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Scenes from the College of Arts and Sciences

REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

ENHANCEMENT OF GRADUATE RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP

CO-SPONSORED BY: THE OFFICE OF THE PROVOST, THE VICE PRESIDENT OF RESEARCH AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, AND THE DEAN OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL

 

Purpose

The Provost, the Vice President of Research and Economic Development, and the Dean of the Graduate School are providing small grant awards to support research, creative or artistic projects. This program underscores the value placed on providing students with research opportunities and support for the scholarly work by graduate students.

 

Funds Available

A committee assembled by the Dean of the Graduate School, with representation from the Graduate Council, the Council for Research, and the Research Development Office, will evaluate proposals. Each student chosen for support will receive an award up to $1000 to support his or her project. The total funds available for this initiative are $40,000. One of the goals of the committee is to distribute the awards to students with quality projects representing a wide variety of departments within the University. Funds will be provided to graduate students to participate in original research, creative or artistic projects in which they have a major responsibility. Funds maybe used to support travel to national or regional conferences, the purchase of items for specific projects, to defray publication costs, and specific needs that the committee deems essential for the student’s development. Cost-sharing by departments and faculty sponsors are encouraged. These projects require supervision by a faculty sponsor.

How to apply

To apply for a grant, a student (or group of up to three students) must complete an application coversheet and submit the proposal along with a letter of support from a faculty sponsor. In addition, for projects that require IRB or IACUC review, approval must be obtained for consideration in this year’s selection process. The student will submit electronically a packet assembled in the following order:

  • Application coversheet (click here to download application coversheet form)
  • Proposals (Instructions are included in the application coversheet)
  • Faculty sponsor’s letter of support (see guidelines below)

Proposals must be submitted to the following e-mail address urigradproposals@gmail.com as PDF files, no later than 4 p.m. November 13, 2009 to be considered for an award.

Questions about this program should be directed to Megan Verry at the Graduate School at 874-2176. Applicants will be notified by December 15, 2009 on the status of their applications.

Conditions

The awards have certain limitations: (1) a graduate student can receive only one award in an academic year; (2) funds may be used only to support projects which include original student research, creative or artistic endeavors; (3) IRB or IACUC approval must be obtained; and (4) upon completion of the project the student must submit a final report to the faculty sponsor and the Graduate School. Eligible expenses for this research program include equipment and materials purchases, photocopying, postage, film, and travel costs. Meals and accommodations are eligible expenses. Any equipment purchased with an award will revert to the department of the sponsor at the conclusion of the project. The budget must be reasonable and not exceed $1000. It is expected that funds requested for equipment and supplies will be for items that are not normally available for graduate research in your department. The Graduate Research Grant Committee may reduce or delete budget items as it deems appropriate. Budget figures must be totaled. 

 

 

Guidelines for Faculty Sponsors

1. Grants will be awarded only to original research, creative or artistic projects.

2. A group of up to three students may participate in a project, which will be funded as one project.

3. An individual graduate may receive only one grant in an academic year.

4. The primary criteria upon which the grants will be awarded include: originality, independence, initiative, clarity and feasibility of the proposal.

5. As required by University regulations, research with human participants must be approved by the IRB and those with animal subjects must be approved by the IACUC. Doreen Lawson, Director of Compliance, may be contacted for assistance (4-2636/dlawson@uri.edu). If IRB/IACUC approval is integral to the approved project, funds will not be released until such approval is in place. The burden of proof for IRB/IACUC approval lies with the applicant(s) and the determination of the selection committee will be final.

6. As the faculty sponsor, we ask that you write a letter of support for the project to be included in the student’s proposal packets. Do not write a confidential letter of support. Please include in the text of the letter what support you will lend to the project and how you will assess the project.

7. Should the proposal be funded, you will be required to review the student’s final report and add a brief evaluation of the project.