HERFP & AI Moonshot Funding Opportunities

Utah System of Higher Education | UVU Applicant Guidance

Utah Valley University’s Office of Sponsored Programs (OSP) invites faculty researchers to submit proposals for the following recently announced Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) funding programs:

Higher Education Research Funding Pilot Program (HERFP)

Higher Education Research Funding Pilot Program (HERFP), a $45 million funding program with possible awards ranging from $500K to $5M for 2-3 years, as described in this PDF: HERFP Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).

Utah AI Moonshot Program

Utah AI Moonshot Program, $5 million of HERFP $5 million funding initiative established through the Governor's Pro-Human AI Initiative with possible awards ranging from $50K to $1M, for 0.5-2 years, as described in this PDF, is managed by the Nucleus Institute: AI Moonshot NOFO

Both programs' Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) require that proposals led by faculty at a Utah institution of higher education be reviewed and prioritized by the president of the lead institution prior to submission. In addition, only sponsored projects offices will have access to the State's submission portal. Accordingly, all UVU-led submissions must proceed through the UVU Office of Sponsored Programs and the university's internal review process.

August 28, 2026 at 2 PM: Notification of Intent (NOI) Due to OSP. Completed NOI forms should be submitted to Sheldon Sumpter ([email protected]) and Kathryn Johnson ([email protected]).

September 22, 2026: Using OSP's budget form, the project budget must be approved by department chair, dean, and submitted to OSP for approval.

October 6, 2026: Full Proposal and OSP Routing Form due to OSP

October 15, 2026: OSP submits full proposal packets to USHE

Faculty interested in pursuing this opportunity must submit a completed UVU Notification of Intent (NOI) form to OSP by August 28, 2026. Submitted NOIs will receive an initial review by UVU's Research Office.

• NOI Form: https://www.uvu.edu/osp/docs/noi_only_30_june_2021.pdf
• Completed NOIs should be emailed to: [email protected] or [email protected]
• OSP strongly recommends that applicants carefully develop the Project Summary section of the NOI form. Project summaries should be approximately 1 page long (~800-1200 words depending on font size, etc.)—i.e., detailed but still short enough to fit in the “Project Description” field of the NOI without scrolling.

On page 2 of the NOI under Project Description, please provide a high-level overview of the project and your aims/goals for utilization of funds. Here are key points of the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for each funding program:

Higher Education Research Funding Pilot Program (HERFP)

HERFP Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO).

For proposals to the Higher Education Research Funding Pilot (HERFP) program, your one-page Project Description should:

• Indicate what Eligible Research Area (HERFP, p. 4);
• Indicate which of the Program Goals you intend to address (HERFP, p. 1);
• Indicate which track you will apply under: Track 1, Research Translation, or Track 2, Research Acceleration (HERFP. p. 4).
• Explain how you will demonstrate expected impact and commercialization potential of your project, how you will demonstrate connection to Utah industries and cost sharing support, and the relevance of your project to state economic development or public policy (HERFP pp. 2-3).
• Indicate what funding range you are seeking and, preliminarily, how funding would be spent (e.g. personnel, equipment, materials and supplies, travel, consultants, etc.) (HERFP p. 5).

Utah AI Moonshot Program

AI Moonshot NOFO

For proposals to the AI Moonshot program, your one-page Project Description should:

• Indicate which of the five Focus Areas you intend to address (Moonshot, p. 2).
• Indicate which Funding Opportunity Tier you intend to apply for: Moonshot Award, Pathfinder Grant, or Spark Grant (Moonshot, p. 1).
• Explain how you will address each of the AI Moonshot Requirements (Moonshot, p. 2), including that the project be Utah-centric (benefit Utah), has strong partnerships (at least one non-academic partner with a substantive role), has a concrete delivery and accessibility plan (for reaching everyday Utahns across the state), has a pro-human design (see explanation), and demonstrates responsible AI compliance (human-subjects approvals and data governance plans).
• Indicate approximately how much funding you are seeking and, preliminarily, how funding would be spent, e.g. personnel, equipment, materials, supplies, travel, consultants, etc. (Moonshot, p. 3).

September 22, 2026:

• Using OSP’s budget form, the project budget must be approved by department chair, dean, and submitted to OSP for approval.

October 6, 2026: Full Proposal Due to OSP

• Complete proposal packages including routing form must be submitted to OSP by October 6 to allow time for the required presidential review and prioritization process before the State deadline.

October 15, 2026: State Proposal Deadline

• OSP will gather all necessary submission materials from the applicants and submit the full proposal to the state by October 15.

Information Sessions for the Higher Education Research Funding Pilot Program (HERFP) and the AI Moonshot Program funding opportunities will be held jointly at the following dates and times:

Session #1: Friday, August 14, 2026 at 1:00 pm MDT - https://utah.zoom.us/j/89172249125

Session #2: Tuesday, August 18, 2026 at 1:00 pm MDT - https://utah.zoom.us/j/88354475874

(Both sessions were recorded and will be available online at - https://ushe.my.site.com/grants/s/ )

• Proposal Review Period: October - November
• AI Moonshot award decisions expected: November 30, 2026
• HERFP Award Decisions: December 1, 2026
• AI Moonshot public award announcement: December 8, 2026 at the Pro Human Utah AI Summit
• HERFP award start date: January 1, 2027

We recognize that this opportunity involves an accelerated timeline and appreciate everyone's flexibility and cooperation in helping UVU identify and advance its strongest ideas. OSP is available to discuss project fit, proposal requirements, partnerships, institutional approvals, and proposal development questions. Faculty with potential project concepts are encouraged to contact OSP as early as possible ([email protected], [email protected] or [email protected]).

Thank you for the important research and creative work you do on behalf of UVU and the State of Utah. OSP is grateful for your continued efforts to pursue innovative research and external funding opportunities, and we look forward to supporting faculty interested in this unique program.