Faculty
Senate Resolution #10-89
Approved by the Faculty Senate: December 7, 2010
East Carolina University
RESEARCH/CREATIVE ACTIVITY GRANTS COMMITTEE
Applications
available online at: http://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/fsonline/rg/research.cfm
The Research/Creative Activity Grants
Committee (RCAG) solicits proposals for meritorious research or creative
activities from eligible East Carolina University faculty members. The
Committee anticipates that in future years the RCAG Committee will recommend
funding only for proposals in underfunded subject areas since there are other
internal and external funding sources more readily accessible to researchers in
the natural sciences, medical/health affairs, and some social sciences.
We
anticipate that $100,000 will be available to fund meritorious projects for the
2011-12 academic year. This amount is about one-half
that in recent years. Potential applicants need also be aware that there is a
possibility that funding may be further reduced or eliminated pending the NC
budget situation next year.
The awarding of grants will be made for a
full fiscal year July 1, 2011 – June 30, 2012. This schedule will allow faculty
to receive requested summer stipends either in the 2nd summer
session 2011 or in the 1st summer session 2012. Announcement of awards is anticipated on or
before May 1, 2011; however, it may be delayed due to the NC budget situation
next year.
Eligibility
Applicants must be full-time tenured or full-time tenure track faculty.
Faculty
on fixed-term or part-time appointments are not eligible for grants to
be awarded by this committee.
Members
of the Research/Creative Activities Grants Committee are not eligible to submit
proposals for funding from this committee.
Members who wish to submit proposals must resign from the committee
before submitting their proposal.
Recipients
of awards from the following University sources may not apply for new funding under
this competition if the award is still active during the 2011-12 academic
year:
·
Research and Creative Activity Grants
·
·
Research Development Award Program
·
University Startup Funds Program
The Research/Creative
Activity Grants Committee funds the following expenses:
Stipends
for Research/Creative Activity
Stipends
will be equivalent to the prevailing compensation for full-time teaching in one
summer session. Applicants cannot teach
during the Summer Session in which he/she receives a stipend. These stipends
are not available to faculty who hold 12-month contracts.
These funds
are for expenses related to the proposed project. Project Expense Grants cannot exceed
$10,000. Project expense funds should be
expended or encumbered by the end of the funding fiscal year. Funds do no carry over to the following fiscal year. Guidelines for budget preparation and the
justification for requested funds are included in the application packet.
Stipend
for Research/Creative Activity and Project Expenses (dual)
Applicants
who are eligible may apply for a grant that will award money for a stipend plus
project expenses. Project expense funds
should be expended or encumbered by the end of the funding fiscal year. Funds
are not available in the following fiscal year. Guidelines for budget preparation are
included in the application packet.
Review
Criteria:
§
That the research/creative activity has the
probability of leading to significant contributions in the field, including
publication, presentation, performance, exhibition, and to the individual's
professional enrichment and growth.
§
That the research/creative activity is based
on knowledge in the field, and the proposal clearly shows how the proposed
effort extends, expands, and/or explores new directions, techniques or
processes.
§
That the research/creative activity possesses
evidence of scholarly importance, consists of more
than mere data collection or confirmation of easily anticipated results.
§
That the research/creative activity is
methodologically sound and within the competency of the applicant.
§
That the research/creative activity of this
project clearly justifies financial support by this University.
Proposals will be evaluated by the
diverse group of faculty that make up the
committee. It is to the applicant’s
advantage to prepare abstracts and proposals in language that can be understood
by individuals who are outside the applicant's discipline.
PLEASE NOTE: All decisions by the committee are final.
Grant
requirements
Grantees are required to submit to the Research/Creative Activity Grants
Committee a final report detailing
the results of the funded work. Final
reports are due no later than September 1 of the fiscal year following that of
the grant. Reports should be delivered
by hand or email to the
Other Restrictions
§
The final reports from any previous awards must
be on file in the Faculty Senate office before a new application will be
considered.
§
The publication of the results of projects
supported by an award from the Research/Creative Activity Grants Committee
should carry a printed acknowledgment of financial assistance from the
Committee.
§
There can be no co-project directors or
co-principal investigators listed on cover page although collaborations with
other faculty are acceptable..
§
RCAG applicants are eligible to
receive support from only one university funding source in any single
year. Persons receiving funding from
other such sources (e.g. Teaching Award, Research Development Award) must
inform the RCAG committee of the award and will need to decline other awards in
order to receive their RCAG grant.
§
Individuals may not submit more than one
proposal per funding period.
§
Major changes to funded projects must be
submitted in writing to the Chair of the Research/Creative Activities Grants
Committee for possible further consideration by the Committee for approval.
§
Applicants for projects involving research on
human subjects or animals must be prepared to file the appropriate forms with
the University Medical Center Institutional Review Board or the Institutional
Animal Care and Use Committee upon notification of the award. Funding will be contingent on receipt of
approval from the appropriate committee by July 1 of the award year.
§
Failure to adhere to the formatting
requirements for proposal will result in the elimination of a proposal from
consideration.
§
Following the evaluation and awarding of
grants, the Committee will handle all appeals internally and their decision is
final.
Application Process
Each grant proposal must include the attached application
form signed by the applicant and the chairperson (or dean, as appropriate) of
any unit involved. The original and 4 copies of the proposal (total of 5 copies) should be
submitted to the Research/Creative Activity Grants Committee, c/o Faculty
Senate Office, 140 Rawl Annex by 12:00 noon on Tuesday, February 8,
2011. In addition, the applicant must send an
electronic version of the proposal in PDF format to the
Applicants are strongly urged to
attend any information sessions given by the committee to verify that their
proposals are appropriate for consideration.
Applicants should also consult proposals that were funded in the past
three years that are kept on file in the
All items 1-9 on the cover sheet must
be completed and submitted together with the narrative.
Items 1
through 4:
Complete as requested. Please note for
item #3: check one of items a, b or c
and if b or c, list the amount of money requested in d. The amount of salary money to be paid will be
determined by the office of the Vice Chancellor for Research.
Item 5: Acknowledge that IRB and Animal Care approval
will be sought, if appropriate. Approval
of the research by the IRB must be demonstrated before funds are made available
to the grantee.
Item 6: Acknowledge and sign Application Cover Page.
Item 7: Signature of Unit Head.
Item 8: List of all
previous Research/Creative Activity Grants received from this committee,
indicating if the final report was submitted for each. Describe the publications, presentations,
performances, external funding proposals, or related activities, including
citations or publications directly resulting from each grant. Applicants should provide the committee with
some indication of the ranking/prestige of specific journals, shows, or
performances in which these grant funded work was published, performed, or
displayed.
Item
9: List current grant/contract support and
pending applications.
Include project title, sponsor, your role in the project (PI, Co-PI
etc), project period, award status (current or pending) and total funding
level. If previous proposals not funded
by this committee received support from another University program, indicate
the nature of that support, including the program that provided the funding,
the amount of the award and the period covered by the award.
Completing
Narrative
Give a brief description of the
project. Each part of this narrative
must be included in the order listed and will be used to evaluate your
proposal. The narrative is subject to format requirements listed in the
next section.
All of the information listed below should
be included and specific guidelines followed. Failure to adhere to the
restrictions for the following items or the required formats will result in the
proposal’s rejection.
Please place
the items in the order listed below after the cover page.
A. Abstract: The abstract should not exceed 250 words.
B.
Proposal Description:
Conciseness is encouraged.
Because faculty from different disciplines will review your proposal, it
should be clearly written and free of specialized jargon. The Proposal Description should include:
§
Problem/Purpose statement: Develop a clear
and sound basis for the project that includes supporting references that
establish the context of the research or creative activity.
§
Specific aims: Present clear and attainable
objectives and clearly describe potential results and benefits.
§
Methodology:
Describe how the project will be carried out, how the results will be
analyzed or evaluated, and the proposed schedule of activities. For those proposals where this approach is
not possible this section should then present a clear set of specific tasks and
activities that will produce the specific results expected.
§
Expected outcomes and benefits: How your work
will contribute to the advancement of your field.
C. Literature Cited: Items referenced in the narrative or abstract. Use a citation format that is appropriate for
your discipline.
D. Appendices: Supporting documentation such as contracts
from publishers, letters of invitation, award notices, letters
of support from school principals or medical centers involved in the
project. Please provide English
translations of foreign documents. It is
inappropriate to include in the appendices any information critical to the
description of the project, such as that pertaining to the methodology to be
used. Proposals will be excluded from
consideration if applicants appear to be attempting to circumvent the proposal
page limit by including such material in the appendices.
E. Project Expenses: Itemize expenses on the Budget for Project Expenses form.
F. Justification for Support: Briefly justify each item from the Budget for Project Expenses form.
G. Vita:
Submit a one or two page vita. Include degrees earned, institutions and
dates, and academic employment history. Include a list of representative
publications and/or creative activities.
Do NOT submit copies of publications, reports, endorsements, or
brochures.
H.
Checklist.
Format Requirements (strictly enforced)
All pages
paginated;
Font: minimum 12 pt Arial or Helvetica for all
pages;
1 inch
margins left/right and top/bottom for all pages;
The abstract
and proposal description must be double-spaced and together may not
exceed eight (8) pages in length;
Any figures
or tables included in the proposal description must fit within the eight-page
limit;
A
references cited section should follow the proposal description;
citation format and spacing is at the discretion of the author;
The
appendices may not exceed four (4) pages in length
The budget and
accompanying justification may not exceed two (2) pages in length;
The Vita may
not exceed two (2) pages in length.
Multimedia
Content
Multimedia content can be submitted on compact disc (CD). One
multimedia CD must be submitted with each copy of the proposal. Examples of acceptable multimedia content
include high-resolution photographs of sculpture, musical recordings, and
animations of a vibrating object. The
multimedia CD cannot include traditional graphs, tables, photos and
illustrations that should appear in the body of the proposal. If multimedia files are included in the
proposal, each file must be described in the body of the proposal. The multimedia files will be reviewed by
people from diverse backgrounds using different computer platforms and should
be platform- and specialized application- independent. The CD should contain
file types that can be viewed on a standard Web browser with normal plugins installed.
An HTML navigation page for the multimedia files on the CD is encouraged
but not required.
Examples of these file types include the following:
Still Graphics: JPEG, PNG, GIF, PDF
Animated Graphics: Flash, Animated GIF, Quicktime
movie, MPEG movie
Sound:
WAV, AIFF, MP3, non-streaming Real Audio
Budget and Budget
Justification
The maximum possible funding is a
summer stipend plus $10,000 for project costs.
Stipends are available at the rate of 16.67% of the applicant’s salary,
up to a cap equal to the prevailing cap on full-time teaching in one summer
session. Applicants must use the ECU
Business Manual (copies are available in
all departments) in preparing the budget to determine which budget line is
appropriate for requested funds and what current rates are allowable.
Budgets should be carefully and reasonably
constructed. The need for each item
should be clearly established, with sources indicated where appropriate. Budget excesses or budgets lacking essential
details and justification will be considered negatively in evaluating the
proposal.
Where appropriate, indicate any direct
contribution from your department or from any other University office or
individual that has been made or will be made toward subsidizing your project.
Specify the kind and amount of contribution or support on the budget page.
The budget may request money for:
§
Research Assistants/Student Wages:
Compensation for graduate and undergraduate students should be consistent with
the standard compensation offered to these students in your department.
Proposals for the sole purpose of support for graduate research assistants must
be strongly justified.
§
Travel: Applicants may only request funds for
travel that is clearly be essential to completion of the project, such as data
collection/observation that is site-specific.
Attempts to obtain international travel funds from other (non-ECU)
sources should be indicated. Travel for
the purpose of presenting results at meetings will not be funded. Applicants requesting payment for use of a
personal car must explain why ECU cars cannot be used. Multiple, short-distance trips must be
justified. Travel will be reimbursed at
state-approved rates.
§
Research/Creative Activity Supplies: Itemize all supply requests.
§
Printing: Activities involving organizing,
presenting, and/or publishing or disseminating the results of completed
research/creative activities will not be funded.
§
Communications: Itemize.
§
Equipment:
Requests for equipment or software purchase will not be supported
if: a) the
needed equipment or software exists elsewhere on campus and is accessible to
the applicant, b) the item is to be for general departmental use, or c) the
item appears to represent one-time use by one person. Applicants are encouraged to determine the
availability of desired equipment in other locations on campus. This is particularly true for computer
equipment such as laptops.
§
Other documented purposes necessary to the
successful completion of the proposed activity and within the general policies
of the University should be clearly specified and justified.
Completing
Checklist
Complete the
attached checklist and submit it as the last page of your proposal.
#2011-
______
RESEARCH/CREATIVE ACTIVITY GRANTS COMMITTEE
Application
Cover Page for a Research/Creative Activity Grant
1. a. Name: _________________________________________________________________
b. Department: ____________________________________________________________
c. Academic
Rank:
_________________________________________________________
2. Proposal Title:
______________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
3. Type of Grant (check one)t:
a. Stipend of
Research/Creative Activity _____
b. Project expense
only _____
c. Stipend and
Project Expense _____
d. Amount of project
expense money requested: _____________
4. Type of Faculty position (check all that
apply)
a. Full-time tenured
or tenure-track _____
b. 12-month contract _____
5. If your project requires human subjects
protection (IRB) approval or animal welfare (IAUCU) approval, please check the
appropriate item or mark not applicable
Project
requires approval from _____IRB, _____IACUC, _____Not
Applicable.
6. I understand and accept the terms and
conditions set forth in the Research/Creative
Activity Grants Committee
guidelines.
________________________________________ _________________
Signature of Applicant
Date
7. The applicant is a full-time tenured,
tenure-track, or clinical faculty member who, I
believe, can complete the proposed project.
________________________________________ _________________
Signature of Unit Head Date
8. Dates
of previous University grants, final reports filed, publications,
presentations, performances, external funding proposals, or related activities,
including citations or publications directly resulting from each grant. (section may be expanded in length)
9. List
current grant/contract support and pending applications. Include project title, sponsor, your role in
the project (PI or co-PI), the project period, award status (pending/current)
and total funding level. Include in
particular any current or pending funding related to the proposed research. (section may be expanded in length)
10. If
funded, may the
request as a model for prospective
ECU applicants? (Your answer will not be a
factor in the Committee’s decision
to recommend funding for your proposal.)
YES NO
RESEARCH/CREATIVE ACTIVITY GRANTS COMMITTEE
Budget for
Project Expenses with a 2011/2012 Research/Creative Activity Grant
|
Item |
Line |
Requested |
Funds from |
|
|
1) |
Research Assistants (University personnel
only); Student wages |
1450 |
||
|
|
De
Description: |
|||
|
2) |
Travel (Mode/Sources, etc.) |
3100 |
||
|
|
De
Description: |
|||
|
3) |
Research/Creative Activity Supplies |
2300 |
$ |
$ |
|
|
De
Description: |
|||
|
4) |
Printing |
3400 |
$ |
$ |
|
|
De
Description: |
|||
|
5) |
Communication |
3200 |
$ |
$ |
|
|
Description: |
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
|
|
|||
|
6) |
Equipment |
5300 |
$ |
$ |
|
|
De
Description: |
|||
|
7) |
Other (Specify) |
|
$ |
$ |
|
|
De
Description: |
|||
|
Total |
$ |
$ |
||
|
*Identify
Other Sources of Funding: |
||||
A BRIEF
JUSTIFICATION (ONE PAGE MAXIMUM) IS NEEDED
FOR ALL PROJECT EXPENSES.
RESEARCH/CREATIVE ACTIVITY GRANTS COMMITTEE
Checklist
for a 2011-2012 Research/Creative Activity Grant
I. Please check that you qualify
for a Research/Creative Activity Grant:
|
full-time tenured, tenure-track, or
clinical faculty member at ECU |
|
|
|
not currently a candidate for an advanced
degree |
|
|
not from the |
|
|
not a fixed-term or part-time faculty
member |
|
|
completed all previous Final Report forms
(If unsure, please call the |
II. Please
check that you qualify for a stipend for research/creative activity if
requested.
|
|
do
not hold a 12-month contract |
III. Please
check the following proposal requirements:
|
Application Cover Page, including: |
||
|
|
Applicant’s name, school department,
academic rank |
|
|
|
|
Proposal title |
|
|
|
Type of grant |
|
|
|
Amount of project expenses, as applicable |
|
|
|
Tenure status |
|
|
|
9-month or 12-month |
|
|
|
IRB/animal approval |
|
|
|
Applicant’s signature and date |
|
|
|
Applicant’s unit head’s signature and date |
|
|
|
List of prior research/creative activity
grants received |
|
|
|
List of current/grant contract support and
pending applications |
|
|
Narrative formatted along guidelines |
|
|
|
Abstract |
|
|
|
Description of proposal (8 doubled spaced
pages max including abstract) |
|
|
|
Literature cited, if appropriate |
|
|
|
Appendices (4 pages max), if appropriate |
|
|
|
Budget, if appropriate |
|
|
|
Justification for support (2 page max for
budget and justification) |
|
|
|
Vita (2 pages) |
|
|
|
Proposal checklist |
|
IV. Please
explain briefly any suggestions you have concerning the proposal guidelines and
application format.
RESEARCH/CREATIVE ACTIVITY GRANTS COMMITTEE
Due September 1, 2012 in the Faculty Senate
office (140 Rawl Annex)
Future grant
proposals will not be considered unless Final Reports have
been filed on all previous year grants.
Name:
________________________________________________________________
Academic Unit:__________________________________________________________
Grant Number: #2011- ______
Grant Amount: $ ________
Grant Title:
____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Project Summary: Concisely describe the activities undertaken,
addressing the goals and aims presented in your proposal. Include citations to any presentations,
publications, performances, external proposals or related activities which have
resulted from this project. Indicate any
activities of this sort that are planned in the near future. (Use the reverse side if necessary.)
USE AS GUIDE FOR FUTURE
REPORT
DO NOT INCLUDE WITH PROPOSAL
APPLICATION
_________________________________________________ ________________
(Signature
of Applicant) (Date)
_________________________________________________ _________________
(Signature
of Unit Head)
(Date)
RESEARCH/CREATIVE ACTIVITY GRANTS COMMITTEE
This page
will be used by the committee to capture substantive and constructive comments
about the grant proposal from the reviewers. This page will then be transmitted
to the applicant following the awarding process.
Name:
________________________________________________________________
Academic Unit:
_________________________________________________________
Grant Number: #2011- ______
Grant Title:
____________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________
Reviewer Comments:
FOR COMMITTEE USE
DO NOT INCLUDE WITH PROPOSAL
APPLICATION