University
Research Foundation Guidelines
Below
are the latest University Research
Foundation Guidelines, revised
as of February 11, 2003. The
Guidelines and additional information
may be found on line at www.upenn.edu/research/FoundationGuidelines.htm.
For
the recipients of the Fall 2002
awards see Almanac February
11, at www.upenn.edu/almanac/v49/n21/foundation_awards.html.
Statement
of Purpose
The
University Research Foundation (URF) is
an intramural resource to support faculty
research for a variety of purposes, including:
- Helping
junior faculty undertake pilot
projects that will enable them
to successfully apply for extramural
sources of funding, and aid in
establishing their careers as
independent investigators.
- Helping
established faculty perform exploratory
research, particularly on novel
or pioneering ideas, to determine
their feasibility and develop
preliminary data to support extramural
applications.
- Providing
support in disciplines where
extramural support is difficult
to obtain and where significant
research can be facilitated with
modest funding.
- Providing
modest institutional matching
funds that are awarded contingent
upon a successful external peer-reviewed
application that requires an
institutional match.
- Under
compelling circumstances, established
investigators may be funded to
support a well-justified brief
gap extramural support or a documented
unanticipated short-term
need.
Scope
Disciplines--The
URF supports research in all disciplines,
including international research. For purposes
of review, applications are assigned to
four broad disciplinary areas: humanities,
social and behavioral sciences, natural
and engineering sciences, and biomedical
sciences.
Term--Grants
are given for a single year only.
Applications for a second year of
funding may be submitted but usually
receive low priority. Funds must be
spent within 12 months of the beginning
of the grant, and may not be "banked" for
future use. Unexpended funds must
be returned to the Foundation.
Budget--Applications
up to $50,000 will be entertained,
but most grants are for no more than
$25,000. Because the total cost of
meritorious requests exceed available
funds by several fold, applicants
are encouraged to request only absolutely
essential resources.
Eligibility--Eligibility
is limited to University faculty,
in any track, at any professorial
level. Instructors and Research Associates
may apply but need to establish (by
letter from the Department chair)
that they will receive appointment
as assistant professors by the following
July 1st.
Application
Process
Dates--Applications
are accepted twice each year, for November
1 and March 15 deadlines. If the date falls
on a weekend or holiday, the deadline is
the next working day. Every effort will
be made to process applications and notify
applicants of the outcome within 10 weeks
after the deadlines.
The
Application--Brevity and
clarity will enhance the likelihood
of success. All applications
should be limited to 10 pages
(applications for >$25,000
can be up to 15 pages) and should
include:
1. A
Research Foundation Proposal Cover
Sheet, which can be downloaded from
the Website for the URF.
2. An
abstract, no more than 200 words,
written for the educated non-specialist.
The application should also be classified under
one of the five priorities listed
above.
3. A
description of the research proposal,
which should be no more than 5 single
spaced pages for grants up to $25,000
and no more than 10 pages for grants >$25,000.
Proposals should provide background,
hypothesis or purpose of the research,
significance of the research, methods
used, work to be undertaken, and outlook
for future extension of the research
and its potential for external funding
(see also criteria for evaluating
proposals, below).
Note: an
application formatted for another sponsoring
agency or failing to conform to the guidelines will
not be reviewed.
4. A
single page biographical sketch.
5. A
budget, with justification for each
item requested. Items that can be
requested include research travel
expenses, supplies, minor equipment
specifically designed for the proposed
research. Items that are usually excluded
include renovations of the physical
facilities, major equipment, and extension
of projects that are already well
funded. Faculty summer salaries or
release time are usually not funded,
since priority is given to the actual
costs of the research project itself.
Because it may not be possible to
fully fund meritorious proposals,
the budget should prioritize items
in order of their importance to the
project.
6. Other
research support, including current funding
with a list of titles, amounts, sources,
and grant periods, expired funding
for the prior three years, plus pending
applications. Applicants with "start
up packages" should provide detailed
dated budgets. If applicable, prior
grants from the University Research
Foundation should be itemized, with
dates, title, and amount of funding,
plus a statement whether external
funding was received as a result of
the URF grant.
7. Assistant
Professors in all tracks
(including tenure track, CE track,
and research track) are required
to include a letter from their
department chair indicating
their career plans within the
department, and listing all department
funding, including startup packages
and the like. In addition, the
letter should establish that
the applicant will be working
as an independent investigator
or scholar. Instructors and
Research Associates are eligible
only if it is planned to appoint
them as assistant professors
by the following July 1st, as
certified in a letter from
their department chair. This
letter should also document the
department plans for their career,
future commitments of independent
space and of department or school
resources, and convincing evidence
of their independent status as
investigators or scholars. Additional
documentation can be provided
as an appendix and will
not be included within the page
count.
8. Regulatory
issues. If research involves
human subjects, animals, biohazards,
or other regulatory issues, the
application should identify those
concerns and provide documentation
that they will be addressed. Please
note that IRB approval may be
required for human subject research
in all disciplines, including
the sociobehavioral sciences
and humanities as well as in
the biomedical disciplines. If
IRB or IACUC or Environmental
Safety review and approval is
required, it may be obtained
after the application has been
approved, but before funds are
expended or research has been
initiated. It should be emphasized
that Research Foundation grants
must meet the same standards
applied to larger extramural
applications. Regulatory documentation
can be provided as an appendix
to the body of the application
and will not be included in the
page count. For advice please
consult the Office of Regulatory
Affairs.
9. Conflict
of interest. The applicant
should explicitly make a statement
whether or not the application
involves any potential conflict
of interest, and any such conflicts
should be described. For instance,
if the research could forward
the interests of a company in
which the applicant has a pecuniary
interest, this should be disclosed.
Conflict of interest documentation
(if required) can be provided
as an appendix to the body of
the application and will not
be included in the page count.
Submission--An
original and ten copies of
the complete proposal with the
cover sheet should be submitted
to the Office of the Vice Provost
for Research, 119 College Hall/6303.
Review
Process
Applications
are reviewed by one of four faculty
committees, in the four disciplinary
areas mentioned above. Every attempt
is made to spread funding equitably
across the major disciplines. Each
application is reviewed for a variety
of attributes, including
- scholarly
merit, creativity and innovation
- feasibility
- appropriateness
for the modest funding provided
- significance
of the research
- time-limited
opportunities that require immediate
funding
- prospects
for future extramural funding
- matching
support from other sources
- availability
of alternate funding sources
- career
development of young researchers
- evidence
that junior applicants will be
working as independent investigators
- forwarding
of school or institutional objectives,
such as interdisciplinary research
Certain
frequently found weaknesses should
be avoided, such as
- "Re-inventing
the wheel" due to ignorance
of prior published work, often
in cognate fields
- A
fishing expedition without a
focused hypothesis
- Requests
for equipment, such as computers,
that could be funded by the School
- Requests
for faculty salary that exceed
the scale of URF grants
- Repeated
requests for research projects
that are eligible for but have failed
to garner external peer reviewed
support
Since
meritorious requests exceed available
funds, reviewers often reduce budgets
to extend the number of applications
that can be supported. The review
committees make their recommendations
to the Vice Provost for Research,
who makes the final decisions about
funding, based on year-to-year availability
of resources. Decisions will be made
shortly after review committees have
met and should be distributed by e-mail
within 10 weeks of the date of submission.
Critiques
of applications are not provided for
successful or failed applications,
since this would place an excessive
burden on the faculty who volunteer
their time as peer reviewers. Applicants
are welcome to consult the chair of
the review committee for any informal
information that may be available.
Questions
should be directed to: Lanese Rogers,
Office of the Vice Provost for Research,
119 College Hall/6303. (215) 898-7236 larogers@pobox.upenn.edu.
Procedures
for Approved URF Grants
1. Transfer
of funds. Within one month
following notice of award, recipients
are required to arrange a transfer
of award funds from the Provost's
Administrative Office to their
home department. This transfer
should be arranged by the Business
Administrator for the home department.
The process is initiated by submitting
the financial form, which accompanies
the award letter to: Stacy Fletcher,
Office of the Vice Provost for
Research, 119 College Hall/6303,
FAX (215) 573 2108 stacynf@pobox.upenn.edu.
Regulatory
approvals--If regulatory
approvals (IRB, IACUC, and the
like) are required and have not
been obtained at the time of
the award, they must be obtained
prior to the utilization of funds
or initiation of the research.
Failure to comply would be considered
a serious transgression of the
policies of the University of
Pennsylvania.
2. Report. A
brief (1-2 pages) report is required
to be submitted to the Office of the
Vice Provost for Research one year
after the date of the award. This
should describe the work accomplished,
the planned date of completion, and
whether there are residual unused
funds in the budget. In general, it
is expected that the scope of research
would be completed within one year
of the date of award. Also, if alternative
funding has been obtained, recipients
are expected to return unexpended
funds.
Almanac, Vol. 49, No. 22, February 18, 2003
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