Funding opportunity announcement: Seed Funding

Proposal deadlines

Last Friday in March by 5 p.m., Pacific Time, submitted via InfoReady Review.

Program description

Research & Innovation offers competitive funding to support preliminary research, scholarly or creative activities that will lead to extramural funding. Seed Funding is intended to enable exploratory research, collaborations, or similar activities that will enhance the competitiveness of an eventual grant proposal to an external sponsor. Proposals are encouraged that promote interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary research, scholarly and creative work. Seed Funding can provide the resources for new collaborative scholarly activities that span traditional academic disciplines.

Research & Innovation offers Seed Funding in two competitive tracks. Cost Share is required for both tracks (a 1:1 match).

• Micro Grant track of the Seed Funding awards a maximum of $5,000.
• New Scholarly Endeavor Grant track of the Seed Funding awards a maximum of $2,500.

Leadership contacts

• Mridul Gautam, mgautam@unr.edu
• Josh Baker, jebaker@unr.edu
• avpr@unr.edu

Administrative contacts

• Carrie Busha, cbusha@unr.edu
• researchdevelopment@unr.edu

Award information

Anticipated funding amount: Up to $5,000 for Micro Grants and up to $2,500 for New Scholarly Endeavor Grants. See budgetary information for details.

Matching funds are required. The amount of matching funds must be equal to the amount requested from Research & Innovation (a 1:1 match).

Eligibility information

Applicants must hold at least a 50% academic faculty appointment at the University of Nevada, Reno and have a current role statement that includes research or professional development responsibilities.

Proposal preparation and submission instructions

The application must consist of:

• Standard cover page as outlined in the proposal cover page format section
• Proposal, up to three pages, that includes:
  • A detailed description of the activities to be pursued.
  • An explanation of the objectives of the proposed work.
  • The novelty of the proposed collaborative approach.
  • How the expected outcomes advance the collaborative scholarly pursuits of the faculty members involved.
  • Potential funding sources that will sustain the activities once this proposed work has been completed. If none, how will the new collaborative scholarly activity be sustained?
  • Timeline for completion of the project.
• Budget and justification in the format outlined below.
• A letter that indicates where the matching funds will come from, signed by the individual with authority to commit those funds.
• CV or biosketch in the format customary in the field

Applications must be submitted through InfoReady Review.

Applications must be received by 5 p.m. by the due date in the deadlines section.

Submission questions should be emailed to researchdevelopment@unr.edu.

Budgetary information

In a table format, provide a budget request that itemizes costs in each category relevant to your request. The budget must include the total of the requested amount and the required one-to-one cost share.

In addition, a budget narrative must be included to describe each component of the budget and explain how each item is required to achieve the aims of the project.

Cost share is required. The amount of matching funds must be equal to the amount requested from Research & Innovation (a 1:1 match).

Unallowable expenses:

• Course buyouts
• Summer salary
• Hosting

Review and selection process

Applications for Publishing Subventions will be reviewed by an external review service and evaluated on the criteria below. The external review service contracts with subject-matter experts to provide comments on the relative merit of each proposal. The Associate Vice President for Research and the Vice President for Research and Innovation review the comments and ranking recommendations from the external review service before making the final determination.

Review criteria

Applications for Seed Funding will be reviewed using the following criteria:

• Intellectual merit
• Clarity and presentation
• Feasibility
• Benefits to the researcher
• Potential for future external funding
• Potential for further interdisciplinary research

Grant administration information

Notification of the grant award

Notifications of funding will be made by email from the Associate Vice President for Research. Notification of funding will be made to the faculty applicant, their chair, and to the relevant department administrator. Award notifications will be made to the applicants within two weeks after receipt of the Review Committee’s Recommendation.

Award conditions

Funding is for a 12-month performance period during the Fiscal Year indicated in the Notification of award. Awarded funds are retained by R&I and not transferred to another cost center.

A worktag will be assigned after notification of funding. All submitted expenses must comply with University and NSHE policies and be related to the work described in the approved application.

Reporting requirements

Awardees are required to respond to an annual survey requesting details on the outcome of their award.

Deliverables

If Research & Innovation holds a showcase poster session, the awardee must present their relevant work.

Submission of a grant proposal for external funding to an external review service and then to an external sponsor.