Deadlines: November 2 (Fall 2026 only)
March 1 (Spring 2027 only)
(In the event a deadline falls on a weekend or a university holiday, the deadline will be the next business day.)
The Hewlett International Grant Program is primarily intended to help Pitt faculty in the development or completion of international projects as described below. “International” is defined as:
- relating to another country or culture,
- comparative analysis covering more than one country or culture,
- studies of international relations or of transnational activities,
- studies which examine global issues,
- or collaborative projects with partners around the world.
In addition, Hewlett International Grants may support the participation of Pitt faculty when delivering papers or presentations in conferences abroad, regardless of discipline or topic. This is a competitive program and proposals are reviewed by a committee of former grant recipients and UCIS team members representing a range of disciplines. Please be sure to look at the evaluation criteria.
Grants are awarded twice per year.
Non-allowable Expenses:
Examples of non-allowable expenses are as follows:
- Honoraria.
- Travel expenses for individuals other than the applicant.
- Equipment purchase or rental.
- Any conference travel expenses if applicant does not present a paper at conference or workshop.
- Membership fees.
- Any expenses unrelated to the proposed activity.
- Expenses related to the costs of travel and per diem for a faculty leader of a Pitt-sponsored study abroad program.
- Any costs related to the development of study abroad programs or courses.
- Purchase of promotional items such as t-shirts, mugs, coasters, or writing tools.
Allowable Expenses
Awardees have 12 months to spend Hewlett funds. Examples of permitted expenses are:
- Ground and air transportation to and from research, conference or workshop site.
- Visa expenses.
- Lodging and meal expenses.
- Payment to foreign national firms for services provided outside the United States.
- Student employment for on-campus and on-site research assistance (Hewlett funding may NOT be used for student travel expenses).
- Payment for translation services.
- Copy and other duplication costs.
- Books and subscriptions, if justifiably necessary for the research project.
- Duplication of papers for use at the conference or workshop.
- Registration fee for conference or workshop where applicant is a presenter.
Travel Warnings and Restrictions
Faculty members should ensure that any proposed travel complies with University, local, state, and federal guidelines for travel. Travel to some countries may not be covered under the University’s international insurance travel coverage plan. Should any local conditions alter or extend your travel, or should you require additional insurance because your destination is not included under the University’s policy, UCIS will be unable to provide additional funds to defray unexpected costs (such as emergency evacuation or repatriation). If you are traveling to a region with active travel advisories, please consult
Global Operations Support prior to booking your trip to determine if additional insurance coverage will be needed/recommended.
The U.S. State Department uses a system of ratings to gauge the potential risks (mostly to personal safety and/or or health) of traveling to specific countries or specific regions within countries. Travel Advisories range from Level 1: Exercise Normal Precautions to Level 4: Do Not Travel. You can find the list of countries here. If your proposed destination is at Level 4, UCIS will most likely not be able to fund your proposed project, unless a waiver is sought (and proof of any necessary permissions from your school/unit as well as proof you have registered your travel appropriately, and followed requisite University guidelines if provided).
Grantee Obligations
- All research involving interventions or interactions with individuals or the collection of identifiable private information concerning living individuals requires prospective Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval. Grantees are responsible for obtaining IRB approval when required, and must provide documentation of IRB approval before a grant can be awarded. For further information, check the IRB web site at www.irb.pitt.edu. Priority will be given to applicants who include proof of IRB clearance with application. Applicants who are in some stage of the review process with IRB are also encouraged to provide proof of this process.
- Grantees are required to submit a final report explaining the use of the funds and the outcomes of the supported activity no later than one month after the activity is completed. Failure to submit a final report will result in disqualification from future UCIS central faculty grant programs.
- Grantees will be asked to serve on Hewlett International faculty selection committees. Faculty who have served on the committee will be granted special consideration when applying for future grants.
- Grantees may be invited to present their work, or otherwise share their expertise, by any of the centers or programs housed within UCIS.
- Grantees seeking to use Hewlett funds to pay external service providers (domestic or international) will receive instructions about how to assess eligibility and facilitate those agreements.
Projects are expected to show evidence of matching funds whenever possible. Proposals should clearly articulate what other funds have been requested to support the project and from what sources. As the Hewlett International Grant Program is funded through the University Center for International Studies, proposals should specify when other sources of funding (either secured or pending decision) have been requested from other units within UCIS (including the area and global studies centers, as well as the Center for Ethnic Studies Research). If no evidence of matching funds (requested or secured) is presented in the proposal budget, please explain why not (e.g. other initiatives that have depleted annual travel allowances, etc.). Should the proposal be awarded funding, grantees will be expected to update the project budget to confirm the status of pending sources of match funding or any new commitments received to support the project. The total award is subject to modification, should the amount required to fund the project change.
Award Information
There are three levels of Hewlett International Grants.
Curriculum Development (Fall & Spring)
Awards typically range between $500 and $3,500 and are intended to assist in the development of new international courses/course content or the enhancement of existing courses to add/update international content.
Research and Conference Travel (Fall & Spring)
Awards range between $1,500 and $3,500 and are intended to offset the cost of travel related to field or archival research or to attend an international conference abroad.
Major Impact (Spring only)
One grant per year will be awarded for research or related activities that demonstrate an impact on the international profile of the university or address strategic global priorities in the Plan for Pitt, including team-based research projects related to global issues/themes. A single award of $10,000 - $15,000 will be made. Note: Conference Travel related to the presentation of a paper is not eligible for a Major Impact Grant; however, organization of a national or international conference or workshop on an international topic is an eligible activity. Applications for the Major Impact Grant are accepted only during the spring competition (deadline March 1); please use the applicable Major Impact Grant application form.
Funding Priorities
Research
Examples of possible research-related uses of funding are as follows:
- Start-up research projects requiring seed funding which show promise of attracting support.
- Funds to be used to complete a research effort (which could include costs of preparing manuscripts for publication, but NOT actual costs of publication).
- Partial support for national or international research conferences or workshops on an international topic for which a Pitt faculty member is a principal organizer.
- Field research.
Curricular Efforts
Examples of possible curriculum-related uses of funding are as follows:
- Development of new on-campus courses focusing on regional or area studies, transnational topics or global issues.
- Development of trans-regional courses with a focus on two or more world regions (e.g., Latin America-Asia, Africa-Eastern Europe, etc.) or enhancement of existing regional courses to include an additional region.
- Enhancement of existing courses taught on Pitt campuses that strengthen or add an international focus through experiential learning, civic engagement, or professional development.
- Collaborations between Pitt faculty and faculty at international partner institutions to enhance courses through team-teaching or other collaborations.
- Revision or creation of courses with at least 25% international or transnational content where faculty are willing to experiment with technologies in consultation with the UCIS Director of Informatics, Pitt IT, and the University Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL).
Conference Travel
Examples of possible conference-related uses of funding are as follows:
- Any conference or workshop with an international theme (applying faculty must be a presenter at the conference or workshop in order to qualify).
- Conferences or workshops taking place outside of the United States (applying faculty must be a presenter at the conference or workshop in order to qualify).
Evaluation Criteria
Hewlett International Grant proposals are reviewed by a faculty committee composed of former grant recipients representing a range of disciplines. The committee evaluates and awards points to each proposal based on the set of criteria listed below. The cumulative point scores are used for an initial ranking of the proposals, but all proposals are discussed by the whole committee before final award decisions are made.
Proposal Narrative
- Is this an original and significant project? (For conference travel proposals, the inquiry will focus on the status of the conference or workshop in the applicant’s field and the importance of the paper in his/her academic career.)
- Does the proposal include sufficient information about the project; is the information clearly presented and understandable to non-specialists?
- Are the activities proposed appropriate to the overall project?
- Does the project have an impact at Pitt beyond the research record of the applicant?
- Will the project lead to or conclude a larger overall agenda?
- Does the project involve collaboration with faculty at Pitt or with faculty at institutions abroad?
Budget
- How successful has the applicant been in pursuing and securing matching funds?
- Is the proposed budget reasonable for the activities proposed? (Yes/No)
Review Criteria for Major Impact Grants (spring only)
Because the Major Impact Grant offers a higher level of funding and is awarded to only one faculty member each year, all the review criteria for Level One and Level Two Grants will be applied, and in addition the review committee will consider:
- Does the proposal demonstrate an impact on the international profile of the University of Pittsburgh, either through research, teaching, curriculum development or the development of publications?
Special Note on Budgets
All applicants should pay special attention when completing the Hewlett Budget Spreadsheet. You should provide the committee with evidence that you have considered all relevant costs for the proposed project--not just the amount of money that you are requesting from the Hewlett Grant Program. Furthermore, as of spring 2024, the budget spreadsheet has been updated so that you can provide information about various funding sources (the Hewlett grant, discretionary funding from other UCIS units, and personal or departmental funds) for each line item. The budget spreadsheet includes a sample worksheet that you should refer to as a model for completing the document. Please note that you should convert all funding into US dollars instead of presenting values in local currency.
Eligibility
Full-time appointment-stream (including lecturers and contract faculty) and tenured faculty at the University of Pittsburgh from all schools and departments, centers, institutes and campuses are eligible to submit proposals. Applicants are required to have an up-to-date (i.e. submitted after January 1 of the current calendar year) UCIS Faculty Survey Profile. Adjunct, visiting, and emeritus faculty members and research associates are not eligible.
Important: Only one application for UCIS central funds per project and faculty member is allowed. Dual grant applications for the same project to different central UCIS grant programs are not permitted. Only one Hewlett International award per faculty member per 12-month period is allowed. In order to preserve the ways in which Hewlett funds are used to spur intellectual innovation, applicants with currently unspent Hewlett monies should only apply for Hewlett funding for substantially different projects until prior funds are spent.
Evaluation Criteria
Applicants are urged to review the evaluation criteria used by the Hewlett Faculty Selection Committee as they complete their proposals. Priority will be given to applicants who include proof of matching funds from units outside the centers and programs housed within UCIS.
Application Procedure
There is an online application process for the Hewlett International Grant Program. The first time that you access the application form you will be directed to a welcome screen at our partner, Submittable.com, and invited to create a new user account. After completing this simple process, you will be shown the application form.
Please note: This application requires that you upload multiple pieces of supporting documentation, notably the Hewlett Budget Spreadsheet, evidence of matching funds, evidence of Institutional Review Board clearance (if required), and a proposal narrative not exceeding 1100-words. Preparing those documents in advance will likely simplify the application process for you. You will be able to save your application mid-stream and then return to it before final submission.
Application forms
Applications will be reviewed by committee. Awardees will be notified approximately four weeks after the deadline.
Deadlines
- Fall Deadline: November 2 (Fall 2026 only)
- Spring Deadline: March 1 (Spring 2027 only)
(In the event a deadline falls on a weekend or a university holiday, the deadline will be the next work day.)
Contact
Allyson Delnore
adelnore@pitt.edu
University Center for International Studies
4400 Wesley W. Posvar Hall
University of Pittsburgh
Pittsburgh, PA 15260
