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Research office ties grants to UB 2020 strategic strengths
By MARY
COCHRANE
Contributing Editor
The vice president for research yesterday unveiled three new programs "in sync with UB 2020" to encourage and enable increased research and scholarly activity among university faculty and staff.
Jorge V. José told the Faculty Senate Executive Committee that the purpose of all three programs "is to help you do what a faculty member is supposed to do, which is create new knowledge."
The first—called the UB 2020 Scholars Fund—will award individual grants of $1,000 to $15,000 per year to eligible faculty and staff whose research proposals are deemed to be "innovative and clearly aligned with the UB 2020 strategic plan," according to José.
Proposals to this fund must be for research and scholarly activities that align with one or more of the 10 areas of strategic strength identified as part of the UB 2020 strategic-planning initiative.
Faculty and staff whose appointments allow them to submit external proposals through the Office of Sponsored Programs Administration may apply for the grants, which are intended to "provide funding, where such resources are not available from the department, school or college to allow the development of ideas to enhance the chance of external funding," according to a program description.
"Awards will also be made in areas where external funding is rare," the description states.
José said his office would consider proposals that ask for funds in excess of $15,000 if there are compelling reasons for the additional dollars.
One year after receiving a UB 2020 Scholars Fund award, awardees will be required to present the outcomes of their projects at a scholars workshop, as well as provide written final reports.
Proposals must be submitted by the close of business Jan. 15 to Kenneth M. Tramposch, associate vice president for research. Funding will begin March 1.
José will choose which proposals will be funded, basing his decisions on the recommendations of a senior-faculty panel. The funds cannot be used for salaries or computer equipment, he told the committee.
The second program is the UB 2020 Interdisciplinary Research Development Fund (IRDF) to encourage collaboration among faculty across disciplines for new research projects that ultimately will attract external grant support. Proposals must be for new projects within the 10 areas of strategic strength of UB 2020, José said.
"I emphasize the 'new' because people should not think of this program as part of your regular funding to continue the research you have been doing already. We are not going to fund what you are already doing. We're going to fund something that is new and innovative," José said. "Very important to this, then, is that we will expect you to write a proposal to get more funding for your research. You should think of this as seed money."
A minimum of two faculty members from different disciplines may submit proposals for up to $50,000 in funding, which can be used for student, postdoctoral associate or technician salaries, supplies and equipment, but not for faculty salaries, travel expenses or tuition.
José noted that awards will be made to those teams that most clearly demonstrate they will be submitting an external proposal for support within 18 months of receiving the UB funding. The IRDF program will require annual reports on the progress of each project, as well as presentations at an annual workshop.
The office also will offer Multi-Investigator Proposal Support (MIPS) project awards, which must have an external funding target of at least $1 million per year in total costs, as well as multiple investigators conducting interdisciplinary research that includes an educational component. José said he also plans to provide financial incentives to persons who are successful in obtaining significant external grants.
"I am working on this. We really need to have a reward system so that people see an incentive for working on these proposals," he said. "We would like to get a number of large proposals that are competitive with our peers. And my office is going to be very proactive in coordinating the groups of people suitable to write these large proposals."
Those interested in more information regarding the UB 2020 Scholars Fund, IRDF and MIPS programs should visit http://www.research.buffalo.edu/rsp/ or call 645-3321.
In other business at yesterday's meeting, the FSEC agreed to support a joint proposal from the Faculty Senate and the Professional Staff Senate to make UB's annual Wellness Awareness Day a university-sponsored event in order to better cover costs associated with the event.