Overview:
Rice University’s Office of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry (OURI) annually awards Research Rich Courses and Curriculum (R2C2) grants to individuals and academic units involved in undergraduate teaching. R2C2 grants are intended to financially support the development of inquiry-rich courses or curricula within a department major, area major, or interdisciplinary major/minor. Awarded R2C2 grants can be used to support new initiatives that fill a curricular gap, enhance an existing departmental initiative, assess a program, major, and/or related curriculum, or facilitate exercises in an individual course. Proposals should make clear how inquiry-based experiences will both be made accessible to all students within a course/major and promote the inclusion of diverse learners in research skill development.
Funding Levels
OURI’s three types of R2C2 grants differ based on funding amounts and scale of proposed interventions. OURI’s three types of R2C2 grants are:
- Level 1: up to $1,000
- Level 2: up to $4,000
- Level 3: up to $20,000
Funding Deadlines
Level 1 Proposal Deadline: Rolling
Levels 2 & 3 Proposal Deadline: April 1, 2026, 5:00p CST
Levels 2 & 3 Award Announcement: May 15, 2026
Level Descriptions
Level 1
Level 1 R2C2 grants generally operate within individual courses and can be used to initiate and/or implement research in an undergraduate course. This can take numerous shapes including (but not limited to): development of inquiry-rich pedagogy changes to an undergraduate course; research activities in an individual class; implementation of a Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE); or facilitation of outside research into classroom-based teaching activities. The duration of Level 1 R2C2 grants is typically one semester.
Level 2
Level 2 R2C2 grants, formerly known as Planning Grants, are intended to fund assessment of a unit’s experiential inquiry and research within undergraduate curricula. Level 2 grants are for units that need time, resources, and support to evaluate curricula and identify gaps in the department’s undergraduate inquiry and research scaffolding. Level 2 R2C2 grants include substantive and systematic evaluations of a unit’s undergraduate curricula with a curriculum map according to OURI’s template as a final product. Read more about curriculum maps here. The duration of Level 2 R2C2 grants is one academic year and they are typically only awarded once to a department or program.
Level 3
Level 3 R2C2 grants aim to facilitate larger, systematic, and sustainable changes to a department/unit’s undergraduate curriculum and/or course offerings. Level 3 R2C2 grant funded proposals can take multiple forms including (but not limited to): single course development or revision including activities with larger scope or scale than permitted by a Level 1 or 2 grant; multi-course initiatives; coordinated efforts to promote undergraduate research across a department/unit’s curriculum; and synchronized attempts to redress identified needs/gaps in a department/unit’s curriculum.
As Level 3 R2C2 grants are larger in scope, scale, and funding, the proposed changes, initiatives, and practices should also be more sweeping. Level 3 R2C2 grant applicants are required to submit a completed, up-to-date Inquiry Curriculum map with their grant application. Curriculum maps should identify the strengths and weaknesses of a unit’s curricular inquiry and research scaffolding and provide justification for the proposed changes. More information on systematic evaluation of unit curricula, departmental assessment, and templates for curriculum maps can be found on OURI’s website. The duration of Level 3 R2C2 grants is one academic year; however, projects that require additional time for implementation or further development may apply for support in subsequent years.
Eligibility:
Proposals are eligible based on the following:
- All R2C2 grants can be awarded to either individuals or teams as needed to implement proposed changes to course, curriculum, or departmental procedures. R2C2 grants that involve multiple courses must include all relevant faculty on the team.
- Departments/units may submit one R2C2 grant at Level 2 or above per academic year.
- Individuals/teams submitting Level 3 R2C2 grants must meet with OURI staff at least once when drafting and before submitting application materials. To schedule a meeting, please contact Lexi Walston (lw160@rice.edu).
Allowable Costs:
Grants will be awarded for the 2026-2027 academic year and cannot be automatically carried over or renewed for a second year. Examples of allowable costs include:
- Course Development and Implementation: materials, supplies, or software; undergraduate or graduate TAs; honoraria; and summer salaries for NTT faculty for curriculum development.
- Off-Campus Learning: student travel, meals, and lodging associated with off-campus learning; transportation and meetings associated with off-campus partners.
- Graduate Teaching Assistants: graduate students to support development, implementation, and assessment of experiential inquiry and research into curriculum.
- Assessment: tools; student incentives.
Funding cannot be used to cover overhead or indirect costs, academic and/or summer term salaries for TT faculty, international travel, or capital projects.
Review Process:
Level 1 R2C2 grants ($1,000 or less) can be submitted at any time and are reviewed on a rolling basis.
Levels 2 & 3 R2C2 grants must be submitted by April 1, 2026, at 5p CST. They will be evaluated by OURI staff and its Advisory Committee. Relevant deans and department/unit leadership will be consulted in making final award decisions when necessary.
How to Apply:
Proposal materials should be prepared using OURI’s student learning outcomes and resources to support inquiry-based curriculum development. R2C2 grant proposals must be submitted as a single pdf document to Lexi Walston (lw160@rice.edu).
All proposals should include the following documents:
1. A project description of no more than 3 pages (in 12-point type) that includes:
- Identification of individual or team with appropriate role(s) and demonstrated commitment to lead the proposed change, as well as a plan to carry out regular assessment of the program.
- Statement of proposed changes and how they will support inquiry-rich undergraduate experiences.
- Evidence demonstrating a commitment to research-rich undergraduate curricular change and assessment.
2. A budget indicating how requested funds address proposed research initiatives and needs identified in the application.
Additional Components for Levels 2 & 3:
3. Inquiry Curriculum Map evaluating and assessing research and inquiry strengths and gaps within an undergraduate department/unit’s major, area major, or interdisciplinary major/minor should be included with the proposal (Level 3) or included as the deliverable of the proposal (Level 2). Level 3 grant proposals must situate proposed curricular changes in context of the Inquiry Curriculum map.
4. Letter of support from department/unit chair.
Selection Criteria:
Proposals will be assessed based on the following criteria.
All-Levels Proposal Criteria:
- Identification/inclusion of requisite individuals and/or team for implementing grant proposed initiatives.
- Impact of the proposed initiative on student learning outcomes and skills.
- Attention and commitment to addressing issues of access when developing inquiry activities within courses.
- Justification for proposed budget.
Additional Level 2 and 3 Proposal Criteria:
- Identification of a department leadership team comprised of tenured/tenure track and NTT faculty. Teams should have the necessary commitment and authority to lead undergraduate curricular assessment and carry out regular evaluation of the major program.
- Expressed commitment to include program learning outcomes published in the General Announcements aligned with OURI learning outcomes.
- Demonstrated engagement in developing/revising an inquiry-based curriculum map that identifies strengths and gaps in supporting research-rich student learning outcomes.
- Commitment to collaboration with OURI to learn about support for efforts to address identified gaps in the curriculum.
- Statement of existing departmental resources to support curricular change (e.g., funding, faculty time, materials).
- Plan to conduct baseline and annual assessments of learning outcomes using an OURI rubric.
Additional Level 3 Proposal Criteria:
- Innovation of curricular change.
- Plan for sustaining curricular changes beyond the grant award period (e.g., funding, faculty time, materials, departmental resources).
For questions about the application process, please contact Lexi Walston (lw160@rice.edu). We look forward to reading your proposal!
Access a pdf of the grant call here.