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Home Herff College of Engineering Faculty & Research Call for Grant Proposals

2022 Faculty Research Grants

DEADLINE: Proposals due to Associate Dean for Research by Wednesday, July 20 at 4:30 p.m.

Applications must include letter of endorsement from the department chair of the faculty member submitting the proposal.

Only Herff College of Engineering Faculty from the following departments are eligible to submit proposals for faculty research grants this year:

  • Biomedical Engineering
  • Civil Engineering
  • Electrical & Computer Engineering
  • Engineering Technology
  • Mechanical Engineering

If you have questions or wish to review sample proposals resulting in Faculty Research Grants, please contact Dr. Stephanie Ivey, associate dean for Research, at 901.678.3286 or e-mail.

PURPOSE

The Faculty Research Grants (FRG) program for the Herff College of Engineering (HCOE) is an internal effort by the University and College intended to promote the scientific and research activity of College faculty. The goals of the Faculty Research Grants program are to provide seed funds for:
(1) research projects that will produce pilot data for proposals to be submitted to outside funding agencies or (2) faculty embarking on new research areas that are likely to lead to outside funding or recognition of the faculty member, his or her department, and the University and College.

AWARD DESCRIPTION

Grants may be funded up to a maximum of $7,500 from the college for travel, equipment, supplies, faculty summer salary (up to 50% of project budget), stipends for student assistants (funds for tuition and fees are not permitted), and other project related expenses. Funding for this program comes from indirect costs generated by externally sponsored contract and grant activity during the previous year. Therefore, it is expected that recipients of these grants will seek external funding within their discipline to continue their projects. Continued and expanded grant activity will ensure the future availability of these grants.

SPECIAL NOTE

Herff College of Engineering will fund two Faculty Research Grants for 2022. A HCOE faculty can only submit to one of the Faculty Research Grant application types. While two proposals will be selected, awards will not necessarily be made to one proposal of each application type as awards are based on the highest overall scores from the reviewers.

  • Faculty Research Grant for faculty at assistant professor rank to develop preliminary data/results for external research grant application.
  • Faculty Research Grant for sponsored and unsponsored research for experienced faculty at the assistant, associate or full professor rank to develop data/results in a new research area for a planned future external research application.

PIs are strongly encouraged to partner with at least one other faculty member from another department in the Herff College for this FRG submission. ***A minimum $7,500 match is required for consideration for this grant. The match must come from the PI/Co-PI’s Home Department(s). While the minimum requirement is $7,500 in matching funds, teams with co-PIs from multiple departments are encouraged to secure match in excess of this minimum in order to develop more significant pilot-scale projects. No more than half of the total budget may be used for faculty summer salary, and funds for tuition/fees may not be included as match.

FACULTY RESEARCH GRANT AREA REVIEW COMMITTEES

The submitted Faculty Research Grant proposals will be reviewed and ranked by the Faculty Research Grant Review Committee (composed of the HCOE Research Workstream Team and previous grant recipients). The final review will be with the Dean and Associate Dean for Research. If you have any questions about your proposal, please contact Stephanie Ivey at ssalyers@memphis.edu.
 
SELECTION PROCESS AND CRITERIA

The Herff College of Engineering Dean will award Faculty Research Grants upon recommendation by the Faculty Research Grant Review Committee and Associate Dean of Research. Criteria used in evaluating proposals include: project and budget justification, significance of project, appropriateness of project design and methods, qualifications of the applicant for implementing the project, probability of achieving project objectives, demonstrated plan for pursuing external funding, and appropriateness of the schedule for project activities, if applicable. All of these criteria will be considered with respect to the likelihood that efforts toward the project will result in future external funding.

PROPOSAL PROCESS AND SUBMISSION DEADLINE

Final proposals must be submitted electronically via the electronic submission form by 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 20. Each proposal must be accompanied by a letter of endorsement from the Department Chair. It is the submitter’s responsibility to ensure that the letter is uploaded into the application system. The office of the Herff College of Engineering Dean is not responsible for late or misdirected applications. Prior approval must be sought or obtained if either human or animal subjects will be used; the appropriate box on the application must be checked.

ELIGIBILITY

Individuals eligible for an award must be full-time tenured faculty, tenure-track faculty or continuing research faculty of the Herff College of Engineering at The University of Memphis at the time of proposal review. Applications from faculty who have not submitted a final report on a previous Faculty Research Grant will not be considered. It is expected that the grant recipient will remain at The University of Memphis for at least one year following the conclusion of the grant period. A faculty member will not be eligible for more than one grant within five years. Example: If you received an award for a project beginning July 1, 2017, or later you are not eligible this year.

Eligible individuals submitting Faculty Research Grant proposals may also submit proposals to other University of Memphis internal grant opportunities.

DURATION OF GRANT

Faculty Research Grants are awarded for FY23, beginning July 25, 2022. Expenditures must be consistent with the financial policies of the University of Memphis and in keeping with the University’s fiscal year-end closing schedule. In the case of default situations, such as the applicant’s inability to complete the project, unexpended funds will revert to the Herff College of Engineering Faculty Research Grant pool account.

PROPOSAL FORMAT

The electronic FRG application form is now available online. Care should be taken to adhere to the proposal guidelines below and edit the proposal before submission. Proposals that do not follow these guidelines or incomplete applications will be returned without review.

Application Form: Provide the requested information, complete the checklist of assurances, and indicate the area in which your proposal should be judged. In the event that the Department contributes academic year release time, indicate the amount of release time (expressed in credit hours or percent of time). Please note that any research involving human subjects requires IRB approval. The animal care and use committee(s) must also approve research-involving animals.

Abstract: Limited to 1000 characters

Project Description (not to exceed 5 pages; see electronic application form to upload file): The description should be as complete as possible but limited to necessary and relevant material, and written in a clear and straightforward style. The review committee composed of HOCE faculty who may not have comprehensive technical expertise in the specific project area will evaluate the proposals. Consequently, it is very important that the text and materials be understandable to an audience of individuals with bachelor’s degree(s) in engineering or related sciences. Use one-inch margins on all sides with 12-point type, single-spaced, and left justified (do not full justify).

The narrative must include a concise description (not to exceed 5 pages) of the research question to be addressed, the hypothesis to be tested, or the creative product or thesis to be developed. The outcome of the project must be specified and the significance of the expected results clearly explained. The statement should also include the applicants’ qualifications to complete the project and the potential impact of the project on the applicant’s career and future funding, if appropriate.

The narrative must include a clearly explicated methodology appropriate to the project. Where necessary, the analytic strategy should also be described. Descriptions of materials, equipment, staff, performers, participants, and venues required for the project should be included. Submitters must include a detailed work plan with start and end dates, and the expected dates of all major milestones. The evaluation of the proposal will take these factors into consideration. The application must identify the planned external funding agency/source and a specific program within the agency/source for your proposed research project.

Internal Budget Spreadsheet (see electronic application form to upload file): Please prepare the project budget using the UofM internal budget spreadsheet. Include costs requested from the college as well as departmental match (in separate columns). Do NOT include indirect costs since the FRG is supported from internal funds. If you are requesting summer salaries, you DO need to include fringe benefit costs.

Budget Justification (see electronic application form to upload file): All cost categories requested should be clearly identified and justified. Requests may include faculty salaries during the summer months (50% maximum of total budget.); stipends for undergraduate and graduate research assistants (again recognizing that tuition and fees cannot be covered by FRG funds) or other technical personnel; domestic or foreign travel necessary for the collection of data; specialized equipment for a specific research project; supplies; other costs, such as library and technical services and publication costs. When graduate student stipends are included, sources of tuition and fees should be documented.

Summer Faculty Salary: The salary requested should be proportionate to the amount of effort expended by the faculty member(s) and should be indicated in terms of time period and equivalent corresponding percent of effort up to a maximum of 50% of the total budget. Faculty requesting summer salary must abide by university regulations on summer term income. In addition, please note that summer salary funds are not authorized for expenditure until July 25, 2022.

Other Salaries: List individually and identify type of personnel.

Faculty Travel: Faculty travel in the pursuit of scholarly and research activities should be thoroughly explained, including its relationship to the project. The necessity for execution of the work at a location other than at this University should be clearly documented and justified. If travel funds are requested for collaboration, be specific about why it must be done in person and not electronically. The location, anticipated dates, itinerary, and projected costs of the travel should be clearly stated.

Equipment: Equipment is generally classified as property that costs more than $5,000 per item and has a life expectancy of more than three years. Equipment must be justified in terms of amount of usage on the proposed project. Equipment purchased with FRG funds remains the property of the University at the conclusion of the grant period.

Supplies and Other Operating Expenses: All items should be listed and costs shown.

Total FRG Project Budget Requested: This is the sum of all costs above.

Matching Funds: The source and the amount of departmental matching funds, including start-up funding, applied for or awarded for this project must be identified and explained in the Budget Justification and endorsed in the letter from the Chair.

Expenditures Not Covered by FRGs: Requests for funds to support the following will not be approved: academic year faculty salaries; taking or developing courses; domestic or foreign travel to present papers; writing grant proposals; general purpose equipment, or funds to cover the cost of publications.

Curriculum Vitae [CV] (see electronic application form to upload file): Provide a CV for each faculty member in the form/format preferred by the proposed external funding agency/group that will fund continued work on this proposed project. Include educational background and a list of recent publications, presentations, and synergistic activities. Do not include your full Curriculum Vitae.

Appendices (see electronic application form to upload file): All questionnaires, instructions to participants, scoring forms, etc., must be available in an appendix (not to exceed 5 pages). Technical explanations and bibliographies should be gathered into an optional appendix not to exceed 5 pages. Use one-inch margins on all sides with 12-point type, single-spaced, and left justified (do not full justify).
 
Follow-up Requirements (see electronic application form): The applicant’s submission indicates his/her agreement with the following requirements:

  • Report: The project director will provide the Herff College of Engineering Dean’s Office with a short report within sixty days of the conclusion of the grant period - October 31, 2023 for projects ending in Summer, 2023. This report should explain briefly and in layman's terms what work was done, whether milestones were met, what outcomes were obtained, what publications or presentations of the work are planned, and what grant applications are planned and timing for those external applications and what benefit the faculty member and the University obtained.
  • Acknowledgements: Any publication resulting from the research supported by a grant from the Faculty Research Grant Fund shall include the following statement: “This work was supported in full or in part by a grant from The University of Memphis Herff College of Engineering Faculty Research Grant Fund. This support does not necessarily imply endorsement by the University of research conclusions.”
  • Proprietary Information: The applicant agrees to allow his/her funded proposal, unless it contains proprietary information, to be reviewed as an aid to new applicants.
  • Review of the Final Report. Faculty Research Grant Review Committee and Associate Dean of Research will review and approve the final report. Final reports will be archived.

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