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Applications must be received in the Office of Sponsored
Projects (Sherman Hall 320) by 12:00 pm (noon) on April 12, 2007.
Submit the originally signed application plus 10 copies.
URC support is intended to promote research or its scholarly
equivalent in appropriate fields by providing "seed"
money for the initiation of new projects. The URC should not be
viewed as a funding source for research projects that are one
time only, in process, or in their final stages. Priority will
be given to those proposals which are likely to result in external
funding and publication in peer-refereed journals, or exhibitions
and performances. Some emphasis will be given to assisting new
faculty in beginning their research activities. All applications
will be reviewed by the URC but those that adhere to these guidelines
will be evaluated first by the committee.
- Applicant Eligibility
Applicants . . .
- must be tenured or tenure-track faculty;
- may not be a member of the URC at the time of application;
- may not be an applicant or co-applicant on more than
one proposal per funding cycle. Submission of two or more
proposals per funding cycle will result in a disqualification
of all of them; and
- new funding will be contingent upon receipt of final
report from all previous URC grants.
- applicants cannot receive a URC award concurrent with
a Foundation Summer Stipend award.
- Project Eligibility
- General Guidelines.
- The project may not be dissertation research or used
in any way to fulfill degree requirements.
- Projects cannot be for textbook writing, curriculum
development, or personal development.
- A signed original plus ten (10) complete copies of
the typed proposal must be delivered to the Office
of Sponsored Projects by the specified time/date. The
11 copies are necessary so that each member of the URC
may have a copy for individual review and evaluation.
- Proposals are to be received by the stated time and
date.
- Applicants may not submit a URC and Foundation Summer
Stipend proposal for the same project.
- Specific Proposal Format Guidelines.
Each proposal is to be developed according to the following
format. See Appendix I for a detailed
explanation of these items. You may use the forms shown
in Appendices II and III or type them in the
respective format.
- Cover Page signed by the Applicant(s), Department
Chair(s), and Dean(s)
- Support Letter signed by Department Chairperson(s)
- Budget and Budget Justification Page
- Project Description
- Other Supporting Documentation
- Evaluation of the Proposals
It is the intention of the URC to support projects of a research
nature or projects which otherwise demonstrate originality and
creative scholarship and would be recognized as such by peers.
The proposals will be evaluated and awards determined by the
members of the WIU University Research Council
who represent the academic colleges. Most members will not be
technically knowledgeable in all proposed
research areas, so it is incumbent upon the applicant to present
the project in such a way that it may best be
evaluated by this group.
Applicants are encouraged to contact the URC member representing
their college or discipline for advice or
review prior to submitting the application to the Office of
Sponsored Projects. (A list of current URC members is
available from the Office of Sponsored Projects.)
- Award Administration
Awards will begin immediately upon notice by the Office of Sponsored
Projects on behalf of the URC and will
continue for one year. There will be no time extensions. Any
funds remaining at the award termination date will
be forfeited. Note that the awards will run across the summer.
The successful applicant need not be concerned
about the beginning and ending of the University's fiscal year.
Each individual award is established for the awardee in a "3-"
account in the Business Office by the approved
line-item award. The awardee is the fiscal agent of the account
and is responsible for expending the grant in
accordance with the URC-approved budget. Any restrictions or
special conditions on the award will be a part of
the letter notifying the applicant of his/her award.
- Reporting Requirements
A comprehensive final report must be submitted to the Office
of Sponsored Projects within two months of the
award termination date. A publication reprint will suffice for
the report if one is available at the time the report is
due. Notice of any publication resulting in whole or in part
from the award should acknowledge the URC support
and should be sent to the Office of Sponsored Projects. (If
possible, a reprint should be included).
- Special Considerations
- Human Subjects in Research
In addition to those human beings upon whom experiments
are to be conducted, this category includes those subjects
from whom a research investigator obtains data through intervention
or interaction with the individual or obtains identifiable
private information. "Intervention" includes both
physical procedures by which data are gathered and/or manipulation
of the subject or the subject's environment for research
purposes. "Private information" includes information
about behavior that occurs in a context in which an individual
can reasonably expect that no observation or recording is
taking place.
It also includes information which has been provided for
specific purposes by an individual which the individual
can reasonably expect will not be made public.
Contact the Office of Sponsored Projects for procedural
information for projects involving human subjects.
- Animal Welfare/Radiation Safety/Recombinant DNA Research
All research involving either animals, radioactive isotopes
or other biohazardous materials, and/or recombinant DNA
must be conducted within formal procedures providing adequate
safeguards against any infringement upon either the welfare
of animal subjects or the safety of the University community.
If any of the foregoing special considerations apply to
the proposed research project, contact the Office of Sponsored
Projects (298-1191) for procedural information.
Appendix I -- Explanation of the Proposal Details
Since the URC must read and evaluate a large number of proposals
in each competitive cycle, it is essential that the proposal be
assembled with the following information and in the order listed:
Use the attached forms for items (1) and (3) or have them typed
in the respective formats.
- Cover Page (See Appendix II)
Before submission, the cover page must be completed and signed
by the applicant(s), department chairperson, and
college dean. For co-applicants in different departments or
colleges, signatures of all appropriate department
chairpersons and deans must be obtained.
- Support Letter signed by Department Chairperson(s)
- Budget and Budget Justification Page (See Appendix III)
Applicants should ask for sufficient funds to obtain enough
data for publication or to form the basis of a proposal
to a potential sponsor. The URC will accept requests of up to
$5,000. It is the applicant's responsibility to make
sure the requested funds are placed in appropriate WIU budget
line items.
Because of limited funds available to the URC and in order to
increase the degree of interest of the departments
and colleges in the results of the research and any proposals
to outside sponsors, the URC strongly urges the
departments and colleges to participate by contributing the
combined amount of 25% of the total project costs
(In fact, preference will be given to proposals with departmental
and college support). All purchases and payments
are to be made in accordance with University policies and through
appropriate University channels. College and
department contributions towards equipment purchases are especially
welcome.
- Personal Services
- No funds will be awarded for faculty salaries.
- In the graduate assistant and student help categories,
explain exactly what each assistant/student will do
and why it is not being done by the investigator. When
requesting student help, refer to rules regarding hours,
pay rates, etc., in the latest edition of Student Employment
Regulations. This document is available on request from
the Financial Aids Office.
While it is anticipated that graduate students will
receive research experience while assisting on a URC
grant and that some aspects of the research may be valuable
in such graduate students' theses, it is not the intention
of the URC to fund graduate student research (i.e.,
the faculty member merely "lends" his/her
name to the proposal).
- Payments to research subjects are allowable but must
be fully justified and shown to be logistically
possible. It is not possible for the University to prepare
checks for small amounts to a large number of
individuals.
- Travel
Funds for travel must be required to conduct the project.
Travel to meetings is not allowable. If properly
justified, travel for consultants to campus may be allowed;
but, no honoraria will be paid. Travel outside
of the United States must be for the purpose of conducting
the research and must be fully justified.
Support for travel will be limited to an amount not to exceed
that required for coach (tourist) class fare or
allowable mileage, plus lodging (single occupancy rate),
and per diem.
- Equipment
Title to any equipment purchased remains with the University.
However, during the term of the project,
control of the equipment remains with the award recipient.
At the termination of the URC grant, the
equipment may be used for other departmental research or
teaching purposes in the same manner as
other departmentally purchased equipment.
It must be clear that the equipment is necessary to the
project and is not available on campus.
- Budget Restrictions
The maximum amount that can be requested from the URC is
$5,000. The following cost items are not allowable:
- Faculty salaries
- Consultant honoraria
- Travel to meetings
- Books and periodicals
- Project Description
Use the headings on page 6 in the development of your project
description. The description should describe
precisely the experiments or actions to be taken to achieve
the stated objectives. Appropriate references (citations)
should be included in this section. Although essential technical
or scientific terms may be used, the description
should be free of jargon and buzz-words and should be clearly
written for a multidisciplinary group of reviewers.
The project description and the statement of significance of
the work are the most important factors in judging the
merit of the proposed project.
- Abstract of the project (250 words or less).
- Introduction/background.
- Stated objectives.
- Clear explanation of exactly what you are going to do,
measurements to be made, treatment of data, etc. (Where
appropriate, hypotheses to be tested should be stated.)
- Statement of significance (likely impact on the field)
or a comparison of the artistic merit with other works in
the same creative field.
- Procedures to be used to evaluate the effectiveness or
success of the project.
- Cite your previous work and/or publications most directly
relevant to this project (or the equivalent for creative
arts).
- What are your publications and/or dissemination plans
upon completion of the project?
- Has application been made for support from non-University
sources? If so, to whom and what was the response? If not,
justify why you have not attempted to secure external funding
and what contacts you have made with the Office of Sponsored
Projects Staff for assistance.
- To what external sponsors will you apply to support the
next phase of this research project?
- References
- Other Supporting Documentation
- Survey instrument(s) to be used.
- List manuscripts accepted and/or publication citations
from previous URC grants in refereed journals or the
equivalent for creative arts.
- Curriculum Vitae
Appendix II
University
Research Council Grant Program Proposal Application Form (PDF)
Appendix III
Budget
(PDF)
University
Research Council
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