitment within the application materials so it can be considered during the review process.
Additional program details are available in the FY27 IGP funding announcement.
Thank you for your continued commitment to advancing research and scholarship at Augusta University.
