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Global Engagement Fund

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September 20, 2011, Volume 58, No. 03

Global engagement is one of Penn’s most important and meaningful commitments.  A cornerstone of the Penn Compact, it is vital to preparing our students to be the leaders of an increasingly global world and securing Penn’s stature at the forefront of global research and intellectual innovation. 

Penn’s global engagement takes shape around a commitment to three key values: sustaining a global campus, advancing global progress, and creating educational and research opportunities. The Global Engagement Fund is designed to advance these values across every part of the University, through a wide range of initiatives that bring the world to Penn and bring Penn to the world.

                  —Vincent Price, Provost                                           —Ezekiel Emanuel, Vice Provost for Global Initiatives

Global Engagement Fund: Call for Proposals—October 28

The Office of the Provost is pleased to announce a major program to support faculty initiatives that enhance Penn’s global engagement. The Global Engagement Fund will emphasize projects that:

• Collaborate across Schools and disciplines and involve multiple faculty members;

• Represent regions of the world in which Penn has active academic partnerships and collaborative ventures, such as China and India;

• Represent Penn academic and thematic priorities, such as sustainability or neuroscience.

Proposals are due October 28, 2011. Projects will be reviewed by a faculty committee for scholarly merit and significance for global research, teaching, and service.

Scope of Funded Activities

Priority for funding will be given to visiting scholars, research and educational collaborations and multidisciplinary courses. Funding may also support, but is not limited to, international speakers, student activities, summer research travel, and international conferences. Specific activities that may be considered include:

Distinguished International Scholars: Campus visits by exceptional global scholars, lasting at least two weeks. The time on campus can be compressed into a two-week visit or spread out over the course of a semester. Visitors should participate in at least one course on campus (e.g. guest lecturers). They should also participate in intellectual and cultural life on campus, through such activities as visiting other courses, offering public lectures, attending departmental seminars/workshops, and participating in programs through College Houses and Academic Services. Priority will be given to visitors from partner institutions and from China and India.

Research and Educational Collaborations: Development of major international partnerships, research networks, or global programs on Penn’s campus, including but not limited to the development of a multi-university initiative, a particular topic or theme, or new international-themed interdisciplinary educational or extracurricular programming on Penn’s campus.

Multidisciplinary Courses: Development and implementation of courses that integrate knowledge around important campus-wide global themes and topics; the course may bring a related speaker to campus or include project- or case-based experiences.

Student Activities: Faculty-led international opportunities for students, providing significant research, educational, or service experiences. Projects should enhance international offerings at Penn and provide innovative new models for international student opportunities, including opportunities for students in major fields and in world areas not commonly represented in study abroad options, embedded overseas components to on-campus semester courses, and interdisciplinary offerings focused on global issues.

Research Travel: Travel for faculty research activities, especially to Penn’s international partner universities, such as Peking University, Tsinghua University, and the Catholic University of Leuven. Funds from the Center for the Advanced Study of India will support faculty research travel to India as part of this initiative. Projects should last one to three months. Proposals may include research at universities, libraries, archives, institutes, or laboratories, as well as work with a longstanding research collaborator; they may not include travel to conferences.

Global Forum: Lectures by leading global figures. This represents an opportunity to bring key world leaders to Penn and engage the campus in substantive dialogue on issues of global importance and local relevance; highlight interdisciplinary themes as part of Penn’s global focus; and establish Penn as a key source of knowledge and research on important global issues.

International Conferences: The international conference support program is designed for scholarly meetings that will be convened on the Penn campus, thereby providing enrichment opportunities to interested faculty, students, and staff, most frequently in the format of a 1-2 day colloquium. The intent is to support meetings that are designed to enhance existing research and scholarly programs, particularly in disciplines where external funding is difficult to obtain. High priority will be given to inter- or cross-disciplinary conferences that include faculty from more than one School.

The Global Engagement Fund consolidates all existing global funding initiatives of the Provost’s Office, including the Hewlett Award for Innovation in International Offerings, the Global Forum, the Distinguished International Scholars Program, and the Provost’s International Research Award. The Provost’s Office will continue to support the International Internship Program under a separate application process administered through the Office of International Programs.

Application

Applications must include:

• A completed (with all signatures) International Initiatives Cover Sheet available at: www.upenn.edu/provost/global_engagement.

• A 500-1,000 word proposal, including background; work to be undertaken; ability to enhance Penn’s international teaching, research and engagement; and demonstrated interdisciplinary linkages.

• Biographies of faculty members involved in the project.  Please limit to only key faculty, extended bibliographies are not necessary.
• Completed Detailed Budget Form available at www.upenn.edu/provost/global_engagement. Items that can be requested include costs associated with travel expenses, supplies, and honoraria for visitors.

• Evidence of additional funding from institutional or external sources.

• For conference support, a description of the purpose of the meeting; a proposed program agenda; a proposed list of presenters; the names of Penn faculty organizing the meeting; the number of Penn students and faculty expected to attend; an explanation of the benefit to Penn students and faculty; an explanation of the benefit to scholarly or research programs at Penn; an explanation of the relationship of the meeting to department, institute, or center programs.

• For distinguished scholar visits, the proposed visitor’s CV and a description of the visitor’s proposed activities while at Penn.

• For research travel, length of expected time for the travel.

Submission

Email a complete PDF, including signed cover sheet, application, and budget, to global@exchange.upenn.edu. The name of the PDF must be the last name of the principal investigator.

Guidelines

• Additional funds should be contributed by a School or Center, and proposals with support from multiple schools or centers will be given priority. Proposals that do not have this additional support will be funded only in exceptional cases.

• Grants will usually be awarded for a single year only. Larger multi-year initiatives may also be considered (2-3 year maximum). Applications for renewal of a previously funded project will not be accepted.

• Funds must be spent within 12 months of the beginning of the grant unless otherwise approved by the review committee. Unexpended funds must be returned and may not be “banked” for future use beyond the scope of the approved project, unless explicitly approved by the review committee. Requests for carryover of unexpended funds must be made, in writing, at least two months before the award’s expiration.

• For CASI research travel funds, preference will be given to faculty members who have no prior India-related research experience.

• Regulatory approvals must be obtained before funds are transferred to the department, and the home department must have a 26-digit budget code.

• At the end of the project, an expenditure report and annual report outlining accomplishments and identified opportunities for follow-on funding must be submitted.

• If the project 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 Institutional Review Board approval may be required for human subject research in all disciplines, including the sociobehavioral sciences and humanities. If review and approval by the Institutional Review Board, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, or Department of Environmental Health and Radiation Safety is required, it may be obtained after the application has been approved, but it must be obtained before funds are provided or the project has been initiated. For advice, please contact the Office of Regulatory Affairs.

Review Process

Applications will be reviewed by a faculty review committee organized by the Vice Provost for Global Initiatives, according to such criteria as:

• Scholarly merit;

• Creativity and innovation;

• Feasibility;

• Significance and impact on important global issues;

• Involvement of multiple disciplines and partners;

• Focus on priority regions;

• Availability of alternate funding sources and/or matching support.

Questions can be addressed to: global@exchange.upenn.edu.

Almanac - September 20, 2011, Volume 58, No. 03