UMRA members, do you have an unfinished scholarly or creative project or one you'd like to undertake that needs modest funding? Do you know that awards from the Professional Development Grants for Retirees (PDGR) program may be used to cover activities related to projects in the arts, humanities, or science? 

UMRA’s PDGR Committee encourages you to submit an application by December 13 for financial support for the next academic year (2020-21).

The annual, competitive PDGR awards are funded by UMRA and the Office of the Vice President for Research and are available to any U of M retiree.

Grants of up to $5,000 can help with the cost of research assistance, attending or presenting a paper at a professional meeting in the U.S. or abroad, preparing an art exhibit, or visiting archives. Or, grants may be used as seed money to support work the results of which can provide a basis for seeking additional funds from other sources. 

Numerous projects have been funded in recent years, and abstracts summarizing them are available for review on the UMRA website. Here are just a few examples: 

• A video documentary on the DFL movement;
• A video on parent-child interaction;
• Travel to Baltimore to document an African diaspora reunion;
• Travel to participate in a Polish fire arts festival and iron casting;
• Research on death, related practices, and their impact on climate change;
• Research and development of the website, “A Campus Divided”;
• Research on American Indian women authors;
• Research for a video on Duluth and the Hollywood movie industry;
• Research for a biography of Minnesota social activist Frances Andrews. 

So, if you as a U of M retiree find yourself still Driven to Discover, why not set aside some time defining your project and laying out a work plan and timetable? If you require modest financial support, apply for a PDGR grant to translate your musings into action. Why wait? 

—John Adams and Joanne Eicher, members, PDGR Committee