Discoveries in Safety Grants

Discoveries in Safety Grants fund research across a number of safety science focus areas, as directed by our institutes. These focus areas span chemical safety, digital safety, electrochemical safety, fire safety, materials discovery, and research experiences and education. Specific topic areas are announced through notices of funding opportunity at the beginning of each grant cycle.

Discoveries in Safety Grants are competitive grants that fund research up to $200,000 USD per year for up to three years. Grant funding is provided through cost-reimbursement. Please reference each grant’s notice of funding opportunity for more specific information on grant structure.

Once notices of funding opportunity are released at the beginning of each grant cycle, applicants will be asked to submit a brief letter of intent (LOI) outlining their proposed research. LOIs will then be reviewed, and a selection of applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal. Invited applicants will then submit full proposals, which will be reviewed by a committee, and grantees will be selected.

Both letters of intent and full proposal submissions will be made through ProposalCentral. Additional submission instructions will accompany funding opportunity announcements, and any questions or technical issues utilizing the system should be directed to ProposalCentral’s support team.

Most Discoveries in Safety Grants are open to a wide range of research-conducting organizations, including institutions of higher education, non-profit, and for-profit organizations. However, please reference each grant’s notice of funding opportunity for more specific information on eligibility requirements.

Letters of intent (LOI) can be submitted upon announcement of each funding opportunity, prior to the LOI deadline described in the notice of funding opportunity (NOFO). Notification of acceptance and advancement to the full proposal stage of the application process will be provided before the start date of the full proposal application period. Any applicants who are not invited to submit a full proposal will be notified by email before the full proposal application period begins. Grantees will be selected and notified within approximately eight weeks following the full proposal deadline. Please see additional details on key dates listed in the NOFO.

Yes, a principal investigator may submit multiple applications addressing the different focus areas of a funding opportunity. However, only one application will be awarded per principal investigator.

Applicants cannot edit their applications after they have been submitted. If an issue occurs, such as an application component requiring an update, please contact the Office of Partnerships, Extramural Research, and Administration at partnerships@ul.org. A request to withdraw a proposal from consideration can be made at any time through ProposalCentral.

Letters of intent (LOI) will be reviewed by internal committees of UL Research Institutes researchers, while full proposals will be reviewed by both UL Research Institutes researchers and external reviewers. Acceptance or rejection of the LOI will be communicated to the principal investigator before the start date of the full proposal application period. Decisions on full proposals will be communicated to the principal investigator approximately eight weeks after the full proposal deadline.

Once grant recipients are announced, the grantee will be provided with the next steps in the process.

No, UL Research Institutes and its affiliates do not accept any legal obligation.

It is UL Research Institutes’ policy to cap the overhead costs charged by such organizations at 25% of modified total direct costs. Salaries, benefits, materials and supplies, travel, other services, and subawards are direct costs for which overhead may generally be charged. See the complete policy for direct cost eligibility.

Contact information for the Discoveries in Safety Grants team can be found in the “Contacts” section of the notice of funding opportunity. Any questions that are not submitted within the question period will be answered at the discretion of UL Research Institutes.

Please join our mailing list to be notified of future funding opportunities when they are announced. All future calls for proposals from UL Research Institutes will be posted on the Discoveries in Safety Grants webpage. UL Research Institutes will also notify institutions that have previously applied for a Discoveries in Safety Grants program grant about any future opportunities.

Yes, there is no limit to the number of times a principal investigator can reapply.