Senate Grants for Research and Scholarship
The Senate Research, Research Grants and Publications Committee funds proposals by the consensus of its interdisciplinary members. It does not allocate a portion of its funds a priority to any discipline or specialization. Scientists, humanists, and artists compete on an equal basis for support.
The committee is aware of the limited resources it has available and the sizable number of requests for funding it receives each year. While it does not claim the stature of the National Science Foundation or National Endowment for the Humanities, like those institutions it makes every effort to support those proposals that have a high potential for fulfilling research objectives and that will contribute significantly to the field.
The Senate Research Grant Program supports the activities of the primary investigator. The committee recognizes that certain projects require one or more assistants in order to fulfill important objectives. Please indicate clearly why you need assistance, what the assistants’ qualifications are, and the basis for calculating their salaries (e.g., established university salary, minimum wage, etc.). In calculating salaries, be sure to include the correct fringe benefit rate.
In evaluating proposals, the committee places a very high priority on the clarity of the proposal and the applicant’s attention to essential details. The proposal must include sufficient detail to convince the committee that the proposed research is scholarly, that it will make a significant contribution to the applicant’s discipline and, where appropriate, that it will provide a foundation for further research, preferably including application for extramural funding. If the proposed research is experimental in nature, then the applicant must clearly describe the experimental design, indicating how data will be collected, analyzed and interpreted, including a brief discussion of potential pitfalls and alternative plans. Although the page limits force the proposals to be brief, they are sufficient for proposing a highly focused and well-justified project. Finally, the committee gives higher priority to proposals that represent scholarly research, rather than the development of technical applications, instructional aids, etc.
Eligibility
Support is available to full time (1.0 FTE) faculty on the Morgantown and Charleston campuses. Applicants must be eligible for election to the faculty Senate. Additionally, applications will be considered for faculty equivalents or medical residents if research is considered a required component of the position. A letter from the department chair must accompany such applications explaining research requirement.
Project Period
Funds will be available July 1st and must be spent by June 30 of that academic fiscal year.
Application Information
Senate Grants for Research and Scholarship (application)Prepare and type your proposal according to the specific instructions included for each section located on the application form. All instructions must be followed to be considered for funding. Applications that do not adhere to the format requirements will not be reviewed. Write your proposal with such clarity that it may be understood by any member of the committee. Keep in mind that the committee is interdisciplinary and reaches decisions by consensus.
Each page of the application must be consecutively numbered in the upper right-hand corner. Proposals must use a typeface no smaller than 10 points and have at least 1/2” margin on all sides of the page.
- Section I: Cover Page and Abstract
- Section II: Budget
- Section III, IV, V, VI, and VIII: Proposal Body (limited to a total of five [5] single pages)
- Section VIII: Biographical Sketch (submit only the form provided and no more than two [2] continuation pages, including references)
- Section IX: Related Funding
- Section X:Proposal Review Consultants – You MUST include the names of two reviewers from within WVU and two reviewers from outside WVU; these suggested reviewers must be qualified to evaluate the project.
The committee strongly encourages interdisciplinary research. You must identify your collaborators and the role of each.
Project Budgets & Funding Limitations
A thoroughly explained and justified budget is one of the most important components of a successful application. Do not ask the committee for funds to purchase items that can be borrowed from other university departments. Supplies that can be provided by your department or college and services that are also available (e.g., typing) should not be part of your proposal budget. If equipment or services seem not merely essential to your project but also to your department’s future direction, the committee will wonder why the department is not prepared to underwrite the attendant expenses. Without a persuasive explanation, your entire application could be jeopardized.
WVU Senate Grants for Research and Scholarship may not be used to duplicate support from any other source. Six-week summer salaries will be considered only for nine-month employees, not to exceed 1 1/2 times the investigator’s monthly salary, to a maximum of $6,500. Funds may not be used to primarily generate data or gather material for graduate theses or dissertations. No support will be given for travel to professional meetings, preparation of books or textbooks, or the costs of publication.
Funding under this program is limited to $15,000 for any individual project. The typical award is approximately $8,000.
Application Submission
All applications must be submitted electronically. Hard copies will NOT be accepted under any circumstances. While signatures are not required on electronic applications, the proposal must be forwarded to your departmental chairperson for approval. The chairperson will then forward the application to your dean’s office. OSP will only accept applications from dean’s or their designees. Applicants should make all efforts to submit their application in one document.
The committee will only accept one proposal per applicant per funding cycle.
2009 Deadline
Deadline for the 2009 Senate Grants for Research and Scholarship is November 3, 2009. Proposals must be received electronically by the Office of Sponsored Programs by 4:45 p.m. on the day of the deadline at:wvu_internal@mail.wvu.edu .Due to the highly competitive nature of this grant program, late applications WILL NOT be accepted.
Via e-mail, OSP will send notification to all applicants confirming receipt of senate research grant applications. If you do not receive such notification within a few days of the grant deadline, please contact OSP as soon as possible.
Proposal Evaluation & Review
The major criteria for evaluation will be an assessment of the substantive merit of the proposal as determined by the committee. A copy of the committee’s written evaluation form has been provided.
This evaluation will constitute 80 points in a 100 point score. The remaining 20 points will take into consideration the investigator’s tenure status, rank and prior Senate Research Grants, according to the following outline:
| Rank | Previous Awards | |
| Assistant Professor 14 pts | — | No awards 6 pts |
| Associate Professor 10 pts | — | One award 3 pts |
| Full Professor 8 pts | — | Two awards 1 pt |
| Three+awards 0 pts |
Each proposal will have at least one primary reviewer and a secondary reviewer from the Senate Research Committee. Applicants must provide the names of two internal and two external persons with expertise in the field. NOTE: Reviewers may not be your departmental chair, dean, PhD advisor, or close associate. The committee may, but is not obligated to, ask these people to serve as review consultants. These reviews will contribute to the committee’s decision. Applicants should feel free to provide names of those individuals from who the committee should not solicit reviews.
Post-Award Requirements
The principle investigator bears all responsibility for managing an awarded project and completing the final evaluation. Future publications resulting from this project should be forwarded to the committee.
A final project evaluation and report is due to the Office of Sponsored Programs within 60 days of the end of the project period. A form for this report will be distributed approximately 30 days after the end of the project.
NOTE: If you are the recipient of a Senate Research Grant and do not expect to return to WVU, you are obliged to notify the Office of Sponsored Programs. Senate Grant funds will then be reallocated. Acceptance of a position at another institution will be considered as a resignation from participation in the Senate Research Grant program. If you accept a Senate Research Grant and do not return to WVU for the academic year that corresponds to the award, you will repay the amount received under the program.
2009 – 2010 Senate Committee on Research, Research Grants and Publications
-Wafik Iskander, CEMR, Chair
-Angel Tuninetti, ECAS, Chair-Elect
-Ilkin Bilgesu, CEMR
-Scott Fleming, BE
-Michael Miller, Med
-Ann Oberhauser, ECAS
Sandy Baldwin, ECAS
Elaine Bowen, Ext
Jason Huber, Pharm
Mario Scuri, Med
C.B. Wilson, Provost’s Office, Ex-officio
Curt Peterson, Vice President for Research, Ex-officio
Alan Martin, Sponsored Programs, Ex-officio
-Faculty Senators
Additional Information
Do not hesitate to ask for advice. Colleagues in your field can often offer criticism that will help clarify and strengthen a proposal. In evaluating your application, the committee will not rely exclusively upon the recommendations of the reviewers whose names you have provided, nor will it rely on the opinion of any single committee member.
Additional questions may be addressed to:
Wafik Iskander, Chair of the Committee, 304-293-9436
Amanda Griffith, Office of Sponsored Programs, 293-3998
