ASIFA-Hollywood’s Animation
Educators Forum Faculty Grants Application Guidelines

Information about Faculty Grants

AEF Faculty Grants are designed to provide support for individuals or groups with reasonable expenditures associated with research, scholarly activity or creative projects in the field of animation.

1. Applications must be submitted online at https://grants.animationeducatorsforum.org before Friday, May 23, 2025, at 11:59 pm PST.

2. Recipients will be announced in June 2025.

3. Expenditures must occur for the year running from July 1, 2025, to June 30, 2026. Awards will range from USD $1,000 to a maximum of USD $5,000 per applicant.

 

Eligibility

All ASIFA-Hollywood’s Animation Educators Forum members are eligible for Faculty Grants. To become an AEF member, simply send an email to info@animationeducatorsforum.com to request membership. There is no cost to become a member, but please include your resume or a brief biography as proof of your full-time or adjunct faculty status.

1. Applicants must have full-time or adjunct faculty status at an accredited post-secondary institution. To be considered for the grant, adjunct faculty need to be teaching a minimum of two (2) courses per year at accredited post-secondary colleges or universities. (Note: the two (2) courses may be taught at different institutions).

2. Members are eligible to apply for one (1) grant per year. If they are successful in their application, members will not be eligible to apply for three (3) years after receiving the Faculty Grant. In addition, previous grant awardees will be removed from future consideration if they fail to fulfill the Responsibilities of Awardees listed below.

3. It is most likely that only one (1) grant will be awarded at a single institution per grant year. This limitation is based on the intent of ASIFA-Hollywood’s Animation Educators Forum to assist faculty across a wide geographic and academic range.

 

Selection Criteria

The ASIFA-Hollywood’s Animation Educators Forum Faculty Grant's Selection Committee will be composed of members of the AEF Steering Committee as well as other qualified academic staff and industry professionals. The following criteria will be considered when evaluating the applications:

1. Effectiveness of written proposal

2. Quality of supporting documents included with the proposal

3. Record of professional and/or scholarly achievement

4. Contributions to the animation community at large

Application Procedure and Contents

Applications for the ASIFA-Hollywood’s Animation Educators Forum Faculty Grant's program will only be considered if fully complete and received by Friday, May 23, 2025 at 11:59 pm PST. To create an online application, go to: https://grants.animationeducatorsforum.org. Be sure to upload all the required materials including a proposal, estimated budget and supporting documents as outlined below.

If possible, please combine the elements of your application into a single .pdf document, naming it using this format: 2025_AEFGrantApplication_LastnameFirstname.pdf (example: 2025_AEFGrantApplication_DoeJohn.pdf).

If this is not possible, please adhere to the naming convention and add a simple content description to the file name (example: 2025_AEFGrantApplication_DoeJohn_Proposal.pdf, 2025_AEFGrantApplication_DoeJohn_Budget.pdf, 2025_AEFGrantApplication_DoeJohn_SupportingDocuments.pdf).

Section 1: Written Proposal

To be considered for an ASIFA-Hollywood’s Animation Educators Forum Faculty Grant, a written proposal describing the scope of the research, scholarship activity or creative project must be submitted. We ask that the text of the proposal be prepared using twelve (12) point type and one (1) inch margins and is not to exceed two (2) pages in length. In addition, please include a cover page with the name of the applicant, name of the institution(s) where the applicant is a faculty member, the grant year being applied for and a brief (single sentence) title/summary of the research, scholarly activity, or creative project. Please use the headings in bold type below in organizing the content of the Proposal.

1. Description of the research, scholarly activity,or creative project.

2. Background and significance of the research, scholarly activity,or creative project. Summarize the inspiration/motivation for the project, including work previously completed on it. Indicate whether the project breaks new ground and/or is part of an on-going activity. Describe the nature of its contribution to the field of animation.

3. Design/methodology of research or components of creative project to be undertaken. List and describe the specific activities in which you will engage in. Include a timeline and consider the feasibility of the project within the proposed time frame.

4. Anticipated outcomes and goals of the activity. Outcomes may include the completion and screening of a finished film, presentation of a paper at a conference, persuasive proposals to external agencies, etc. Goals may include finishing part of an ongoing project (e.g., progress towards completing a book or film). This should include a date that the project will be considered complete as this will determine the submission deadline for a Final Report (details to follow).

Section 2: Estimated Budget

Please include a heading of Estimated Budget in your application document. The contents of this section will vary based on the nature of your proposal; applicants may include components that have not been suggested below. All items that have been included in the proposed budget should have a corresponding entry in the final report to be submitted at the conclusion of the project/activity.

• Creative/professional development (e.g., conference attendance, coursework, etc.)

• Development of materials for animation education (software, publication, webhosting, etc.)

• Production of artwork (acquisition of equipment/supplies, purchasing of software, hiring assistants, etc.)

• Publication (hiring editors, content experts, peer review, etc.)

• Research expenses (acquisition of source material, experimentation, hiring assistants, etc.)

• Travel expenses (visual design research, conference presentation, interviews, etc.) Note: In calculating travel expenses, we recommend using per diem rates found at the U.S. General Service Administration Per Diem Rates website, http://www.gsa.gov/portal/content/104877, for travel in the continental United States or the U.S. Department of State Per Diem Rates website, https://aoprals.state.gov/content.asp?content_id=207&menu_id=78, for overseas/foreign travel.

Section 3: Supporting Documentation

In addition to your Written Proposal, please supply documents that verify the legitimacy of the research, scholarly activity, or creative projects that the ASIFA-Hollywood’s Animation Educators Forum Faculty Grant will be utilized for. It may include one or more of the following (note that some are required):

1. Required: Curriculum Vitae or Academic Resume that includes a record of professional and/or scholarly achievement, and documents awards, honors and contributions to the animation community at large.

2. Proof of acceptance for conference presentation, paper, or contract with a publisher/ film distributor (ex. confirmation letter from publisher, invitation to conference, etc.).

3. Listing of other funding sources that this project has already/may also receive.

4. Script, storyboard, or other pre-production materials related to a creative project (ex. film or installation) that may assist the Selection Committee in evaluating its potential.

5. Letter of support from Institution program head, chair or dean and/or verification of employment.

Responsibilities of Awardees

Upon acceptance of the ASIFA-Hollywood’s Animation Educators Faculty Grant, the following conditions must be agreed to. A more detailed document will be provided to the individuals who have been chosen to receive the Grant and may or may not include more specific/additional responsibilities.

1. Individuals who receive grants are responsible for the completion of their proposed activities whether they are fully or only partially funded by the grant.

2. If there is any substantial change, for whatever reason, to the project between the time of the award announcement and the time the activity is completed, the awardee must immediately notify the Faculty Grant Selection Committee. If the awardee wishes to continue using the grant (or what remains of it), they must submit a revised proposal and budget. The Committee will decide if the revised activity and budget is a reasonable substitute for the original. If the proposal is deemed inappropriate the remaining funds will need to be returned to the Faculty Grant Fund.

3. If the awardee is unable to either begin or complete the project, then the unused funds must be returned to the Faculty Grants Fund.

4. Upon the completion of the proposed activity or project, Faculty Grant awardees must present the results to the Selection Committee in a Final Report.

5. Grant recipients must acknowledge that funding was provided by ASIFA-Hollywood’s Animation Educators Forum. This applies to each time that the work is published or presented. Examples that would fulfill this requirement include an acknowledgement in an introduction to a book or the inclusion of the logo/credit line in a film (official AEF logos will be supplied upon request).