Research Funding Opportunities

Internal research grants

The College of Design provides the following internal opportunities for faculty and staff to apply for research funding.

College of Design BNIM Regenerative Design Challenge

The award cycle for 2024 will be posted later in 2023. 

BNIM, an award-winning architecture and design firm with offices in Des Moines, Kansas City and San Diego, sponsors the College of Design BNIM Regenerative Design Challenge to support multidisciplinary faculty research in the areas of sustainability and regenerative design.

Funding of $10,000 over one calendar year is available to faculty and/or staff within the College of Design, including tenured and tenure-track faculty, term faculty, and professional and scientific staff. A minimum of two co-principal investigators must be from different College of Design departments.

Current and past recipients include:

• “Co-creating Communities of Climate Resilience: Lessons Learned for Regenerative Design,” awarded to Jiwnath Ghimire and Alenka Poplin, community and regional planning; Ellee Stapleton, landscape architecture; and Andrea Wheeler, architecture.
• “Grown in Iowa: Low-Carbon 3D-Printed Concrete from Local Waste,” awarded to Shelby Doyle, Nick Senske and Chengde Wu, architecture; and Pete Evans, industrial design.
• “A Best Practice Manual for Aging in Place: Revitalizing Small Communities for Aging Population in Iowa,” awarded to Daejin Kim, interior design, for his senior interior design studio, and Sungduck Lee, landscape architecture and urban design, for her urban design methods course.
• “Building a Community: Homes for Transitioning Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD),” awarded to Diane Al Shihabi and Julie Irish, interior design; Daniel Kuhlmann, community and regional planning; and Mikesch Muecke and Andrea Wheeler, architecture.