Rev. 10-17-07
RESEARCH/CREATIVE ACTIVITY GRANTS COMMITTEE
Available online at: http://www.ecu.edu/cs-acad/fsonline/rg/research.cfm
(approved by the
The
Research/Creative Activity Grants Committee solicits proposals for meritorious
research or creative activities from eligible
The awarding of grants will be made for
the full fiscal year July 1, 2008 – June 30, 2009, and announced on or before
May 1, 2008. This new system will allow faculty receiving stipends to
select either 2nd summer session 2008 or 1st summer
session 2009 to receive the stipend.
Eligibility
Applicants
must be full-time tenured or full-time tenure track faculty.
Faculty
from the Brody School of Medicine and 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
during the academic year in which their grant is active:
·
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, or leading to 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. Consequently, it will be to the advantage of
applicants to prepare abstracts and proposals in language that can be
understood by individuals who are outside the applicant's discipline.
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
§
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.
§
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.
§
After an award is made, any changes must be submitted in
writing to the Chair of the Research/Creative Activities Grants Committee for
presentation to 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 receipt of the award.
Funding will be contingent on approval from the appropriate committee.
§
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 9 copies
of the proposal (total of 10 copies)
should be submitted to the Research/Creative Activity Grants Committee, c/o
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
Appeals
Applicants may appeal the decision of
the committee. The entire committee
reviews appeals and the decision regarding the appeal is final. Applicants wishing to appeal the decision
must explain in a detailed email to the committee chair their reasons for
appealing the decision. The chair must
receive appeals within two weeks of the announcement of the initial decision. Appeals will be reviewed within four weeks of
receipt by the chair. Applicants will be
informed of the final decision by email.
All items 1-9 on the cover sheet must
be completed and submitted together with the narrative.
Items
1 through 4:
Complete as requested.
Item
5: Complete IRB and Animal Care filings, if
appropriate. These forms must be
filed when submitting the application.
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 proposal’s narrative should follow directly
behind the Application Cover Page.
All of the information listed below should be included and specific guidelines followed. Failure to adhere to the restrictions for the following items will result in the proposal’s rejection.
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.
RESEARCH/CREATIVE ACTIVITY GRANTS COMMITTEE
Application
Cover Page for a 2008-2009 Research/Creative Activity Grant
Proposals are due in the
1. a. Name: _________________________________________________________________
b. Department: ____________________________________________________________
c. Academic
Rank:
_________________________________________________________
2. Proposal Title:
______________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________
3. Type of Grant: a.
Stipend of Research/Creative Activity _____
(check one)
b. Project expense
only _____
c. Stipend and
Project Expense _____
d. Amount of project
expense money _____________
requested:
4. Type of Faculty a. Full-time tenured
or tenure-track _____
position (check
all that apply) b.
12-month contract _____
c. Clinical _____
5. I understand and accept the term and
conditions set forth in the Research/Creative Activity Grants Committee
guidelines.
________________________________________ _________________
Signature of Applicant
Date
6. 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
7. 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)
8. 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)
RESEARCH/CREATIVE ACTIVITY GRANTS COMMITTEE
Budget for
Project Expenses with a 2007/2008 Research/Creative Activity Grant
Proposals are due in the
|
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 |
|||