Call for Submissions

The AIA Upjohn Research Initiative supports applied research projects that enhance the value of
design and professional practice knowledge.
This AIA program funds up to six research grants of $15,000–$30,000 annually for projects completed
in a 6- to 18-month period. The funds must be fully matched with hard dollars, with a maximum of 10%
allocated for overhead. Grant recipients’ research findings and outcomes are published by AIA both
online and in a nationally-distributed publication.

Dates and details

Submission deadline:
September 1, 2017
by 11:59pm Pacific

Notifications to applicants:
by November 1, 2017

Verification of matching
funds and agreement: by
December 1, 2017

Submission fee: None

Questions?

upjohnresearch@aia.org

Research themes

Your proposed research should focus on architectural knowledge that can readily
be applied/transferred within the discipline, addressing one of more of these areas:

• The value of design
• Professional practice
• Novel materials and methods of construction

Preferred 2017 themes

• Building performance (e.g., measurement, metrics, design practices or other
research that addresses energy and/or water performance of a building)
• Climate change mitigation (e.g., resilient design strategies/approaches to address
climate change impacts, lowering carbon footprint of buildings and materials)
• Human impact and wellness (e.g., materials or practices/processes that address
mitigating the impact of the built environment on human well-being, including
innovative approaches to measuring/monitoring human impacts, addressing
obesity through design, and ergonomic considerations)
• Technology and innovation (e.g., innovative materials, visualization/design tools/
practices, mobility of information to advance the profession)

Submission details

Project submissions are completed online.

• Project title
• Abstract
• Budget
• Clients and knowledge communities served
• Summary of projected outcomes
• Approach to collaboration/partnership (optional)
• Images (optional)
• Principal investigator(s) with institutional affiliation(s) and contact information
• Contact information for three references

Please omit any identifying information from the title, descriptive text, budget, and
the optional images before submitting for the blind review process.

Criteria and selection

Given their role in helping establish the program, the jury panel is comprised of seven
professionals from the AIA College of Fellows and the AIA Board Knowledge Committee.

The jury evaluates each submission and selects the grant awardees based on the
following criteria and weighting. Please consider these when preparing your application.

• Relevance of research subject to the intent of the Upjohn program (25%)
• Evidence of collaboration/partnership (20%)
• Innovation of subject matter (25%)
• Validity of research method (25%)