SBS Research Grants Available

The Dean's Research Council offers five categories of grants through the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences to support research activities. All ranks of faculty are eligible to apply, and applications to more than one category of award are allowed. A strong preference is given to generating new research activity among all faculty and supporting pre-tenure faculty research career development.

Proposal Preparation Grants—Course reduction for proposal preparation
Matching Funds for FRG proposals—Up to $10,000
Research Support Grants—Up to $4,000
Travel Grants—Up to $1,000 with a 1-1 match from other sources
Conference/Visitor Grants—Up to $1,000 support with a 2-1 match
from other sources

Due Date: Applications are solicited twice per year and timed to be due approximately two weeks before the university's Faculty Research Grant (FRG) program deadlines. (Click here for more information on university grants.) This timing facilitates use of the grant program to request matching funds for university FRG grants; dual submission is strongly encouraged.

Applications, consisting of one original unstapled copy, should be submitted to the Associate Dean for Research Affairs’ office, c/o Karen Mason, W34A Machmer Hall, and can be dropped off in her mailbox in W37 Machmer. Because of review scheduling, late applications will not be accepted and E-mail submissions are not accepted! The SBS Research Committee administers the grant program and reviews proposals. Contact Doug Anderton if you have questions or difficulties preparing an application.

All Applications

Begin the application with your name, department, years in rank and category of award for which you are applying. Please include your e-mail address.
Attach a vitae and a brief statement on what role the award would play in your professional development.
End with a brief itemized budget that clearly indicates how any requested funds are to be used.

Proposal Preparation Grants

This award is available to all ranks of faculty.
For faculty without prior or recent research experience we encourage you to use this award to support participation in one of the structured grant writing mentoring programs available in the college. Otherwise, your proposal should include a mentorship plan specifying at least two faculty with sponsored research experience who have agreed to provide support in preparing the research proposal.
This program is for the preparation of new sponsored research proposals only—not revisions or resubmissions.
You may receive only one award from this program in your career. Ordinarily these awards will support only cases in which you would be the principal investigator of the submitted proposal. Faculty members who have already received a course reduction to prepare a research grant through other university programs or centers are ineligible.
It is anticipated that awards will result in a proposal submission no later than the semester following the course reduction (or the next application date of the sponsor, if later). If a proposal is not submitted within this period, investigators will be expected to teach an overload to repay the course reduction.
The dean will fund the course buyout but your Chair must agree to the proposed course reduction.
Applications should be kept to 2-3 pages and include a supporting letter from the Chair.
Indicate the semester in which you are requesting a course reduction and flexibility regarding semester.
Summarize the proposal you anticipate you will prepare—include a brief description of the research problem, the contribution you intend to make, significance of the research and methodological approach.
Identify anticipated co-investigators and whether you will be the principal investigator of the proposal.
Identify the sponsor(s) you anticipate you will submit the proposal to.
Briefly itemize external sponsored research support you have already received over the course of your career.

Matching Funds for FRG Grants

Submit a copy of the proposal you intend to submit to the FRG program.
In a cover letter, indicate the amount of the matching fund contribution requested form the College for the FRG application along with the source and amount of any other matching funds involved.
Matching fund awards are conditional upon receipt of an FRG award from the University program. However, you may indicate in the cover letter that you wish the proposal to be considered for a more limited college research award if you are not awarded a University FRG.

Research Support Awards

Applications should be kept to 3-4 typewritten pages.
Describe research activities you are requesting support for, the significance of the research and anticipated career gains (e.g., resources developed, collaborations, publications, sponsored research submissions, etc.).
Research grants can include travel costs only if they are directly required for the conduct of the research.
Indicate the date and title of the most recent research support grant (e.g. FRG, Healey Grant, CRG) you received (if any) from the university or college.

Travel Grants

Applications should be kept to 1-2 typewritten pages.
Indicate the source of matching funds up to the amount requested from the college program.
If the application is for a presentation, include the host organization (indicate national, regional, etc.), location and time of the meeting, abstract, title and authorship (including order) as it will be listed in the program.
If the application is for other research related travel, indicate the purpose of the travel and summarize your expected career gains (e.g., collaborations, training, pilot research, etc.).
Indicate the date of the most recent travel grant you received (if any) from the university or College.

Conference/Visitor Support Grants

Applications should be kept to 1 typewritten page (attachments allowed).
Include a short description of the event for which support is being requested or the necessity for bringing a visitor to campus if support is requested for that purpose.
Include a brief total budget for the event/visitor.
Identify the source of matching funds available for the event/visitor. SBS support will require a 2-1 match, e.g. if you have $600 in funding you can apply for $300 additional support from the college. Indicate the approximate amount of support for the event (and similar events within the same unit over the past two years) coming from University funding lines.
If support for a visitor is included, attach a vitae or description sufficient to evaluate need and merit.
Attach any additional materials you wish (flyers, programs, grant applications, etc.) that show the import or the benefit which will accrue to faculty and the college.

July 30, 2009