Cultivating ideas. Growing scholarship. Advancing excellence.
CULTIVATE — Cultivating Understanding and Leadership through Training, Innovation, Vision, Advancement, Teamwork, and Excellence — is a year-long faculty grant mentorship program that provides structured, personalized support for the “scholar” component of Wake Forest’s teacher-scholar ideal.
Designed for faculty across disciplines and career stages, CULTIVATE helps participants strengthen their research, scholarship, and creative work by guiding them through every step of developing and submitting competitive external funding proposals.
Through mentorship, collaboration, and shared accountability, CULTIVATE fosters a community where ideas take root and scholarship flourishes.
Program Outcomes
Submission-ready proposal by year’s end
Stronger grant development skills
Broader support network
What is CULTIVATE?
Each letter in CULTIVATE represents a core principle guiding the program:
CULTIVATING
Nurturing and developing talent, skills, and knowledge to foster growth in research, scholarship and creative works
UNDERSTANDING
Fostering a deep knowledge of funding mechanisms and proposal best practices
LEADERSHIP
Developing leadership skills to guide and mentor interdisciplinary and collaborative research teams
TRAINING
Providing structured career planning, skill development, and feedback loops for continuous improvement
INNOVATION
Encouraging transformative approaches to scholarship
VISION
Guiding participants toward a clear vision for their research, scholarship and creative work goals
ADVANCEMENT
Supporting growth as a teacher-scholar through mentorship and networking
TEAMWORK
Emphasizing the importance of collaboration and teamwork in achieving individual excellence
EXCELLENCE
Striving for high-quality research, scholarship and creative work outcomes that contribute significantly to the field