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Program to Enhance Scholarly and Creative Activities

Request for Proposals, FY 2008

Released 1-28-08

Introduction/Purpose

The Office of the Vice President for Research has established this competitive program, known as the S&C Program, to promote creative and scholarly activities of Texas A&M University faculties. Awards will support scholarly and creative activities primarily in the humanities, arts, and other disciplines in which external funding is typically not available. A variety of activities are eligible for support, including travel to collections and libraries to evaluate original documents.

Eligibility

All Texas A&M tenured or tenure-track faculty are eligible to receive this award. The first person listed on the application will be the Principle Investigator, and he or she must be a full-time Texas A&M tenured or tenure-track faculty member.

Limit of Award

There is $250,000 available for the S&C Program this year.  The maximum award amount is $10,000. Awards given for travel only will typically not exceed $1,500.  Award winners may use funds for summer salary.

Program Schedule

March 7, 2008 - Applications due by 5:00 p.m. (No late applications accepted)
March 31, 2008 - Notification of awards                                                                       
April 1, 2008 - Start date  Funds will not be released until proof of approval of any required compliance requirement is provided (e.g., Institutional Review Board) and received by the Office of the Vice President for Research.  Any unused funds will be returned to VPR by May 1, 2009.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

Number of Applications Accepted

A faculty member's name may not appear on more than one application.
A faculty member may receive no more than two Scholarly and Creative Awards during a five-year period.

Not A Fringe Bearing Program

The awards are NOT fringe bearing. Fringe benefits must be included for all salaries listed in the budget section. Fringe benefits are 8.25 percent for graduate students and 15.5 percent for faculty and staff, plus health insurance premiums. For additional information regarding fringe benefits, the applicant should contact his/her departmental bookkeeper.

Details to Include in Budget

All salaries, total fringe benefits, services, supplies, equipment, and travel costs should be listed. Facility and administrative (a.k.a. indirect) costs are not allowed. Applicants must justify all expenses in relation to the proposed work.

Duration of Award

Competitive awards are for a maximum of 12 months.


APPLICATIONS WILL BE EVALUATED ACCORDING TO THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA:

Eligibility of topic: Priority will be given to scholarly and creative work in fields in which external funding is limited, but which could contribute to increasing the competitiveness of the recipient to contribute to proposals for funding for research as an individual PI or as a member of an interdisciplinary team.

Scholarly and creative merit: Applications must show originality and the potential to advance the field or discipline.

Qualifications of the applicant: Applications must demonstrate the capability and credibility of the principal investigator(s) to perform the scholarly and creative work.  All Texas A&M University tenured or tenure-track faculty are eligible.

Other criteria: Applications may include other factors such as cost effectiveness, a plan for dissemination of the results (e.g., articles, books), and, for applications for travel support, the importance of travel to the project goals.

A peer-review panel from Texas A&M University will evaluate each application.

Upon Selection

Those who receive an award should contact their departmental bookkeepers before making any final commitment concerning expenditures. Expenses beyond the amount of the Scholarly and Creative Award will not be reimbursed.  Further, requests for reimbursements by award winners may be reviewed for reasonableness.


Expected Products

Dissemination of project results is expected to be in appropriate scholarly forums, such as articles in journals, presentations at professional meetings, scholarly books and peer-reviewed creative work.  Those who receive a Scholarly and Creative Award are required at the end of the 12-month funding period to send a Final Progress Report to the Office of the Vice President for Research detailing how the grant funds were used.  This report will be due on June 30, 2009.  The form can be found at http://osp.tamu.edu/forms/finalreportwtableques.doc . Those who do not submit this report will not be eligible to participate in future research enhancement programs supported through the Office of the Vice President for Research.


Eligible Travel Requests

Scholarly and Creative Awards can be used to support travel to collections and libraries to collect scholarly data.

Foreign Travel: Scholarly and Creative Awards can be used for foreign travel, as long as it is within the guidelines of the University Rule on Foreign Travel (see http://rules.tamu.edu/urules/200/250201m1.htm).

Travel to Conferences: Scholarly and Creative Awards will not be given to support routine travel by faculty or students to conferences to present papers or participate in symposia.  Travel expenditures must follow university guidelines.  Check with your departmental bookkeeper for details.

Compliance Issues

If the proposed creative or scholarly activity involves a compliance issue (for example, the Institutional Review Board), applicants must check the appropriate box in the General Information section of the online application. The appropriate compliance forms must be submitted and approved before funding can occur.

PROPOSAL FORMAT

All proposals submitted for the Program to Enhance Scholarly and Creative Activities must be submitted electronically using the on-line application system at http://igps.tamu.edu.  Applicants should have a neo account to complete the internal grants proposal submission (IGPS) application.  This registration can be completed at http://neo.tamu.edu.  A proposal will consist of the information listed below. The abstract, project description, investigator resumes, and current and pending support should be uploaded in a PDF format in the designated location of the application. The igps system automatically converts word files to PDF files.  However, to ensure that special characters and formatting are accurately reproduced, we strongly recommend that faculty use adobe/acrobat to convert word files to PDF files before using IGPS.  Incomplete proposals will be disqualified.

  • General Information (on-line): contact information for each investigator, compliance reporting, key words for project, and report codes.  Select the department through which the proposal should be routed.  Give the proposal a descriptive title.

  • Abstract (upload): a summary briefly describing the project's objectives, proposed methodology, and anticipated results in layman's terms. The abstract should be up to one page in length using Times New Roman 12-point font with one-inch margins. List five key words associated with this proposal.

  • Project Description (upload): A narrative of the project up to 3 pages in length using Times New Roman 12-point font with one-inch margins. The project description should include any illustrations, figures, data, or other information and should:

    • Applications must demonstrate the capability and credibility of the principal investigator to perform the research. This criterion is used by many external agencies in competitive funding decisions. If graduate students are to take part, describe their work's relevance to their graduate study and the supervision planned for their participation.

    • Provide background information about the project.

    • State the specific objectives of the project. Explain the significance of the work and its possible importance in economic, social, or other terms.

    • Describe the work to be performed, the tasks of each person, and the timeline for the project.

    • Denote the anticipated results of the project.

    • Describe the potential for external support.

  • Investigator Resumes (upload): Up to two-page resumes for all investigators should be attached to the application.

  • Current and Pending (upload): List the source, title, date, and amount of relevant internal and external funding support received and pending, as well as for applications submitted but not funded during the previous three years (for all investigators).

  • Reporting Data Section/Key Words (on-line):  All fields are required to be completed.

  • Budget (on-line): Not to exceed US $10,000.  Other budgets can be added, if needed.

  • Budget Justification (on-line): Up to 3000 characters, including spaces, specifically itemizing each budgeted item.  Justify each item in the budget in terms of the goals of the project. 

All applications must be submitted online. Incomplete applications will be disqualified.  As a precaution it is advised to keep a printed copy of your application.

The on-line application should be completed no later than 5:00 p.m. on Friday March 7, 2008.

A no cost extension requested prior to the end of the award year may be granted, with adequate justification, for a maximum of three months (90 days).


Request for Proposals: http://osp.tamu.edu/internal-grants-programs/program-to-enhance-scholarly-and-creative-activities.html

On-Line Application System: http://igps.tamu.edu

Questions should be directed to:

Texas A&M University, Office of Sponsored Projects, Office of the Vice President for Research
Dr. Rickie D. Fletcher
Phone: (979) 845-1812, E-mail osppc@tamu.edu, Fax (979) 458-0036
 

Dr. Fuller Bazer
Phone: (979) 458-2876, E-mail:  fbazer@cvm.tamu.edu  Fax (979) 845-1855