Travel Awards For Seeking Funding
Grant Writing Mentorship Program
Faculty Publication Exhibit Support
Post-Declination Support Program
The objective of the Cross-Disciplinary Grant Development Program is to facilitate the development of competitive external grant proposals that support research crossing disciplinary boundaries. The program recognizes that many of the higher-level, or more complex problems confronting society (e.g., climate change, urban education, global banking meltdowns) can best be solved through the collective contribution of scholars coming from different disciplines. One of the difficulties in fostering cross-disciplinary initiatives is the lack of opportunities for scholars from different fields to share their expertise and to pursue innovative ideas that might otherwise be constrained by disciplinary silos. The Cross-Disciplinary Grant Development Program is intended to remedy this deficiency and support the development of cross-disciplinary external grant proposals that will have a broad impact on the research mission of the University.
The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (RSP) will fund 2-3 cross-disciplinary grant development awards to assist cross-disciplinary teams of faculty across campus in developing major grant proposals to external funding agencies or foundations. The awards, which are expected to range from $8,000 to $15,000, will be used to offset some of the expenses incurred in the development of the proposal, including faculty stipends, the use of external evaluators and consultants, travel, course buyout, or any other legitimate expenses associated with the development of the proposal.
Applications to the cross-disciplinary grant development program should include: 1) a cover page, 2) a short narrative describing the scope of the project (limited to 3 pages), 3) a budget (limited to 1 page) and 4) a budget justification (limited to 1 page). Each proposal should include the curricula vitae of the proposed collaborators.
The cover page should include: 1) the title of the project; 2) the name, title, department/school, and college of each faculty member involved in the project; 3) the proposed funding source, the anticipated amount of funds to be requested from the funding source (including the rate for indirect cost recovery), and the deadline for submission (or anticipated deadline based on prior year’s competitions); and 4) the amount of funds requested from the Cross-Disciplinary Grant Development Program.
The narrative should include the following elements: 1) background and objectives of the proposed research project, 2) an outline of the research plan, 3) the form and nature of each faculty member’s involvement in the research project, 4) a plan for achieving successful submission of the external proposal (e.g., timelines, who will take the lead in writing the proposal, budget development, submission etc.), and 5) a resubmission strategy should the external proposal be declined for funding.
Applications to the cross-disciplinary grant development program should be submitted to Kathy Young electronically via Cayuse no later than 4:00 p.m. on March 19, 2012. Chairs/Directors and Deans of all team members should be included in the Cayuse routing chain to secure their approval.
Any questions concerning the program should be directed to Research and Sponsored Programs (researchoffice@ilstu.edu).
Proposals will be evaluated on the extent to which they foster innovative cross-disciplinary research, their potential for securing significant external funding (including indirect costs), and the academic qualifications of the faculty participants. We especially encourage proposals from newcross-disciplinary teams and from those that involve faculty members from different colleges. Only proposals that are truly cross-disciplinary will be considered for funding.
Funding through this program is intended only for those grants or contracts to be submitted and administered through RSP. Each funded cross-disciplinary team must submit an external proposal to their targeted funding source no later than December 31, 2012. Submission of the proposal is required to maintain eligibility for this and other programs sponsored by RSP.