Limited funding is available to support research, creative practice, and other project development opportunities for faculty in the form of seed funding. Priority will be for tenured and tenure-track faculty, but this support is also available for non-tenure line faculty in cases where projects merit special consideration through alignment with College wide priorities or offer special impact opportunities. Funds can be used for materials/equipment/software purchases, research assistant salaries, and travel for research purposes. Note: all materials/equipment/software purchases bought with College funding are property of the College.
Seed funding is intended to initiate activities which may not yet be able to be supported by external sources, but are perceived to possess merit, potential, and that if successful, are likely to lead to future external funding to support their continuation and expansion. Professional activities such as competition fees and expenses may also qualify for this funding where they exhibit similar potential.
Proposals for support should include the following:
- Intellectual background and how project would begin to fill any gaps in disciplinary knowledge
- Project description
- Methods and approach
- Anticipated outcomes
- Benefits of the funding to the faculty member’s career, to the College, and how project aligns with College initiatives and priorities
- Why College funding is needed: limited support from elsewhere?
- Long-term project development strategy: how future funding will be pursued beyond this initial seed funding
- Project start and end dates
- Budget
- Budget justification explaining basis for rates included in the budget
Projects that identify matching support are encouraged and prioritized. Seed support per faculty project is limited to $5000 per fiscal year (July 1 – June 30). Requests for special initiative support in excess of this amount require additional review with the Dean. Faculty with joint appointments may be funded at a rate proportional to their appointment. If you would like to discuss the merits of a proposal, have questions as to what qualifies for seed support, or wish to strategize on how to pursue internal or external matching support, please schedule a meeting with the R+CP team to discuss your project plans.