Research @ U I C

The UIC 2010 Strategic Thinking Committee has recently posted its draft Report, which will provoke sustained campus discussion of the Committee’s vision for UIC’s future. We encourage everyone to read the report at http://tigger.uic.edu/depts/oaa/2010/ . One of the key recommendations in the report reads as follows:

“While a major research institution will have gifted people and strong programs in the core disciplines, UIC must also excel in new areas of knowledge, which increasingly cross traditional academic boundaries and deal with important, real-world questions. Research in these new areas can exploit our unique mix of talent and resources: for example, from a campus rich in cultural differences, we will draw scholars committed to working across disciplines to explore the notions of culture and difference. Throughout UIC, increased cooperation and collaboration among disciplines can give rise to new knowledge.”

Despite the budgetary difficulties that Illinois and UIC continue to face, fostering academic inquiry that draws on the expertise and innovations of multiple disciplines is essential for UIC’s future. We are thus pleased to announce a major seed grant program intended to lead to the establishment of up to three new centers or initiatives in strong areas of current scholarship at UIC: the UIC 2010 Interdisciplinary Seed Grants. The new centers or initiatives would generally be expected to seek sustaining extramural support in the form of center grants or program project grants upon completion of the campus funding. Proposals in areas not funded by the federal government, but representing a unique strength at UIC, will be given active consideration. Attached are the guidelines for preparing proposals for the seed grants for 2005. (We hope funding will permit this to be an annual opportunity.)

Many UIC faculty from different departments and colleges study topics with strong interconnections, probing them from within the conceptual frames of their own specific disciplines. The visibility, creativity, and impact of UIC’s excellent scholarship and service will be enhanced if the common threads can be woven into a larger fabric. With these UIC 2010 Seed Grants, we invite you to explore new collaborations.

GUIDELINES

Award Amounts:

Awards will be up to $200,000 each. In most cases this money would be expended in one fiscal year, but when appropriate this money could be expended over a longer time period up to three years, conditioned upon suitable progress.

Eligibility:

Each proposal must have a minimum of three principal investigators (PIs) who are tenured or tenure-track faculty members at UIC. Preference will be given to proposals evidencing serious engagement of PIs from different departments and/or colleges.

Deadlines:

Complete Proposal due by: 9/1/05, 3:00 p.m.

Notice of Intent due by: 7/15/05

Awards:

Awards are anticipated to have a November 15, 2005 start date.

Post-Award Reports:

Annual progress reports must be submitted to the OVCR while the seed grant is active. Successful awardees will be asked to present their work as part of a UIC interdisciplinary symposium.

Notice of Intent Instructions:

Email Tony Halford in the OVCR at ahalford@uic.edu, Subject Line: 2010 Seed Grant Notice of Intent; Include the following in the message: PI, CoPIs names, departments; Title of Proposed Initiative; 5 key words; One paragraph summary.

Anyone interested in submitting a proposal is encouraged to contact the OVCR Office of Research Services (RDS) (RDS@uic.edu) as soon as possible. RDS will gladly provide assistance in such areas as identifying other faculty on campus who are working in the area and who might be interested in becoming a PI. In addition, Research Development Services would be pleased to host the first meeting of a group of faculty active in an area of scholarship who want to explore the possibility of submitting a grant to this program.

What to submit in proposal:

1) Cover Page with the following information;

2) Lay Summary (1 page): This should present a concise statement of what you are going to do, how you are going to do it, and why, in language suitable for an educated lay audience. The summary should:

3) Narrative Summary (15 pages exclusive of references).

The following should be addressed in each proposal:

4) Budget: Each application will require an appropriate budget with full justification of personnel, materials, supplies, equipment and other expenses necessary for the proposed project period. Up to one month summer salary allowed for one PI. Limited travel for purpose of professional meetings or essential collaboration may be approved.

5) Summary of past, current, and pending support for each PI for past five years, noting areas of potential funding overlap with this proposal. The summary should include both internal and external sources of funding.

7) Department/College support letters regarding space, faculty time, and other resources necessary to conduct the various projects in the proposal.

Submission Instructions:

Proposals must be single-spaced, 12-point font, exclusive of references. One original and 22 double-sided copies should be submitted to the attention of A. Halford, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, Room 310, AOB, MC 672. This is an internal competition so do not attach a PAF and do not deliver to the Office of Research Services.

Review Process:

Each proposal will be evaluated by a (or perhaps two) subcommittee(s) of the Campus Research Board and a writtenassessment will be forwarded to the campus-wide review committee. The review committee membership includes the chairs of the five divisions of the Campus Research Board augmented by four at-large members:

Campus Research Board Chairs

Basic Life Sciences: Chair, Steven Olson
Clinical Sciences: Chair, James Cook
Natural Sciences and Engineering: Chair, Michael Stroscio
Social Sciences: Chair, Norma Lopez-Reyna
Arts, Architecture, and the Humanities: Chair, Bruno Ast

At Large Members

Russell Betts (Review Committee Chair), Walter Benn Michaels, David Perry, and Brenda Russell
The Review Committee will forward their recommendation to the Vice Chancellor for Research, who will make the final decisions.

Review Criteria:

Intrinsic Merit: The overall quality, relevance and innovation of the work to be done; the likelihood that the work will (a) lead to fundamental advances, to new discoveries, or to new technological developments, and/or (b) improve the quality of life in Chicago and the broader community; the likelihood that the initiative/center will bring distinction to UIC; and (if appropriate) the likelihood that the application will lead to successful funding in extramural competition will be factors in review.

Appropriateness: The need for and suitability of the initiative/center approach; whether this approach will add significantly to what could be accomplished through other modes of support. In addition, the integration of component projects is important and should be described explicitly.

PI Qualifications: The qualifications and credentials of the PIs will be considered. It is expected that these individuals will be regarded by their peers as leaders in their respective fields.

Institutional Commitment: The nature and level of resources available from the colleges/departments and from other sponsoring units will be considered.

Appropriateness of Management Plans and Arrangements: The adequacy of the organizational and administrative plans; the appropriateness of the budget; and the mechanism to evaluate the initiative’s/center’s progress will be considered.

Human and Animal Subjects: Adequacy of the initiative/center’s plans for protection of human and animal subjects.

Questions:

Faculty with questions are encouraged to contact Tony Halford in the OVCR at 6-7036 or ahalford@uic.edu.

Forms:

1. Cover Page

2. Funding History

2010 Frequently Asked Questions

Notes changes from the original 2010 Program announcement

1. Notice of Intent

Q: Is the Notice of Intent used to eliminate applications?
A: No. The Notice of Intent is for administrative purposes and will be used to identify appropriate reviewers for your proposal.

2. Eligible Investigators

Q: According to the guidelines, “at least three PIS must be full time tenured or tenure track faculty”. However, clinical faculty may have a split appointment and may only be tenured for the state funded portion of their salary. Can you clarify “full time”?
A: This provision has been revised. All tenured or tenure track faculty members are eligible.

Q: Is there a limit on the number of PIs?
A: No. However, there is only space on the application form for the three tenured/tenure track PIs required for every proposal. One of these three PIs must be designated as Lead PI. Please list all other Principal Investigators and CoPIs in the Key Personnel section and identify their role on the project.

Q: Can adjunct faculty, academic professionals, or non-tenure track faculty serve as PIs on project?
A: No. However, they can serve as a named investigator, collaborator, or key personnel.

3. Eligible Projects

Q: Are multidisciplinary collaborations that already exist eligible for the 2010 program?
A: Yes. However, to be competitive they must demonstrate how the 2010 funding will allow something to happen that otherwise would not have occurred. Examples would include early stage collaborations that need to develop pilot data, multidisciplinary groups with the potential to develop new interdisciplinary science, or those needing support to develop the capacity to work as a group.

Q: How many colleges must be represented to have a competitive proposal?
A: It depends entirely on the proposal. For example, a project that comes from only one college but represents three or more distinct and unrelated disciplines would be more competitive than a proposal from three colleges with kindred disciplines.

Q: Would this answer still apply if the researchers all come from one large department, such as medicine?
A: The 2010 program is designed to help break down the academic silos that exist on campus and when appropriate, cultivate relationships between the east and west campuses. In general, it will count against a proposal if the PIs are only from one department. However, if you can make a strong case that the proposal should lead to an important center grant or program project grant its possible it might still be considered for funding. The final nine-member committee will have wide leeway to make their decision.

Q: We don’t envision forming a center but an interdisciplinary research collaboration with a limited 1-2 year lifespan. Is this acceptable?
A: Projects with a limited life span will be considered depending upon whether they capitalize on unique strengths and hold the promise to bring and sustain renown to UIC.

Q: Is it essential to create a center in order to make a proposal competitive?
A: No. The aim of the 2010 program is to foster new collaborations that can be independently sustained after the seed funding ends. However, a desirable outcome for some projects would be to leverage the UIC support into an externally funded center grant. Any UIC unit that has center or institute in its name should be a national flagship of the highest quality.

4. Budget

Q: Can an award be spread out over more than one year?
A: The program is intended for one year; however, consideration will be given on a case-by-case basis to projects that wish to spread the funding over more than one year.

Q: Are indirect costs an eligible expense?
A: No. The 2010 program is internally funded and intended to foster UIC collaborations. Indirect costs are not applied in such cases.

Q: What is the accepted format for a budget?
A: An excel spreadsheet or table is fine.

Q: Is PI salary an eligible expense?
A: You may budget one month’s summer salary and fringes for only one (1) PI. However, salary and fringes are eligible expenses for key personnel such as technicians, research assistants, academic professionals, etc.

Q: What are eligible expenses for students supported on the 2010 grant?
A: Stipends and fringes are eligible expenses. Tuition remission and tuition differential should not be budgeted to the 2010 grant.

5. Funding History

Q: Should I include all my proposal submissions on the funding history form?
A: No. Just include currently pending and funded for the past five years.

6. CVs

Q: Can I use an existing NIH CV?
A: Yes. You can use an existing standard CV (NIH, NSF, etc.) provided it does not exceed 4 pages.

7. Appendices

Q: Are any attachments allowed?
A: Appendices should be limited to measurement instruments and surveys.

8. Page Limits

Q: Does the 15-page limit apply to each project we develop or to the total proposal?
A: The 15-page limit applies to the entire proposal regardless of how many components are included.

Q: What are the page size limitations?
A: 12-point font, single-spaced, ½ inch margins.

9. Review Process

Q: I’m not sure which boxes I should check for review committee. I am concerned that our proposal won’t fare well because the committees are not multidisciplinary.
A: The CRB Subcommittees will not be working in isolation. We expect that review teams will be formed which are comprised from the 5 CRB committees in order to review many proposals. Checking the boxes provides us with an administrative starting point. The six ad hoc reviewers and CRB chairs will be assess the lay summaries and make final review assignments.

10. Resubmissions

Q: Will this program be offered next year?
A: We hope funding will permit this to be an annual opportunity.

Q: Can funded applicants reapply for a second 2010 seed grant?
A: No. However, unfunded proposals will be welcomed if we are able to continue these 2010 seed grants.

UIC 2010 Interdisciplinary Seed Grant Proposals - Award Winners