Research and Innovation Office

Extramural Coordinated Funding


UM Submission Instructions: Schmidt Science Polymaths 2024

Sponsor: Schmidt Futures
Award Title: Schmidt Science Polymaths
Amount: $2.5M
$500,000 for up to five years (up to $2.5 million total)
UM Deadline: 07/25/2024
Sponsor Deadline: 08/15/2024
Description: The program will offer long-term research support to recently-tenured professors (January 2021 or later) wwho have: a remarkable record of accomplishment in mathematics, computer science, natural sciences, and/or engineering; a demonstrated history of pursuing and publishing results in more than one field; a desire and plan to expand their research portfolios by exploring a substantive disciplinary or methodological shift, but have not yet launched such shifts, and a demonstrated need for additional funding to enable new experiments, explorations, or shifts in research directions. Awards will consist of USD $500K per year for up to 5 years to support a research group through talent, such as three to four students or postdocs, and resources. These grants are intended for the exploration of new ideas across disciplines that use new technologies and insights that are generally too new or risky to garner regular support. They are not intended to relieve the researcher of pursuing other grants to continue their mainstream work, nor be large enough to fully support a modern lab.
Number of Applicants University is Allowed to submit: 2
Additional Requirements: Recently-tenured professors (w/in past 3 years)
Sponsor Guidelines: https://web.miniextensions.com/tM3MCjn10lGJJWrEmJ7n
UM Nominations Process: To be considered for nomination, please submit the following pre-proposal materials as a single document (with at least 10-pt font, 1.5 line spacing) to vpfaa@umn.edu by 4:00 PM on July 30, 2024.

The information requested on this form, https://web.miniextensions.com/tM3MCjn10lGJJWrEmJ7n, starting with "Candidate name."

Contact Chris Bremer at breme006@umn.edu@umn.edu with questions.
Peer Review Coordination: Office of the Executive Vice President and Provost contact email
Status: The internal deadline has passed but no applicants were selected. Please contact the office coordinating the peer review for more information.
Please note: To be considered for peer review and internal selection, faculty must follow the above submission guidelines and meet the UM deadline as set by the office coordinating the peer review for this opportunity.



General Information

  • Each posting has information about the external sponsor and opportunity as well as the internal application instructions.
  • Opportunities can be sorted by column headings; just click on the heading to re-sort by that column.
  • When a link redirects you to another site, it opens in a new browser window.
  • If you know of an opportunity that is not on the list, please contact Robyn Kennedy.
Column Descriptions

  • Sponsor: redirects you to the sponsor's main website
  • Title/Guidelines: redirects you to sponsor specific information regarding the opportunity which may include description, eligibility, budget instructions, forms and other requirements
  • Amount: Maximum dollar amount awarded.
  • Add’l Req: Identifies special requirements such as cost sharing, partners, etc.
  • Sponsor Deadline: External deadline identified by the sponsor.
  • UM Submission Instructions: Contains specific internal submission requirements including internal proposal instructions, deadline, eligibility, internal nomination process, contact information.
  • # Apps: The maximum number of applications the sponsor will allow the university to submit.
  • UM Deadline: Submission deadline for internal proposal as determined by the coordinating office.
  • Status:
    • Open: UM deadline has not passed and the opportunity is open for application.
    • In Review: Peer review process is in progress for the opportunity.
    • PI Selected: The PI has been selected as the official UM nominee.
    • Closed: Sponsor deadline has passed and the opportunity is closed for application.
U of M Submission Instructions (Required)

This link includes summary sponsor information, specific instructions for internal submission and contact information for the university office coordinating the nomination process.

  • Follow the directions in the submission instructions and submit required materials by the UM deadline to the contact indicated.
  • Instructions vary according to the requirements of the sponsor and the university office coordinating the nomination process.
Registration (optional)

Registration is an optional but highly recommended feature. Perhaps you are looking for a wider audience for your proposal idea, or for potential collaborators to work with to create a stronger application. Registration allows applicants to share proposal ideas and post contact information.

Registration also provides information that helps the university office overseeing the nomination to determine the level of coordination needed and guide the review process.

To register (or view registrants), click on the UM Submission Instructions for a specific opportunity, then click on the Register Interest link.

Selection Process

  • Once the internal deadline has passed, the status will change to “In Review” and proposals will undergo review.
  • If there are multiple applicants, the office managing the nomination will determine the review criteria and coordinate the review process.
  • Once review has been completed all parties will be notified via email.
  • Nominees will be provided with a letter addressed to the sponsor from the RIO indicating that they are the university's nominee. This letter should accompany the nominee's proposal.
  • SPA is notified of the university's nominee(s) and the status is updated to “PI Selected”.


*If you have questions about the University's process related to extramural funding opportunities requiring nomination or if you have any technical issues with the site, contact collabor8@umn.edu.

For questions, please contact RIO's Research Advancement group.