Faculty Awards and Grants: Pilot Research and Scholarship Collaboration or Innovation Grants

Projects can cover a wide range of activities such as, but not limited to:

• travel to participate in collaborative work or planning
• hosting group gatherings to advance the collaborative work
• purchasing supplies or necessary items for the project
• supporting undergraduate work or expenses on the project
• Funds cannot be awarded to external partners, though travel expenditures can be reimbursed

Please see the FAQ’s on research funding expenditures for more details.

Eligibility:

• Faculty that are tenured, tenure-track, and CNTT are eligible to apply. 
• If faculty have more than $10,000 in internal funding available, they must provide an additional justification for protecting those funds and making this request.
  • Internal funding includes start-ups, research funds, endowed chairs, for example. Service funds are excepted from this requirement
• Applicant cannot have a current, active internal grant at time of this award start.
• Must have completed all required elements related to any previous internal funding (such as submitting a final report)
• The Committee reserves the right to prioritize pre-tenure faculty and newly tenured faculty all other considerations being equal.

Project funding is up to $25,000 over 1-2 years. No extensions allowed beyond year 2.

Faculty are encouraged to only ask for what they need. Across the new research grant mechanisms approximately eight awards in the $15,000 range will be awarded and two near the $25,000 limit. However, actual numbers will depend on the applications submitted. The Committee reserves the right to cut budgets.

Award acceptance requirements:

1. A final report submitted to OSR within one month of project completion.
2. Work with Communications on relevant stories or otherwise share with the community, as appropriate.
3. Acknowledge the support received from Bryn Mawr College, naming the appropriate fund, in the publication of the supported work or other public documents. Upon the publication of their research, they should notify the Director, OSR and provide a complete bibliographical reference
4. Faculty agree to meet with the Office of Sponsored Research within one semester of the grant end to discuss the possibility of submission of an application for external funding on the project supported by this grant.
   1. Faculty will be ineligible until they have met with OSR.

Submit your application via the online form (available soon). This form includes basic coversheet information and allows for upload of the application materials.

Required sections:

• Proposal narrative (3 pages max)
  • Recommended sections to include:
    • A statement of the research problem and/or goals of the project
    • The scholarly significance of the work
    • The specific tasks this grant will support, including a timeline
• Future plans (1-2 pages)
  • Next steps for the project
  • Plans for future external support and/or grant application(s) or explanation why this requirement is not applicable
• Budget (2 pages max)
  • Please use the provided budget form to list costs by line item
  • Budget justification – detailed explanation for each line item
• Biosketch for each collaborator (2 pages max each; funder formats accepted)
• Selectively required:
  • Bibliography/References (no page limit)
  • Justification related to exceeding thresholds described under eligiblity
  • Equipment documentation (1 page max; see budget section for details)

Applicants are reminded that the review committee will consist of tenured Faculty from across the College. Applications should be written to be understandable to those outside the applicant’s field.

All proposals should conform to the following format. Failure to adhere to the format and total maximal length of the proposal will result in Administrative Withdraw of the application without consideration by the Review Committee.

• Use one of the following fonts: Arial (font size 10 or more) or Times New Roman (font size 11 or more).
• Line spacing: Single spacing is acceptable
• Margins (all sides): ¾” or more

All eligible expenses must be allowable per the College expense policies.  Please refer to the related guidance on allowable expenses and reach out to OSR with any questions. The Committee expects budgets to be carefully detailed and to reflect a reasonable effort to minimize expenses.

Other budget notes for this mechanism:

• The Committee does not fund travel to conferences, per diem or meals, faculty salary, and/or retroactive payments. 
• The Provost Research Pool should be exhausted before membership fees or books are requested.
• Equipment acquisition: Applicants must certify that the equipment to be purchased is essential and not reasonably available and accessible to the project. As a rule, the Committee expects equipment required by on-going research and teaching needs to be funded through other sources. Please describe where the equipment would be located. Provide vendor quotes or catalog pricing if available.

Proposals for these grants will be evaluated by a Review Committee, which will be composed the FA&G Committee and may also include Ad Hoc faculty members if needed. The Review will be moderated by the Director, OSR.

Internal review criteria:

• Significance of the proposal
  • Does the project address an important problem(s) or goal(s)?
  • Does the project employ novel or creative approaches or methods?
  • Is the project in line with the aims of this mechanism (Collaborative or Large Innovation Grant)?
• Impact
  • Is the proposal likely to advance the faculty’s work? Or does the proposal otherwise support the College's mission?
  • Does the project include a plan for measuring engagement or impact, if applicable?
  • If the proposal is collaborative, is there a cross-disciplinary aspect that increases the impact?
• Feasibility of project design and timeline
  • Are the concepts, design, methods, and analyses adequate and appropriate?
  • Are all the necessary expertise and/or resources included?
  • Is a timeline presented and is it appropriate and achievable?
• Clarity of the application
  • Well-defined goals, approach, and expected outcomes
• Reasonable and justified budget (not scored)