Federal Funding Available for Research, Scholarly, Creative Activity

Wednesday, September 22, 2021

Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity (RSCA) Recovery Funds, as allocated by the San Francisco State president with consultation by the University Budget Council, are available and are intended to support faculty with restarting and reinvigorating research delayed or limited by the current pandemic.

Fund applications take three forms:

RSCA Recovery Travel Award

The RSCA Recovery Travel Award grants are non-competitive and will be awarded throughout the year as long as allocated funds are available. These grants cover the cost of presenting at conferences or juried exhibitions: registration, lodging, airfare and food not provided by the conference venue. Faculty may receive this grant and one of the other grants, if eligible and awarded. All non-FERP tenure-track and three-year entitled lecturer faculty are eligible. Maximum amount awarded is $2,000. Please submit with your Concur travel entry. This year these take the place of the College’s previous travel grants.

Download RSCA Recovery Travel Award application (docx)

RSCA Recovery Grant

The RSCA Recovery grants aim to assist faculty in restarting RSCA activities after the campus closure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These grants are competitive and have an application deadline of September 22, 2021. Any assigned time budgeted in the grant must be taken in Spring semester 2022, and all funds used under the grant must be expended by August 31, 2022. There can be no rollover funds beyond that date. All non-FERP tenure-track and three-year entitled lecturer faculty are eligible. Maximum amount awarded is $14,000.

Apply for RSCA Recovery Grant

Early/Mid-Career Leave Grant

The Early/Mid-Career Leave grants are competitive and have an application deadline of September 22, 2021, and can only be used to release from all teaching responsibilities in Spring semester 2022. All non-FERP assistant and associate professors at least in their second year are eligible to apply.

Apply for Early/Mid-Career Leave Grant


Faculty may take either the RSCA Recovery Grant or the Early/Mid-Career Leave Grant, and not both. Faculty may apply for both but, if applying for both, must indicate which is their higher choice if awarded both.

All grant applications must include an explanation of how the RSCA to be supported has been affected negatively by the pandemic, and all funds must be expended by August 30, 2022. Further fund tracking instructions will be provided upon receipt of any grant.

Please let your department chairs or school director know if you are applying for any grant involving assigned time. Travel grants will be reviewed by the LCA Finance team, and competitive grants will be reviewed by a subcommittee of LCA department chairs/directors.

For further questions, please contact Christina Sabee, Interim Associate Dean, at csabee@sfsu.edu.

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