Faculty Summer Research Grant Program

Narrative Guidance

Use the following headings, included in the template, to address key merit criteria within the project narrative:

Introduction: Provide a brief overview (3-4 sentences) describing the proposed project and how the summer award will advance your research, scholarship, creative activity, and professional development. 

Background: Your application will be evaluated based on the clarity, completeness, and strength with which you describe the following:

• The need, opportunity, question, problem, or creative context motivating the project.
• The scholarly and/or creative significance of the work.
• The project's potential contribution to the field.
• Opportunities for advancing your professional scholarship.
• Benefits to the discipline, students, community, or other relevant stakeholders.
• Your dissemination strategy, including planned outputs and audiences.  

Applicants are encouraged to use subheadings corresponding to these areas to improve proposal clarity.

Deliverables and Timeline: Your proposal will also be evaluated based on the clarity and feasibility of the timeline and endpoints. Provide enough information so that the committee can evaluate the feasibility of accomplishing the scope of the project over the course of the summer, including:

• Expected outcomes (e.g., publication, exhibition, performance, external grant proposal, dataset, manuscript, or other scholarly products).
• Major project activities and milestones.
• The proposed timeline demonstrating that project goals can be achieved during the award period. 

If applicable:

• Distinguish proposed summer activities from work conducted during professional leave.
• Describe outcomes from previous Summer Research Grant support and explain the relationship, if any, to the current proposal.
• Explain how work extending beyond the summer period will be sustained

Bibliography: Include references as appropriate within the three-page narrative page limit.

Keep in mind that reviewers are an interdisciplinary group of faculty and may not be familiar with field-specific terminology, methods, or theoretical frameworks. As such, applicants should:

• Minimize discipline-specific jargon.
• Clearly explain specialized methods or techniques.
• Ensure any charts, figures, or graphics are legible and fit within the page limit. 

CV Guidance

Following the 3-page narrative, applicant must also include a current CV highlighting qualifications relevant to the proposed project not to exceed 2-pages. 

Prior to Submission

The 3-page narrative template and the 2-page CV must be combined into a single PDF document and attached to the application form. 

• Awards support faculty summer salary only. 
• Total summer appointments, including this award and any other university-funded summer employment, may not exceed 100% institutional base salary.

Personnel Action (PA) forms will be initiated during the Spring quarter by the Research and Sponsored Programs (RSP) Office to ensure timely award distribution July – September.

Summer Research and Creative Opportunities Grants are awarded for research, scholarly or artistic/creative endeavors, but not for the development of curricular materials. A multi-disciplinary committee of the RCA Council evaluates proposals and makes recommendations to the Vice Provost for Research based on the Chair’s assessment and the following merit criteria:

• Clarity, completeness, and strength of statement of need/problem/creative activity
• Opportunity for advancing professional scholarship of the faculty member
• Significance of the project to the applicant’s educational goals
• Scholarly and/or creative merit benefiting the field
• Likely impact on discipline/students/community
• Suitability/feasibility of the proposed methods, staffing and timeline
• Clarity and feasibility of the dissemination plan and endpoints (publication, performance display, ability to seek external funding, etc.)
• Feasibility within the proposed timeframe and funding available
• The committee is also concerned with the equitable distribution of awards across colleges