UNIDEL funds available for collaborative education research

11/20/2009

The College of Education and Public Policy has received UNIDEL funds to support the efforts of faculty and professionals to write, conduct, or plan education research pilot projects that can be submitted to federal funding agencies or to foundations that use a peer-review process.

We are requesting proposals from college faculty and professional staff that will result in the submission of a grant application. The requested funds may not exceed $15,000. Among the categories of support that may be requested are the following:

• faculty/professional staff time,
• graduate or undergraduate assistance,
• materials,
• support to conduct a pilot study
• statistical consultants, and/or
• software or database support for data analysis.

The product of the faculty and/or professional staff efforts must be at least one grant application to a federal agency or foundation for at least $250,000 with at least a 15 percent indirect return rate. If a foundation does not permit indirect cost rates, at least 15 percent of the total budget submitted to the foundation must be for administrative supports such as secretarial, financial, or equipment and rent. The grant application(s) must be submitted during the 2010 or 2011 calendar year. If an application is not submitted during that time period, the faculty or professional staff member’s home unit will reimburse the college for the cost of the grant.

Preference will be given to proposals with multiple authors from different disciplinary backgrounds and/or for proposals with both junior and senior faculty members. Authors are encouraged to seek collaborators from outside the college and even the University in order to make proposals as strong as possible.

Please submit your proposal and a detailed budget by Dec. 1, 2009, to Nancy Brickhouse, deputy dean (106 Alison Hall West). Proposals should include the following:

1. A detailed budget with clear description of expenditures not to exceed $15,000.
2. Study title and research question(s) (maximum of one page, single-spaced).
3. Rationale for the study and research plan, including design, target population and proposed sample, and a timeline (maximum of three pages, single-spaced).
4. Personnel, including faculty, staff and students, please provide short biographies of personnel who are outside the college.
5. Specific plans for submissions to funding agencies and/or foundations; this section should make a compelling case for why the chosen agencies or foundations will fund the proposed research, the level of support, and the expected cycle for submissions. Proposals with multiple options for funding will be given preference (one page, single spaced).

Proposals over six pages will not be considered.

Proposals will be reviewed by a committee of faculty researchers from the college with expertise in education and related disciplines. This committee will make recommendations to the dean and deputy dean by Dec. 15, 2009. Funding decisions will be made by Jan. 1, 2010. Funds will be available by Jan. 15, 2010.