Science, Engineering, and Education Research Grant Awards (SEERGA)

Policy and Guidelines

 Funds have been made available to the Pott College of Science, Engineering, and Education by the USI Foundation to support research endeavors by College faculty. The following will serve as policy guidelines for non-tenured College faculty seeking a research grant award, and for the Science and Engineering Research Grant Awards (SEERGA) Committee charged with selecting award recipients. Generally, proposals are funded for an amount not to exceed $15,000.

 Purposes

 With these awards, the Pott College of Science, Engineering, and Education encourages and supports non-tenured faculty scholarship. Proposals for applied or basic research are invited. Proposals to initiate new research, continue research in progress, or complete a project are eligible for funding.

 Procedures

 SEERGA Committee. The SEERGA program will be administered by the Dean of the Pott College of Science, Engineering, and Education through a faculty committee chaired by the Associate Dean of the College and consisting of one representative of each of the College's constituent departments. The Associate Dean will be a non- voting member of the committee unless his or her vote is needed to break a tie. The committee will be responsible for reviewing proposals submitted for funding to the SEERGA program and recommending to the College Dean which proposals should be funded. Departmental representatives to the SEERGA committee will be selected in a manner determined by the Department Chair. Committee members will serve a two-year term. Members of the SEERGA committee may submit grant proposals to this program; however, no committee member will be permitted to participate in evaluation, ranking, or funding decisions regarding any proposal in which he or she is a participant.

Proposals. Each fall, the Office of the Dean of the Pott College of Science, Engineering, and Education will issue a Request for Proposals (RFP). Non-tenured College faculty are eligible to apply for an award. A non-tenured faculty member or group of non-tenured faculty members must submit the proposal in Cayuse, USI’s grant proposal software, by the deadline indicated in the RFP. Deadline for submission is 4:30 pm on November 1. Proposals must follow the Proposal Outline, including space and content limitations. Late proposals will not be considered.

 Evaluation. The SEERGA committee will evaluate all proposals meeting guidelines and addressing all components of the Proposal Outline and assign them an order of priority. Merit of the project, as well as the investigator's past record of producing publications, presentations or other tangible results from their prior research endeavors (or, in the case of new or non-tenure track faculty, potential for producing publishable/presentable/tangible results), will be the primary factors considered in funding proposals. The Committee will carefully evaluate the project budget and Budget Worksheet. Awards may fully or partially fund a proposal. Committee decision and applicant notification will be made by letter from the Office of the Dean approximately one month after the application deadline. Awards will be made by the Office of the Dean with consideration of the Committee's priorities and funding level recommendations.

Start-up. Award recipients must work with the Office of the Dean to establish the necessary grant account and budget categories. The Dean will act as fiscal agent for all grant accounts.

Final Reports. One month after the close of the funding period, an award recipient will submit a report describing the results of the work performed. New proposals from a past recipient will not be considered if a report is overdue. In unusual circumstances a recipient may apply for a funding period extension by submitting a status report to the committee. Contact the Associate Dean for specific instructions. When available, copies of any publications, abstracts, and/or reports generated by the project should be submitted to the Office of the Dean and the SEERGA committee.

 Interim Status Reports. Faculty who have not completed a previously awarded SEERGA or whose final report is not past due when the next funding cycle begins, must submit an interim status report to be eligible for another SEERGA. Contact the Associate Dean for specific instructions.

 Publicity and Acknowledgements. The Dean of the Pott College of Science, Engineering, and Education and the USI Foundation may publicize awards and results of projects. The recipient will acknowledge the USI Foundation when a funded proposal leads to presentation or publication of a paper, or other tangible outlet for results.

 Other Considerations

Financial Gains. If a recipient received financial benefit as a direct result of the award, then the recipient may be required to reimburse the SEERGA fund the amount of the award. In addition, recipients must comply with university policy regarding intellectual property management.

 Other Funding Sources. Applicants are encouraged to seek additional/multiple funding sources for projects. SEERGA awards can be used in conjunction with other awards (external and/or internal). The SEERGA committee may advise the applicant to seek alternate or additional funding.

 SEERGA Proposal Outline

Applicants submitting a proposal for a SEERGA award will follow the outline below. Proposals will consist of a title page and project summary, project description, budget worksheet, literature cited and faculty curriculum vitae. Please include page numbers.

 A. Title Page and Project Summary (2 pages)

1. Complete the form (Title Page for SEERGA Applications).
2. Project Summary (200-word maximum)

1. Project Proposal (limited to 3 pages)

1. Describe your research
2. Describe the significance/value of the proposed research, including its relationship to your previous work and future goals, and its overall value to the discipline/appropriate
3. If students are involved, describe how and to what
4. Discuss collaborations (each non-tenured faculty member involved will append a not-to- exceed one-page description of his or her role in the project).
5. Describe where your research project will be carried
6. Describe your plans for dissemination of your research results to the appropriate

1. Literature Cited

1. Applicants must complete the form Budget Worksheet. Order of the items in the worksheet does not reflect budget priorities.

1. Curriculum Vitae - each non-tenured Faculty applicant will submit his or her curriculum vitae (1 page).

1. Appendix

1. Letters documenting collaborators
2. Previous SEERGA grants (Years, Titles, Amounts and Outcomes)
3. Any other pertinent information

Application Submission Instructions

1. Submit an intent to apply for internal grant application form no later than October 25, 2019. The form can be found on the OSPRA website : http://www.usi.edu/ospra/internal-awards-and- grants
2. Once OSPRA has received the intent to apply notice, your proposal file will be created in CAYUSE. You will be notified by email that you have been added as a user to a proposal and can start filling in the application.
3. Access CAYUSE 424 through MyUSI on the USI website usi.edu.
   1. Use your USI credentials to log-in to myUSI
   2. Look for the CAYUSE 424 icon under USI Online Services:

    4. Click on the icon to enter CAYUSE 424 and locate your project proposal.

    5.  Complete the R&R budget in CAYUSE detailing how the grant funds will be used. See CAYUSE budget instructions on the OSPRA website at:   http://www.usi.edu/ospra/cayuse-424

   6. Attach a Budget Justification (see program specific budget worksheet for details) that supports the line item budget. The budget justification should be saved as a .pdf file and attached on page three of the R&R Budget in CAYUSE, section K. An example can be found on the OSPRA website: http://www.usi.edu/ospra/internal-awards-and-grants

   7.Attach separate .pdf files to the documents section under Proposal Summary in CAYUSE. See SEERGA Proposal Outline on page 2 for a list of the items that need to be included in the documents section. See more explicit instructions on loading documents in Cayuse at: http://www.usi.edu/ospra/cayuse-424

   8. Submit the proposal for routing through CAYUSE 424 no later than 4:30 m. on November 1, 2021

Note: To submit your proposal you will need to approve the proposal in CAYUSE by checking the box next to your name in the routing and approval section. The CAYUSE 424 routing feature allows your department chair and dean to approve the