Current Funding Opportunities

Purpose:

The Grailer Faculty Fellow Program, offered by the Center for Hospitality Research (CHR), is designed to support tenure-track faculty at the Nolan School of Hotel Administration in conducting impactful, industry-relevant research that benefits the broader hospitality and travel industry.

Overview:

The Grailer Faculty Fellow Program supports research that utilizes hospitality industry data, fosters collaborations with key industry partners, or develops models with direct applicability to the hospitality sector. The program welcomes applications from assistant and associate professors at the Nolan School for projects with the potential to produce top-tier publications while also generating actionable insights for the industry. The hospitality industry encompasses hotels, restaurants, airlines, cruise lines, amusement parks, and related sectors. To encourage Nolan faculty to align their research with industry challenges, the program maintains broad and flexible parameters, fostering synergies between academic inquiry and practical industry needs. Fellows receive a one TU teaching relief to focus on research addressing critical challenges in the hospitality industry. In exceptional cases, funds may instead be used to hire a research assistant. Three fellowships are awarded each academic year. One of these fellowships is awarded to research projects focused on Asian Hospitality Studies.

Eligibility Criteria:

To qualify for the Grailer Faculty Fellow Program, applicants must meet the following criteria:

1. Faculty Status: Be a tenure-track faculty member at the Nolan School.
2. Rank: Be an assistant or associate professor.

Guidelines and Requirements:

• Applicants must present a clear and feasible research plan with well-defined milestones.
• Research projects should be new or in the early stages of development.
• Projects must utilize hospitality industry data, involve collaboration with industry partners, or develop models with direct applicability to the hospitality sector.
• Applicants for the Asian Hospitality Studies Fellowship are required to focus their projects on topics related to the Asia region. All else being equal, preference will be given to junior faculty and first-time applicants.
• Applicants who have previously received CHR grants must provide documentation detailing the current status of their prior project(s), including published outputs and expenditure reports.

Expectations and Deliverables:

Acceptance of a Grailer Faculty Fellowship signifies agreement to the following conditions:

• The fellowship details will be publicly announced on the CHR website.
• Any working papers or other research outputs resulting from the project must be submitted promptly to CHR for posting on its website.
• Fellows must submit a brief research update (several paragraphs) within six months and again within one year (unless otherwise specified), documenting progress for posting on the CHR website and review by the CHR Board.
• During their fellowship year, fellows must present their findings to the CHR Advisory Board at least once.
• To enhance industry engagement, Grailer Fellows, in collaboration with CHR editors, will develop practical summaries of their research findings—without compromising publication in top-tier peer-reviewed journals.

Application Process:

1. Proposal Submission:
   • Fill out the online proposal submission form with information about the project detailing: the research idea and its industry value, research design, data needs and contingency plan, expected outputs and outcomes, and timeline.
   • Applicants must also upload their CV.
2. Evaluation:
   • Proposals will be evaluated on a rolling basis, beginning in October each year.
   • Submitted proposals will be reviewed by a committee chaired by the CHR Academic Director and composed of members of the CHR Advisory Board and other members of the CHR leadership team.
   • Top-ranked applicants will be invited to deliver a brief presentation to the committee, showcasing the industry relevance of their proposed research. This session will also offer an opportunity to receive practitioner feedback aimed at strengthening the project’s potential impact on the hospitality industry.
   • Fellows will be announced in November each year.