The Office of the Vice President for Research provides financial support up to $2,000 to faculty across all disciplines, on a competitive basis, to promote, support, and enhance the research, scholarship and creative endeavors of faculty at UConn. The Scholarship Facilitation Fund (SFF) is designed to assist faculty in the initiation, completion, or advancement of research projects, scholarly activities, creative works, or interdisciplinary initiatives that are critical to advancing the faculty member’s scholarship and/or creative works.
Eligibility
- Assistant/Associate/Full Professors in a tenured/tenure-track position
- Clinical and extension faculty
- Storrs and Regional campus faculty only
Funding categories
- Conferences, symposia, seminars, colloquia or workshops
- Small start-up/pilot data projects in support of applications to external sponsors
- Test new procedures/methodologies
- Creative/scholarly projects in support of gallery shows or exhibitions
- Library/archival research leading to book/monograph
- Costs to bring book-length manuscripts to publication
- Publication costs (including open-access journal costs, copy-editing, etc.)
- Sabbatical projects
- Contractual services (including statistical consulting, graphic artists, website design, etc)
- Other categories: any activity that does not fall under one of the categories above may be considered, provided a sufficient rationale is given.
Budget
Requests are for a 1 year period. Funds not expended within one year will be returned to the SFF unless an extension is granted. Requests for extensions must be made in writing to the OVPR. List budget items and costs explaining why each item is essential. Be as specific as possible, listing the need for personnel, travel, equipment, supplies and services. Indicate if matching funds are being provided by another program, department, college/school, center or institute and the amount of those funds. If no other sources of funds are available, explain why.
Please note: Funding will not be granted retroactively; however, an exception will be made for the 2014-2015 academic year. With the start of the 2015-2016 academic year, there will be two biannual deadlines and projects must begin sometime after the submission deadlines.
The following items cannot be requested: faculty, clerical or administrative personnel salaries, including personnel whose primary purpose is to explore funding sources and/or prepare grant applications; service/maintenance contracts on equipment; laboratory renovations, or other infrastructure renovations; institutional memberships in professional organizations; travel to professional meetings to present the results of research; travel to explore extramural funding opportunities.
Selection Criteria
Consideration will be given to the applicants’ existing funding resources, existing scholarly and/or creative productivity, imminent need, potential for external funding, and previous OVPR awards and the outcome of those awards. Additional documentation may be required such as evidence of manuscript acceptance, book contract, exhibition date, etc. prior to award being made.
Application process & requirements
Requests for SFF support must be submitted through the on-line application form.
Application Guidelines:
Project Plan (500 words). Describe the project, expected outcomes/products (e.g., manuscript submission, performance date, intramural or extramural grant application, etc.), and timeline for the completion of project milestones.
Budget Request & Justification (300 words). Include budget items, costs, and justification for each item. Indicate matching funds (source and amount) from other internal sources (e.g., start-up funds, REP, program, department, college/school, provost, center or institute support, etc.).
If your project is approved, a project report (maximum 1000 words) must be submitted by the PI at project completion.
Application deadlines
For the 2014-2015 academic year, there will be one deadline. Submissions must be received by January 1, 2015 for project activities that will be or were initiated between July 1, 2014 and June 30, 2015.
Beginning the 2015-2016 academic year, applications will be reviewed two times a year: July 1 and January 1 for project activities that begin after the submission deadlines.
Information and Assistance
Larisa Zagorski
Program Administrator
Office of the Vice President for Research
Nathan L. Whetten Graduate Center
438 Whitney Road Ext Unit 1006
Storrs, CT 06269-1006
860-486-6378
Larisa.Zagorski@uconn.edu