Research & Scholarship Support Program

Guiding Principles

The Office of Research and Scholarship (ORS) has a strong commitment to helping new, early stage and established investigators successfully compete for research funding and to helping all faculty achieve scholarly success. The program is designed to provide a rapid response to investigators’ needs for projects that have a high potential for success if given the right pilot data. It is also designed to support the development and dissemination of scholarly products. Participation in the program provides substantial benefits.

Benefits

Funding for pilot data critical for grant submission, resubmissions and publications
Mentorship in grantsmanship and scholarship from senior investigators/scholars
Funding to help establish new research and scholarly directions
Review of aims pages and grant proposals in CHS PI research meeting
Funding to send grant proposals out for early external review

Eligibility

Full-time College of Health Sciences faculty in all title series are eligible to participate in this program, regardless of career stage. Faculty must be active participants in the Research & Scholarship Support Program before applying for program funds.

Program Components

This new initiative features:

Monthly research meetings
Pilot research project funding
Funding for scholarship projects
Post-doctoral research funding
Microgrants to facilitate undergraduate research

Monthly Research Meeting

The ORS will share updates from College Grants Officer on new regulatory requirements from OSPA. We will update faculty on other aspects of the ORS as needed. The meeting will also serve to provide a forum to get collective early feedback on aims pages and projects to help the investigator be more competitive for funding. All investigators are expected to read the material in advance and show up with constructive feedback. The monthly agenda will be determined by what grants are going to be submitted, who is receiving funding from the ORS currently, with preference given to early-stage investigators.

Pilot Projects for Grant Submissions

Requests are fulfilled on a rolling basis as funding allows. Please provide the following information in Microsoft Word document to Brian Noehren (b.noehren@uky.edu) and Betsy Northrup (betsy.northrup@uky.edu):

Project Title
Project Abstract (500 words or less)
Brief description of how the pilot funding will strengthen future proposals?
Brief future proposal submission plan.
Budget & budget justification

Preference will be given to projects that 1) can be completed in the near term providing crucial pilot data for first submissions or are in response to reviewers’ comments that, if addressed, will increase the likelihood of funding, 2) have the needed IRB or IACUC approvals, 3) benefit more than one individual, and 4) are being used for a grant application within the year. Special consideration will be given to pre-tenure faculty. All requests go through an administrative review by the ORS personnel to ensure compliance with program principles and are reviewed by the ADR for final funding decisions. The expectation is to make funding decisions quickly to enable the PI to get started.

Expectations:

Meet with the departmental Chair to discuss the pilot project
Meet with the ADR to discuss funding needs prior to submitting a funding application. When possible, the PI should show how they will leverage existing sources of funds, including start-up, F & A returns, and departmental resources to contribute to project
Attend and participate in monthly research meetings described above
ORS funds will be directly used to facilitate the submission of grant application(s)
When funded by ORS, investigator must present findings in a CHS research seminar
Established investigators help mentor pre-tenure regular title or research title faculty
Submit summary statements to the ORS
Appropriately file paperwork with the ORS for grant submissions
Complete all close-out procedures for grants (both internal and external) on time
Recognize and report all publications and abstracts that come out of funding from ORS
Promptly return all unspent funds to ORS
Report on progress in faculty performance review
Use funding within 12 months
Additional requirements for early-stage investigators:
Attend meetings with the ADR to review progress on developing and submitting grants
Meet with faculty research mentor on a regular basis

Pilot Projects for Scholarship

We also seek to help support our non-grant seeking faculty with their scholarship. Grants may be submitted on a rolling basis. Preference will be given to projects that will result in more than one publishable unit and projects benefiting more than one faculty member. Requests are fulfilled on a rolling basis as funding allows. To apply, please provide the following information in Microsoft Word document to Brian Noehren (b.noehren@uky.edu) and Betsy Northrup (betsy.northrup@uky.edu ):

Project Title
Project Abstract (500 words or less)
Brief description of how you plan to disseminate your scholarly work.
Budget & budget justification

Expectations:

Meet with the departmental Chair to discuss the scholarship project
Meet with the ADR to discuss funding needs prior to submitting a funding application
When funded by ORS, present findings in the research seminar
Complete all close-out procedures for grants (both internal and external) on time
Recognize and report all publications and abstracts that come out of funding from ORS
Promptly return all unspent funds to ORS
Report on progress in faculty performance review
Use funding within 12 months

Post-doctoral Research Grants

One $4000 grant can be awarded to each post-doctoral scholar/fellow while they are a post-doctoral scholar/fellow within CHS. Strong preference will be given to grants used to generate data for F32 grant submission or similar type of grants from relevant foundations. Proposed projects will undergo the same administrative review described in the pilot funds request. To be eligible, post-docs must not have received CHS pilot funding from another opportunity within 12 months. To apply, please provide the following information in Microsoft Word document to Brian Noehren (b.noehren@uky.edu) and Betsy Northrup (betsy.northrup@uky.edu ):

Project Title
Project Abstract (500 words or less)
Brief description of how the pilot funding will strengthen future proposals?
Brief future proposal submission plan.
Budget & budget justification

Expectations:

The mentor contributes $1000 of the $4000 award
The mentor signs off on the grant
When funded by ORS, present findings in the research seminar
Complete all close-out procedures for grants (both internal and external) on time
Recognize and report all publications and abstracts that come out of funding from ORS
Promptly return all unspent funds to ORS
Use funding within 12 months

Undergraduate Research Microgrants Incentive Program

The CHS Undergraduate Research Program (CHS UGR), in partnership with the ORS, is launching an incentive program for faculty to specifically encourage the creation of new research opportunities for undergraduate students. The incentive program will issue microgrants of up to $300 to support faculty working with undergraduate students in a newly approved and posted research opportunity. Funds can be used for supplies, or any other expenses directly related to the student’s research work and effort. Funds cannot be used for student travel, meeting costs, publication fees, or poster printing because there are other funds available through the CHS UGR office for these expenses.

Eligibility for Incentive Program:

First, to be eligible, applicants must create and post to the CHS UGR website, an approved research opportunity for undergraduate students. Secondly, research opportunities must be “new” for a given semester to be eligible for the incentive since the point of the program is to create more opportunities for our students than currently exist. Currently open research opportunities are not eligible for the incentive program. Research opportunities that were “closed” or “full” during a previous semester and are now being re-opened to student involvement are eligible for the incentive. Third, applicants must have a student researcher who has interviewed for and agreed to participate in the new or re-opened research opportunity at the time of the microgrant application. Fourth, the applicant must be a full-time CHS faculty member who is either pre-tenure from all title series or post-tenure in special/clinical titles.

To apply, please provide the following information in Microsoft Word document to Brian Noehren (b.noehren@uky.edu) and Richie Andreatta (betsy.northrup@uky.edu ):

Title of your new research opportunity approved and posted to the CHS UGR Current Opportunities website
Student name and ID for whom funds will be used to support work
Requested microgrant amount (up to $300 max)
Brief description and detail on what the funds will be used for in direct support of the student’s work.

Expectations:

Microgrant funding will be provided on a rolling basis until the yearly allotment for this initiative is exhausted.
Funds must be used during the semester they are awarded and cannot be rolled over.
Applicants awarded a microgrant agree to provide a brief summary report (1 paragraph) at the end of the semester on how the funds were used and their benefit to the student.
A given applicant is limited to a maximum total funding amount of $300 per semester.
A new application is required for each microgrant request.