Smathers Libraries Grants Program

Welcome to the Smathers Libraries Grants Program LibGuide! The Smathers Libraries Grants Program supports activities related to the submission and management of grant funds awarded to library faculty and staff. Explore these resources to assist in finding valuable information about funding opportunities, developing proposals, and managing funded awards.

On behalf of the Grants Management Committee, we are pleased to announce the Spring 2025 cycle for the SOP grants. The Special Opportunity Project (SOP) is an internal library funding opportunity. The SOP offers funding of up to $10,000 for creative, innovative programs and/or services that enhance and support the mission, vision, and strategic directions of the Smathers Libraries.

Please consider applying! This opportunity is open to all full-time employees of the Libraries. For more information, including program guidelines and forms, click here. You may also contact Jane Barnwell, Grants Manager, (barnwellj@ufl.edu)  or Todd Digby, Grants Management Committee chair (digby@ufl.edu) for more information.

March 11th, 2025 is the deadline for submissions.

Become a grant reviewer! Here are just a few ways to get involved with federal agency and other sponsors and contribute your professional expertise to the profession. It's a great way to learn more about the world of grants!

Health Resources & Services Administration (HRSA)

Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS)

Lyrasis Catalyst Fund

National Endowment for the Arts (NEA)

National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)

National Science Foundation (NSF) 

National Institutes of Health (NIH) 

Merit Review: Why You Should Volunteer to Serve As An NSF Reviewer: https://www.nsf.gov/bfa/dias/policy/merit_review/reviewer.jsp#3 

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)

USDA National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA)

US Dept. of Education: Various calls for peer reviewers are posted as funding becomes available; see this example: https://www.ed.gov/about/doing-business-ed/peer-reviewers 

U.S. Department of Justice 

U.S. Department of Labor 

The Grants Activities Update is a monthly report produced by the Smathers Libraries Grants Management Program to keep our community informed about the status of ongoing grant projects. Proposals are tracked and categorized by whether they have been recently submitted, recently awarded, recently declined, pending, or active. The purpose of the report is to provide sufficient and transparent information about the status of all proposals. Information includes the title of the project, amount requested, amount contributed as cost share, proposal abstract, project team members, start and end dates, sponsor name and program, and a link to the full proposal hosted in the UF Institutional Repository.

Making a Difference in Global Health Through Narrative – (Cash: $2,300) Narratives and storytelling are essential for sharing information, values, and promoting well-being. In healthcare, narrative medicine highlights the importance of stories in fostering empathy and healing. The Health Science Center Library’s upcoming global public health exhibit utilizes storytelling to share experiences at community, population, and global levels. This request will host a series of events to support cross-disciplinary conversations on global health narratives in research and practice. The events aim to connect global health and narratology, featuring speakers like Dr. Julia Cummiskey, and fostering cross-discipline engagement. Project team: C. Pyche (PI), N. Stoyan-Rosenzweig, J. Crumpton, C. Hough, A. Young. (Start date: 03/1/2025; end date: 2/28/2026) Speaker Series and Workshops in the Humanities Grants – UF

Genetic Associations of Ischemic Heart Disease and Symptoms Among Diverse Postmenopausal Women – (Cash to the Libraries: $ $4,176.96) Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is the most common cause of global mortality. Women in the U.S. are more likely than men to report “atypical” symptoms of IHD, have a mis- or undiagnosed heart attack, and experience delayed cardiac treatment. The PI has identified RAP1GAP2 as a strong candidate gene for sex-associated effects on women’s IHD outcomes. The research team will harness existing biorepository data from three all-female cardiac studies that examined more than 17,000 post-MP women in the U.S. Guided by the NIH’s sex-as-a [1] biological-variable framework and symptom science model, we designed this study to address often-cited research limitations of statistical power and diversity. Results will fill evidentiary gaps in the genetics underlying women’s IHD. Findings could lead to improved sex-based IHD evaluation, treatment, and outcomes for women, thereby reducing cardiac health disparities. Aida’s role is to collaborate in selecting, processing, and analyzing genetic data on the RAP1 GTPase activating protein 2 (RAP1GAP2) gene to study its effects on female-associated cardiac health risks. Project team: J. Dungan (PI), A. Miro-Herrans. (Start date: 09/18/2024; end date: 03/31/2025) National Institutes of Health

Forrest E. Mars, Jr. Chocolate History Research Grant – (Cash: $ $14,000) This project aims to celebrate and showcase St. Augustine's pivotal role in introducing chocolate to North America through a meticulously curated exhibit at the St. Augustine Governor's House and an ArcGIS StoryMap accessible online. By engaging in-person and digital audiences, the team aspires to reach a broad spectrum of individuals, ensuring the inclusivity, equity, and diversity of the audience. There has never been an exhibit at the Governor’s House centered around North America’s introduction to chocolate. It is expected that this exhibit will draw increased attendance and provide a new learning opportunity for students of all ages ranging from 4th and 5th graders on their annual Florida History field trip to Lifelong Learners taking continuing education classes through nearby Flagler College.  Project team: E. Larkin (PI), C. Carr (Co-PI), L. Tibbetts. (Start date: 02/29/2024; end date: 02/28/2025) Wrigley Company

Networking and Expanding Undergraduate Research on the Neurobiology of Aging to Advance Diversity – ($1,870,305) The goal of this proposal is to expand the pool of researchers interested in biomedical, behavioral, and clinical aspects of brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRDs) through undergraduate research activities that enhance diversity. Minority health disparities for cognitive outcomes in advanced age are well documented, with older adults from minority groups being more likely to self-report impairments and to develop dementia. Healthcare and research professions that are critical for addressing clinical needs in diverse elderly populations, however, have inadequate representation from diverse and disadvantaged groups. This is a significant barrier for mitigating these health inequities. Thus, there is an urgent and unmet need to support educational pipeline programs that increase the diversity of the research and clinical workforce focused on understanding and treating brain aging and ADRD to reduce minority health disparities. The current proposal will expand the pool of undergraduate trainees interested in pursuing research and clinical careers related to understanding and treating brain aging and ADRD. Project team: S. Burke (PI), J. Abisambra (PI), T. Selfe (Co-PI) (Start date: 09/30/2022; end date: 05/31/2027) National Institutes of Health - National Institutes of Aging

NSF IPA - Program Director for learning and Workforce Development and Public Access Program– ($312,087) The assignee will serve as Program Director for the Learning and Workforce Development and Public Access Program within the Office of Advanced Cyberinfrastructure, Directorate for Computer and Information Science and Engineering at the National Science Foundation. The assignee's managerial and technical background will enhance the management, operation, and evaluation of programs within the Division. The assignee will gain useful experience in the development, coordination and management of large and complex Federal programs. The National Science Foundation will benefit from the academic and scientific insights of the assignee. The University of Florida will benefit from the knowledge and experience the assignee will gain in the program and policy level matters and issues involving these sciences at the Federal level. Project team: P. Smith (Start date: 07/03/2023; end date: 07/02/2026) National Science Foundation

Improving Access to Health Information Through a Community Center Collaboration– (Cash: $19,959) To support the health information literacy needs of the local community, this grant proposal, "Improving Access to Health Information through a Community Center Collaboration," partners the University of Florida’s Health Science Center Libraries (HSCL) and The Pride Community Center of North Central Florida (PCCNCF). The project’s overarching aim is to improve access to quality health information for underserved populations in North Central Florida, specifically Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersex, Asexual Plus (LGBTQIA+) populations through the development of an updated health information collection, the creation of an engaging health information literacy resource, and by providing trainings on finding and using health information resources. This project supports the Network of the National Library of Medicine’s (NNLM) mission to improve public health by enhancing access to health information for underserved groups, and empowering people to make effective use of information for health decision-making. Project team: J. Morgan-Daniel (PI), L. Adkins, N. Hans, A. Pomputius, C. Pyche (Start date: 05/01/2024; end date: 04/30/2025) Health Information Outreach - Network of the National Library of Medicine

Alachua County Big Read – (Cash: $14,933; cost share: $14,963) The University of Florida (UF), in partnership with the Alachua County Library District and local community organizations, will use the novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God," by Zora Neale Hurston, as a lens through which to explore the intersections of environment, people, and history in Alachua County and the surrounding area. UF and community partners will provide a range of programs celebrating "Their Eyes Were Watching God" and its connections to local communities. Beginning with a kick-off event, programming will engage community members of Alachua County and UF in conversations about the novel, its themes, and how they relate to where we live. Members of the public will learn how to access the UF archives, including Zora Neale Hurston’s papers. Through a series of panels and presentations, participants will have the opportunity to explore themes of Black geographies and community heritage. 7 book discussions will be offered in multiple languages and formats. Three workshops will explore writing about the immigrant experience, crafting opinion pieces, and life writing. There will also be a screening and discussion of the film adaptation, a public read-out, a birthday party for Zora Neale Hurston, and a teen art and poetry project.  Project team: J. Hofer (PI), J. Ewert (Co-PI), F. Turcotte, B. Uhler. (Start date: 09/01/2024; end date: 06/30/2025) National Endowment for the Arts – Big Read

Florida Ethnic and Under-Represented Communities Digital Newspaper Project – (Cash: $275,743; cost share: $49,351) The University of Florida requests $275,743 to select, digitize and make available to the Library of Congress approximately 100,000 historic newspaper pages through the National Digital Newspaper Program (NDNP). Titles for digitization will be selected for their ethnic, cultural, linguistic, religious, and geographic diversity to better reflect Florida history in the first half of the twentieth century. Areas of focus include significant multilingual papers from counties unrepresented in Chronicling America; Cuban papers from Miami and Tampa; Jewish newspapers from Jacksonville; and papers from Tarpon Springs, an area with a significant Greek population. These electronic resources will provide context and support for research into the historical basis of racial issues that continue today and seem particularly relevant with current scholarly and public discussions. (Project team: P. Reakes (PI), M. Jerome (Co-PI), with S. Tew, L. Perry, A. Charnas, D. Durden, N. St. Croix, P. Collins (Start date: 09/01/2023; end date: 08/31/2025) National Digital Newspaper Program – National Endowment for the Humanities

Establishing evidence-based recommendations for high impact open access publishing of UF research  – (Cash: $110,745; cost share: $0) Does making academic work openly available increase the positive impact of that work? Does the type of open access publishing influence that impact? Scholars have numerous choices when deciding how best to share results of their research. This study aims to inform those choices, providing evidence-based recommendations to maximize the impact of disseminating scholarship to targeted audiences and comply with funders’ public access mandates. In this study, we will use UF IFAS research as a basis for a cited references analysis, starting with citing works and working backwards to identify publishing models used. The innovative research design will use both quantitative and qualitative methods to assess achievement of dissemination goals. Quantitative citation data from Dimensions, Scopus, and Web of Science will be analyzed, as well as the impact of non-traditional dissemination as measured by Altmetrics attention scores. Qualitative data from author surveys and focus groups will enrich the understanding of scholars’ publishing decisions as a function of intended audience, funding agency expectations, and other factors. Outputs of this project include recommendations for UF faculty to effectively disseminate scholarship, maximizing the impact of their research and their research dollars. Analytical methods developed from credible data sources can be modified for use by a variety of disciplines and useful in comparison of UF research to peer institutions. (Project team: T. Cataldo (PI), S. Stapleton (Co-PI), Sadie Hundemer (Co-PI) (IFAS, Agricultural Education and Communication). (Start date: 07/01/2023; end date: 6/30/2025) Libraries Research Seed Grant