UW Research

Royalty Research Fund (RRF)

The Royalty Research Fund (RRF) is a competitive awards program that provides research support to University of Washington faculty. The RRF is funded by royalty and licensing fee income generated by the University’s technology transfer program. The RRF has been offered twice a year since 1992. In 1994, the RRF Scholar option was added to provide one quarter of release time for faculty with full teaching loads to engage in concentrated scholarly activities. The RRF welcomes proposals with budgets up to $40,000. Approximately $1M is awarded per round. The success rate for applicants averages 25%.

Purpose

The purpose of the RRF is to advance new directions in faculty research and contribute in substantive ways to the health, creativity, and productivity of the research ecosystem as defined by the University’s Vision Statement: “We discover timely solutions to the world’s most complex problems and enrich the lives of people throughout our community, the state of Washington, the nation and the world.”

Proposals must demonstrate a high probability of generating important new creative activities or scholarly understandings, new scholarly materials or resources, significant data or information, or essential instrumentation resources that are likely to significantly advance the reputation of the university, lead to external funding, or lead to the development of a new technology.

Deadlines & How to Apply

Spring Round

  • Submissions are due 5:00 pm on the first Monday in March
  • Zoom office hours will be scheduled in February. Review the FAQs.
  • Awards will be announced by June 15

Autumn Round

  • Submissions are due 5:00 pm the last Monday in September
  • Awards will be announced by January 15

See the Application Instructions.

Proposal Review Process

Eligible proposals are reviewed by UW faculty members in four subcommittees that recommend proposals for funding to the Office of Research, which makes final funding decisions. These subcommittees are organized around general areas of research. While the RRF Program Chair attempts to maintain breadth in the areas of expertise represented on the subcommittees, expertise will vary from round to round. No reviews from external experts (that is, UW researchers who do not serve on the RRF review committee) are solicited. Consequently, it is imperative for PIs to use language in their proposals that is accessible and not dependent on any particular subject matter expertise. Review of the committee membership is recommended but, of course, lobbying committee members on behalf of any proposal outside of the application process is not permitted. Committee members evaluate proposals based on explicit criteria:

  • The suitability of the proposal to advance UW’s Vision and Values and the goals of the RRF.
  • The merit of the proposal.
  • The capability of the investigator(s), technical soundness of the proposed approach, and likelihood of the successful completion of the proposed research.

Guided by the Program Chair, committee members meet to discuss the most competitive proposals and select which to recommend for funding. Applicants receive brief review comments within a few weeks of award announcement. These comments are a summary of the committee discussion and are not attributable to any individual committee member.

Questions