UMRA’s Professional Development Grants for Retirees (PDGR) program is an annual competition with applications accepted October 1 to December 31. These grants support projects related to retirees’ research, instructional history, or new scholarly and creative interests. Previous grants have covered topics such as art, statistics, social equity, science, and medicine.

Funding of up to $5,000 per grant is available. Retirees from all five campuses within the U of M System are eligible whether they are members of UMRA or not. To find more information about the PDGR program, including the instructions for applying for 2023 funding, go to the Professional Development Grants for Retirees page.

Please consider making an application.

If you would like to make a financial contribution to the program, you can also do that online. Go to crowdfund.umn and search for “professional development.” Or, for information about making a tax-efficient gift from an IRA if you are age 70½ or older, contact Lynn Praska, senior planned giving officer, U of M Foundation, at [email protected] or 612-624-4158.

Anyone with questions or suggestions for the grant program should contact John Bantle, M.D., PDGR Committee chair, at [email protected].