The Humanities and Arts Research Program (HARP) has two components, Development and Production with different funding criteria and different submission deadlines:

Development:

The HARP Development program provides funds to support faculty who are conducting important research leading to creative and performance projects or activities in the arts and humanities. This limited funding is designed to support faculty in the development of projects that seem likely to enhance the reputation of the faculty member and the university. 

Within the Development program, there are two panels that conduct the reviews (Humanities Research and Exhibition & Performance). The Humanities Research panel will review applications that are supporting research projects and scholarship broadly related to the humanities. The Exhibition and Performance panel will review proposals that support scholarship and creative activities leading to an exhibit or performance. See the FAQs posted here for clarification.

The deadline for HARP development applications will be in mid-October, with awards announced in February. Funding will be available for a two-year period beginning on July 1.

Production

The HARP Production program provides funds, when research is complete, to help subsidize the costs of book publication, permissions to use copyrighted materials, CD recording and production, the creation and mounting of exhibits, and other expenses associated with producing the results of a completed creative or research project. A contract from the publisher will be required if funds are being requested to publish a book. Proposals requesting funds to complete textbooks will not be considered. 

Within the production program, there are two panels that conduct the reviews (Humanities Research and Exhibition & Performance). The Humanities Research panel will review applications that support the completion of research, such as the publication of a book or production of a film. The Exhibition and Performance panel will review proposals that provide support for an exhibit or performance. See the FAQs posted here for clarification.

In order to respond to the more immediate needs that these subsidies often entail, the panels will review applications twice a year, once in the fall and once in the spring semester. Funds will be available for an additional year after the fiscal year of the original funding allocation.

Who is eligible?

• Tenured and tenure-track faculty.
• Faculty with uninterrupted, multi-year, fixed term appointments.
• Faculty with one-year appointments who are able to obtain written confirmation from their departmental chair of pending appointment through the duration of the grant (letters from the chair should be attached to the faculty’s CV and uploaded under the PI/Co-PI Information tab). 
• Academic specialists in the continuing appointment system who have the majority of their effort in the research category.
• Part-time faculty who 
• • 1) have had an appointment for two consecutive years prior to the date of their submission, 
  • 2) have a commitment from their unit administrator indicating that their appointment will continue through the duration of the granting period, and 
  • 3) have an appointment of at least 50% with MSU. 
• Faculty from Arts and Letters, Communication Arts and Sciences, James Madison, Lyman Briggs, Music, Social Science, and the Residential College in the Arts and Humanities are eligible to apply for HARP funding.
• NOTE: Faculty emeriti are not eligible to apply for HARP funding.
• NOTE: Faculty rank and proximity to promotion and tenure decisions will not be considered in the evaluation of proposals. All proposals will be evaluated on the merit of the work being completed.

What types of projects are eligible?

HARP scholarship development projects should:

1. produce results or a product that is likely to receive external recognition (e.g., through a publisher's interest or through available distribution or exhibition venues) or be used beyond MSU.
2. ultimately lead to a scholarly or creative product (e.g., book, CD, musical composition, play, artwork) with the potential for significant impact in the discipline or related areas. 

Applications:
Applications should be submitted through the Michigan State University Grant Proposal System at https://gps.vprgs.msu.edu/