Call for Proposals
Deadline: January 17, 2008
Printable Version

Forums will be held for potential applicants (Need only attend one):

Tuesday, November 13 - 3:00 pm
2-257 Wilson Hall (Bradley Conference Room)

Wednesday, November 28 - 1:30 pm
2-111 Wilson Hall (Sociology Conference Room)

This program, funded through the Office of the Vice President for Research, Creativity, and Technology Transfer will provide financial support for scholarship and creative activity in the arts, humanities, and social sciences, that is, areas for which there are few private and federal funding sources.  The program is open to full-time, tenured or tenure-track MSU-Bozeman faculty with terminal degrees. 

Applicants may request funds for salary and benefits, supplies, travel, and other expenses directly related to the work on the project during the academic year 2008-09.  The amount of awards will vary, but most will range between $6,000 (minimum) and $22,000 (maximum).

Successful applicants will be expected to provide, within six months of the completion of the grant, a written report to the Vice President for Research, Creativity and Technology Transfer, their dean, and their department chair.  Grant recipients are also strongly encouraged to present the results of their work to the university community through an exhibit, seminar, or other appropriate forum.
 
Applications should consist of the following:

• a cover sheet with a brief project abstract. (Click here for cover sheet.)

• a narrative that discusses the importance and impact of the project and explains how it will advance your artistic or scholarly program; and a plan of work that includes a description of the methodologies or processes to be used and a timetable (maximum five single-spaced pages, font size 12 or larger);

• a budget, with items explained in the narrative or budget notes (maximum one page);

• a curriculum vitae;

• the names, addresses, telephone numbers, and e-mail addresses of three appropriate evaluators whom we may contact, all external to MSU-Bozeman.  These referees should be specialists in the field but should not be former dissertation advisors.  (You should contact potential referees in advance to be certain that they agree and will be available to evaluate your proposal between January 10 and February 15, 2008).

• a completed OSP Proposal Clearance Form (available in your department or 309 Montana Hall or http://www.montana.edu/wwwvr/osp/index.html ) with requisite signatures.  Doreen Gonzales <doreen.gonzales@montana.edu> is the contact person in the Office of Sponsored Programs to help with your budgets, benefit costs with salaries, and so on.  Please make an appointment well in advance to see her prior to finalizing your budget and submitting your proposal.  As a reminder, OSP does have a 48-hour deadline to review proposals/budgets.

Proposals will be evaluated by a committee of faculty from the arts, humanities, and social sciences according to the following criteria, and applicants should therefore address all of the following: 

• the intellectual significance or artistic merit of the project, including its potential contribution to the field;

• the appropriateness of the methodologies, theories, or strategies, and the feasibility of the plan of work;

• the qualifications and expertise of the artist or scholar in relation to the project goals and the stage of the applicant’s career;

• the promise of quality and the impact of any resulting publication or work of art;

• the potential for success, including the likelihood that the project will be completed within the projected time frame, and the appropriateness of the budget. 

Remember that your proposal will be reviewed not only by specialists in your field but also by MSU scholars in other academic disciplines, and the proposal should address both audiences. 
We welcome proposals both from faculty who have not applied before as well as from previous applicants.  Previously funded applicants should attach 10 copies of the earlier proposal narrative and its budget, along several paragraphs detailing what you accomplished or a copy of the report submitted upon completion of the last grant funded.  Note: Even though some applicants have received funding in consecutive years, the committee recently has tended not to support applicants who have been funded by this program in the previous year. 

Please submit 10 copies of the entire proposal to Doreen Gonzales, Office of Sponsored Programs, by 5:00 p.m. on January 17, 2008.  Awards will be announced in mid-March so that successful applicants can move forward with projects, which can begin May 15, 2008.  Questions about applications may be directed to Mary Murphy (mmurphy@montana.edu), history professor and committee chair. 

Notes on proposal budgets: (It is a good idea to check your budget with Doreen Gonzales in advance of applying)

• Items that are often requested and funded include research/creativity trips, a course buy-out to provide time for the applicant to undertake the project, summer salary, and sabbatical supplementary salary.
• The maximum summer salary that will be funded is $6000.  To apply for the maximum salary, include a budget item of $7500 (which includes an additional $1500 that MSU uses to pay its own share of the benefits).  In this example, your actual take-home summer salary would be $6000 minus benefits and taxes normally withheld from your paycheck.  Please direct questions to Doreen Gonzales <doreen.gonzales@montana.edu> in OSP.
• Travel Expenses: we usually approve only $36/day per diem (for out-of-state and abroad), in addition to hotel and other travel costs, so please construct your budget accordingly.
• Remember to include an additional 4% of the total budget as the cost charged for administering the grant.
• A course buy-out will be considered, but only with pre-approval by departmental chairs (as indicated by their signatures on the G&C Proposal Clearance Form).  Consult your chair to determine the total amount required (usually including approximately 30% benefits, if necessary) to buy out a course in your department.
• The following items usually are not funded: more than one course buy-out annually; equipment, unless it has a direct and evident relation to the proposed project that is specified by the applicant; post-production costs of books, articles, and other creative activities; conference trips, since other sources of MSU funding are available.

Note: Each applicant may submit only one application to the S/C program this year.

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