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Excellence through Diversity Fund: Call for Proposals—April 12

The University is pleased to call for proposals for the Excellence through Diversity Fund. The Fund provides resources for innovative interdisciplinary projects of Penn faculty on topics relating to diversity and inclusion. Funds will be awarded to the Schools competitively, on a matching basis. Proposals should include a description of efforts to obtain funding from other sources.

The Fund may support:

  • Implementation of Schools’ strategic plans to diversify and enhance the climate for faculty and student populations;
  • Research on topics related to diversity and inclusion;
  • Projects that foster and support diversity on campus;
  • Projects that involve collaborations across disciplines, the arts and traditional boundaries of academic work.

Past projects have included cross-School research, significant conferences and events, projects aimed at assessing the climate for diversity and inclusion at Penn, and large-scale faculty development work.  Projects addressing issues of contemporary significance, those encouraging collaborations that would not otherwise occur, and service to new and emerging understandings of diversity and inclusion are given priority.

Criteria for Review

Review and evaluation will be based on the following criteria:

  • Relationship to the aims of the Fund as described above.
  • Potential for sustainability and/or impact over time with school, center, or extramural funding, particularly as demonstrated by matching funds.
  • Presence of a realistic and sufficiently detailed budget.
  • Potential for sustainable partnerships among schools, departments, or university programs.
  • Innovation and novel understandings of diversity and inclusion at Penn and within our society today.

Proposals are due by April 12, 2019.

Review Process

The Fund will be administered by the Office of the Vice Provost for Faculty.

Application

Applications must include:

  • A completed Budget Form, available with PennKey at: https://upenn.box.com/s/6fl7od149nou6nd4ix9xddgtv57vst90
  • A completed Cover Sheet and Proposal Form, available with PennKey at:  https://upenn.box.com/s/uq05w5mn8zhpnm37g5zx47thmdknrequ
  • Biographies of faculty members and collaborators involved in the project;
  • Evidence of additional funding from institutional or external sources;
  • Outlook for the future of the project (continued activity and external funding);
  • For conference support: a description of the purpose of the meeting; a proposed program agenda and 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.

Submission

Email a complete PDF of the submission to provost-fac@upenn.edu no later than April 12, 2019. Questions may be directed to Lubna Mian at mian@upenn.edu

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