1. Faculty Research and Support Funds: How to Succeed By Really Trying
Faculty Research and Support Funds: How to Succeed By Really Trying! Office of Sponsored Programs 02/15/2019

2. The Big Picture: What Is FRSF?
Acronym: Faculty Research and Support Funds
Translation: Internal funding for research, creative and scholarly activities
Intended for small projects ($3,500 on average) that help lay the foundation for larger external grants or for more advanced scholarship

3. Who Can Apply?
Short Answer: See section 3 in guidelines (“Eligibility”)
Applications limited to:
Full-time, tenure-track or tenured faculty who:
Have no other current FRSF awards; and
Have no overdue FRSF final reports

4. How Do I Apply?
Compose FRSF proposal according to guidelines (solicit feedback from peers and committee)
Step 1
completed proposal AND your current CV to your Dean to request support for funding.
(CC: your Dean’s admin asst. and
Step 2
The Dean s support of your proposal directly to the Office of Sponsored Programs
Step 3
OSP will acknowledge receipt of the proposal and support from the Dean
The submission is COMPLETE!
Step 4

5. What Is the Money For? Equipment, supplies, and materials
Student assistants (grad or undergrad) – salary and fringe
Travel necessary to conduct research (NOTE: NOT to present the research at a conference)
Copyright permission expenses
Preparation of monographs, including textual & biographical research, annotation, indexing etc – scholarly books only, not textbooks

6. Examples of Recent Funding
Research assistant to do computer programming
Participant incentives (gift cards)
Technology to carry out a project
Assessment instruments
Book indexing
Travel to take a short course on a new research method
Evaluator to collect and interpret program outcomes data

7. What Goes into a Proposal?
Cover page (OSP-provided form)
Purpose and objectives
Background and Hypothesis
Significance of the request
Procedures, Work Plan, and Methodology
Project Schedule/Timeline
Equipment and Facilities
Dissemination/Use of Results
Budget
Budget Justification
Cost Share Support (if any)
Appendices (CVs of project personnel)

8. Proposal Review Criteria
Guidelines, Section 5:
Purpose
Significance and timeliness
Advancement of the discipline
Clarity of hypothesis, methodologies, and project plans
Dissemination plan
Plan for future funding
Results of prior FRSF support

9. Proposal Review Process
Each proposal assigned to 2 reviewers
Reviewers rate 7 criteria, assigning ratings of - (0 pts),  (2 pts) or + (4 pts)
Two criteria may get N/A ratings if (a) the discipline has few opportunities for external funding and/or (b) the applicant has no prior FRSF awards
Points are added, averaged for two reviewers, and converted to percentage based on number of scored criteria

10. Grant Award Process
Proposals are segregated by faculty rank (asst prof vs assoc/full)
Each group of proposals is ranked by score
Committee members and OSP executive director review rankings in each group and make preliminary recommendations about funding
Committee recommendations are submitted to the provost for approval

11. Tip 1: Write to the Reviewers
At least one is not in your discipline
One or both may be outside your college
Proposal needs to be understandable to an educated person outside your field.
If the only understandable sentence is the first line of your abstract, your proposal may not score well.
Get to the point quickly, so that reviewers know what you plan to do, how and why you plan to do it, and what resources are needed.

12. Tip 2: Use a Scholarly Approach
Statements such as “Prior research has found that…” should be followed by citations of that work.
A complete, concise literature review is appropriate. Tailor the review to what the proposal is requesting.
Include citations as part of the 10-page narrative.

13. Tip 3: Sell Your Idea
Don’t assume the reviewers know why the project is important; tell them
Explain why the project matters to UHCL
Explain how the project advances your field or discipline
Include a thorough but realistic plan for disseminating the results of your project

14. Tip 4: Pay Attention to Details
Double-check budget calculations and consistency with budget justification
Follow the formatting requirements
10 pages, double-spaced
1” margins and  12 point font
Use the current cover page form (available on OSP web site)
Assemble the proposal components in the order listed in guidelines

15. Tip 5: Seek and Use Reviewers’ Advice
FY2019 FRSF Committee Members
BUS:
Timothy Michael & Grady Perdue
COE:
Amy Orange & Michelle Peters
HSH:
Anne Marcoline & Thomas Schanding
CSE:
Hakduran Koc & Yi Su

16. Wrap-Up
REMINDER: Deadline 5 PM on 3/22/19 (including dean’s approval – ask early!)
What questions do you have?
What topics or issues need further discussion?
Next steps: preliminary planning for summer and fall workshops
For additional information or assistance: