Funding for SoTL Research

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There are many options on how to identify and apply for funding to support your Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) projects. Finding the right option for you depends on your needs and your intentions for the grant. For example, you could apply for a large grant to cover all the various expenses associated with a project but you could also apply for several smaller grants, with each covering a particular portion or aspect of a project.

The key questions to consider when assessing whether to apply for a grant include:

  • What kind of funding do you need to move your project forward? (funding for course release, research or data gathering/analysis, specialized equipment, technology (software/hardware), professional development, etc.)
  • What is the purpose for the funding? (are you getting money, fellowship, salary, travel, etc.)
  • Who are your colleagues working in a similar area that you can connect with at U of T or at another institution?
  • What opportunities are available for collaboration? (pooling funding from across institutions can be effective)
  • Who can you reach out to for support locally, institutionally and beyond? (leveraging local resources, such as, for instance, educational technology support, can alleviate costs of acquiring equipment, software/hardware, etc.).

Explore the list below for various small and large grants that you could leverage to support your SoTL project.

Department Level Grants

In some instances, accessing smaller grants that are department specific may meet your needs. Grants at this level may be small, but they can contribute to your SoTL work in many ways such as:

  • covering the cost of a work-study student. The Department only needs to pay 30% of the hourly cost for the student and the university will cover the remaining 70%.
  • covering the cost of software/hardware you need for your project or contributing to the cost of equipment, especially if other members of a Department could access these resources.
  • contributing to professional development costs, such as professional development or specialized training, or travel money for a SoTL event (e.g., conference).

Division/Faculty Level Grants

Some divisions at the University of Toronto offer funding opportunities to assist you with a larger scale project such as a course redesign, the introduction of new technology into a course, and/or developing an online course. Consider connecting with colleagues in those divisions who are interested in the same research as this is a strategy that can promote the pooling of resources and create beneficial cross-disciplinary collaborations:

U of T Wide Grants

There are several institutional sources of funding to support faculty member’s teaching related projects:

External Sources of Funding

Did you know U of T has a grants database for faculty? Search using the keyword “teaching”:
http://www.research.utoronto.ca/faculty-and-staff/secure-research-funding/find-funding/