The purpose of this program is to assist faculty who have the potential for obtaining significant funding from external agencies by providing release time to develop fundable proposals. The type of extramural funding to be sought is for supporting research and scholarly activities which contribute to the mission of the university.

Under the Project Development Award Program, a faculty member may request the equivalent of one quarter release time (spread over at least two quarters during the academic year), plus one summer support grant. During the tenure of the award, the faculty member will work on developing a proposal for extramural funding. As a second option for those who cannot arrange release time during the academic year, a faculty member may request full salary for two summer months if the entire summer will be devoted to working full-time on developing the proposal.

In addition to the release time, faculty members may request funds to hire students, purchase supplies, and travel, if necessary, to conduct preliminary research or to visit potential funding agencies.

The Research Advisory Committee will evaluate and recommend proposals to be supported based on the following criteria:

Funding Criteria/Guidelines

Eligibility:

All tenured and tenure-track faculty (with an employment agreement for the following year) are eligible to apply. Preference will be given to first-time investigators. First-time investigators are encouraged to seek guidance from experienced scholars/mentors.

Criteria:

Project Development Awards are intended to allow faculty the time to obtain preliminary data and develop a proposal that will be ready for submission by the end of the award period. The scope of the project must warrant the amount of support requested. (Note: The Office of Research and Sponsored Programsoffers a category of support called Pilot Project Grants which provide up to $3,000 to assist faculty in initiating pilot projects that will generate data needed to develop proposals for extramural funding.)

Specific agencies, foundations, and/or programs must be identified in the application. Applicants are encouraged to study the agencies' programs and to discuss the project with program officers to determine the appropriateness of the agency.

The proposal resulting from the Project Development Award is expected to contain support sufficient to engage undergraduates in the faculty member's research, to contain support for some graduate students, and to fund a portion of the faculty member's time throughout the project period. Multi-year proposals for external funding are encouraged.

For faculty who currently have externally funded projects, the proposal must not be for an extension of the current work nor for a renewal or continuation of the existing grant.

 

The opportunity of expanding professional scholarship of the faculty member as well as contributing to the mission of the university will be considered.

Application Instructions

Complete applications must be received by the Office of Research and Sponsored Programsby the deadline (announced in FAST and in Calendar of Internal Deadlines) and should include the following information:

1. Project Development Program Application Cover Sheet (available in RSP)
2. Detailed project description (not to exceed five pages; organized like a typical extramural proposal). The description should be written in clear, non-technical language that a colleague from another discipline can comprehend and review fairly.
3. Bibliography
4. Current vita
5. Relevant supporting documentation

Awards are announced within 2-3 weeks.

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