Destination Areas Project Proposal Information
Soliciting Proposals for Projects
The university is soliciting proposals for projects that are aligned with the Beyond Boundaries vision and that will achieve the strategic priorities in The Virginia Tech Difference: Advancing Beyond Boundaries.
Projects will target transdisciplinary discovery, learning, and outreach efforts that yield solutions to complex problems that advance the human condition. These projects should have a high likelihood of advancing Virginia Tech’s international leadership position in the area of interest, and be sustainably funded by external sponsors. This effort is intended to build upon and accelerate the progress of existing transdisciplinary communities of researchers. As the university actualizes the Beyond Boundaries vision, these project-based awards are designed to strengthen and deploy the expertise and assets that have been cultivated within the university to address compelling problems of global importance.
Project Expectations
In order to fulfill the university’s vision, proposed projects are expected to be transdisciplinary in nature and encompass the Beyond Boundaries themes of global engagement, distinctive programming that differentiates the excellence at Virginia Tech with innovative approaches to grand challenges, experiential learning, and leverage partnerships with non-university entities.
The Destination Areas Planning and Development Grants (Phase I) will be awarded a maximum amount of $50,000 and are expected to support team and project development over an approximately 4-month period. Funding is intended to support awardees in as they engage in a process that is designed to:
- better understand and articulate the strategic opportunities and additional resources (e.g., talent, facilities, equipment, partners, etc.) that would be needed to advance the project ideas further and fully realize longer-term project goals; and
- gauge the probability of success in achieving long-term project goals.
At the end of this initial funding period, selected awardees are expected to have a more fully formed project proposal and select awardees will be invited to participate in a second-level submission process that will require a comprehensive project proposal and budget request for more significant university resources, potentially including faculty positions.
Phase I Proposal Requirements
Proposal guidelines require submitting teams to present a long-term compelling vision, describe how that vision aligns with Beyond Boundaries goals and other university initiatives such as Research Frontiers and the Global Distinction initiative.
Successful proposals will articulate the transformative nature of the research and scholarship outlined and how it places Virginia Tech in the top tier of global institutions working to solve the problem identified.
All proposals are expected to address the key topics identified under Phase I below. Awardees are expected to use the funds to prepare a more complete project proposal that will be considered for Phase II funding. An overview of the criteria that will be expected for Phase II is outlined in the additional table.
The proposal review team, chaired by the Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation and the Dean of the Gradate School, will evaluate proposals based on the extent to which they have addressed the questions outlined.
Section Heading |
Criteria |
Key Questions that Need to Be Answered |
|---|---|---|
Compelling Problem Statement and Team Vision |
Brief overview of the complex problem, how transdisciplinary collaboration and unique, innovative approaches are currently being used to address the problem, and VT’s unique opportunity in this area. |
What is the complex problem and how will project outcomes impact the human condition? How does the project connect to the university’s goal to advance impactful research, scholarship, and creative activity associated with a globally distinct land grant? What evidence does the team have for existing VT leadership in this area? If successful in attaining a Phase II award, how will the university investment accelerate and advance the discovery efforts so that VT’s distinct leadership in this area is well known? |
Project Team and Activities |
Describe the team leaders and team members |
Who serves as the team leader and who is the team comprised of (no more than 15 team members)? Note: include college/department/unit affiliation in appendix table if necessary. How is Virginia Tech and the identified team uniquely positioned to lead in addressing this problem and what evidence does the team have to support prior collaboration? Note: Also include examples of internal and external support already attained. |
Opportunity for external funding and support |
Describe what external resources the team expects to secure in the current funding landscape. |
How can external sponsorships and funding lead to sustainable growth and eminence in this area? What specific sponsors and funding mechanisms will the team leverage to support achieving its vision in the current internal and external funding landscape? What specific external sponsorship opportunities will the team pursue, and what resources does the team need to develop the relevant proposals? |
Use of Phase I funding |
Describe how the $50,000 award will be used to support proof of concept activities for Phase II award | How will the $50,000 award will be allocated to support team activities that will allow for a Phase II proposal submission? Note: funds need to be spent by February 15, 2026. |
Additional Proposal Details
Email proposals to Catherine Amelink, Associate Vice Provost, Office of the Executive Vice Provost. Proposals are due by October 15, 2025 at midnight EST and should be submitted as a single PDF attachment. All submissions will receive confirmation of receipt by email.
If project teams have questions about the solicitation and/or need additional information about related university initiatives, email Catherine Amelink, Associate Vice Provost, Office of the Executive Vice Provost.
Phase II Proposal Expectations
As noted above the Phase I awardees will be expected to use the Phase I Destination Areas Planning and Development Grant to prepare a proposal for Phase II funding. In order for teams to understand what will be expected in Phase II the table below has an overview of the criteria that will be included in the Phase II proposals that will be expected to be submitted by February 16, 2026 with selections announced by March 28.
Phase II submissions will be invited from the Phase I awardees
Overview |
Criteria |
Key Questions that Need to Be Answered |
|---|---|---|
Project Description and Results from Team Development Activities |
Description of project design and team members. Description of current strengths and how additional university investments can be used to strategically achieve long-term project goals. |
What is the overall project idea and who are the team members? What are the long-term project goals and timeline with regard to serving as a hub that convenes and deploys expertise? What are the current team strengths with regard to being able to achieve the long-term project goals? How will additional university investments allow the project team to strategically achieve long-term project goals? |
Beyond Boundaries Alignment: Communities of Discovery |
Description of what opportunities this project could provide for new or enhanced partnerships internally and externally in a manner that could advance Virginia Tech’s ability to convene and deploy expertise, position Virginia Tech for future major external funding, and support the Global Distinction initiative. |
What is the scope and scale of the opportunity for engagement across multiple colleges, institutes, and other units internally? What additional faculty resources and areas of expertise will be required to enable Virginia Tech to build a world-class program in the proposed area? What external partnerships and external funding align with this discovery, learning, and outreach effort? How is the team positioned to secure these external opportunities and how will the DA Phase II award facilitate this process? |
Beyond Boundaries Alignment: Nexus of Discovery |
Identification of existing strengths and alignment with research institutes, colleges, advancement, LINK+LICENSE+LAUNCH, and university goals. Identification of alignment with university priorities related to discovery, learning, and outreach project goals. |
What are college and institute commitments with regard to faculty, space, facilities, etc. related to the project? What additional space and equipment will be required to enable Virginia Tech to build a world-class program in the proposed area? How does this project strengthen and deploy existing transdisciplinary networks and communities that have been established? How does this project align with other strategic discovery and outreach goals in the Beyond Boundaries framework (e.g., Research Frontiers, global engagement hubs) and the Global Distinction initiative? Does the proposal demonstrate a commitment to addressing critical societal issues impacting humanity and equity? |
Beyond Boundaries Alignment: VT-Shaped Discovery |
Description of transdisciplinary learning experiences that are envisioned to be part of the project and overview of how the planning grant will allow for further development of the learning experiences. |
How does this effort produce future leaders that have skills necessary for solving complex problems? How does the effort support the university’s experiential learning goals? |
Budget Justification (TBD maximum amount) |
Course release, summer salary, travel, and GA support are allowable expenses. Equipment expenses may be justified with compelling justification. Up to $750,000 in operating is available for spending over five years. Up to four faculty lines may be available for request in Phase II. |
How will requested central university investment be used to achieve project goals? What other university resources are identified to contribute towards this project (provide letters of support)? This could include contributions from colleges (e.g., cost sharing, existing college specific awards), space/facility access from investment institutes, access to equipment, support from DA stakeholder committees, etc. What additional faculty, equipment, and space will be required to support the initiatives? What external resources are identified to support this project (provide supporting documentation in the form of grant award letter, etc.)? |
Phase I Frequently Asked Questions
Depending on the nature of the proposed project, teams can be comprised of a combination of personnel including but not limited to tenured faculty, tenure-track faculty, collegiate faculty, research faculty, and postdoctoral researchers. It is expected that successful proposals will have strong representation on the leadership team from senior and junior full-time faculty.
This process is intended to build upon the foundational work of the Destination Area initiative and help the university determine what projects and teams might be positioned to actualize the Beyond Boundaries vision. The call for proposals and review process will help the university identify projects that have support from a variety of stakeholders including multiple college, institutes, and external groups. It is expected that the Destination Area Planning and Development grants (Phase I) and the awarded funding will yield additional data and information about whether project goals are feasible and what additional resources might be needed to achieve long-term project goals and global impact. It is expected that teams awarded funding during Phase I will use this information and have refined their team so that they can create a well-defined proposal for Phase II.
Teams can work internally with units on campus such as Information Technology, Advancement, Research and Innovation, the VP for Strategic Research Alliances, Executive Vice Provost and Vice Provost units, Graduate School, and others. Interactions will allow for a gap analysis so the university can more clearly identify what resources are needed to advance project goals as well as develop capabilities for goal oriented transdisciplinary team-based approaches. The process will involve a collaborative effort between the Office of the Provost, Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation’s office, and the grant team.
Successful proposals will have elements of all three areas and submissions will have clearly explained how all three elements work together to yield solutions to complex problems that advance the human condition. Research efforts are provided with a higher weighting in the proposal review process because increased external funding and relationships are the most critical desired outcome.
Successful proposals would be expected to have letters of support from departmental and college level leadership as well as institutes and centers. Ideally, proposals will also be able to identify existing strengths and support upon which they are building. Existing internal support might include, for example, current space and facility support from institutes and/or centers, existing college-level funding in the form of seed grants or special initiatives, and/or support from university-level initiatives such as the seed grants awarded previously Destination Area stakeholder groups.
The review committee includes leadership from the colleges and institutes who are involved in discovery, learning, and outreach efforts; as well as faculty from across the university. Its members will span the Research Frontiers and Destination Areas, representing the breadth of Virginia Tech scholarly footprint. The Senior Vice President for Research and Innovation, Dan Sui, and the Dean for Graduate Education, Aimée Surprenant will lead the review committee.
If project teams currently have external funding that is related to the proposed project this information can be briefly highlighted in the 3-page project description. If additional detail is warranted it can be included in an appendix that briefly describes the nature of the funding/partnerships and in what ways existing support will be leveraged to grow and expand work connected to the proposed project. It is not necessary to include external grants or partnerships that are no longer active and/or will not be expanded through the proposed effort.
The award amount provided through this call for proposals is intended to be used to achieve goals outlined related to team and project development over six months. Appropriate expenses include course release, travel to conduct research, and GA support, etc. Equipment expenses may be included with compelling justification. Project teams will also need time to engage with university resources as they engage in team and project development.