Research Office Offering Seed Money for Projects Supporting New Climate Initiative
The Old Dominion University Climate Change and Sea Level Rise Initiative, which was launched late last year, has received a boost from the university's Office of Research.
Mohammad Karim, vice president for research, announced a seed-grant program that will provide up to $50,000 in funding for each new research project that is conceived by ODU faculty in support of the initiative and that meets the proposal criteria of the Office of Research. The deadline for proposal submissions is March 15.
"Facilitating faculty engagement in these research areas is a priority of Old Dominion University. Our goal is to make ODU a recognized leader in the fields in order to address the challenges that will significantly affect not only the Hampton Roads region but also the country and the world," Karim said. "To achieve this goal, we seek to strengthen relationships among faculty, colleges, our centers, and departments working in and across disciplines that address the impacts of climate change and sea level rise.'
Karim said his office specifically hopes to promote the creation of faculty research teams that wish to look at sea level rise and other climate impacts facing metropolitian areas.
Larry Atkinson, the ODU Slover Professor of Oceanography who has been coordinating the initiative, said he welcomed the seed-grant program. In recent months he has documented opportunities for research primarily related to sea level rise issues faced by urban areas, and he believes the university has experts in numerous fields who can do this work.
"We already have several million dollars in climate change-related research, mostly in the sciences," Atkinson said. "A goal will be to increase interdisciplinary research funding areas, and these seed grants should help us do just that."
The Office of Research will accept proposals for short-term seed funding supported in part by the Perry Fund for the Study of Critical Issues. Faculty researchers from all colleges are invited to apply. Multidisciplinary teams are encouraged not only in the obvious base disciplines of oceanography, marine biology, coastal engineering and civil engineering, but also in a broad variety of disciplines such as sociology, marketing, economics, risk management, public health, political science, human factors psychology, journalism, education and modeling, simulation and visualization.
Karim said he believes multidisciplinary teams will be able to most effectively scrutinize the entire spectrum of consequences of climate change and sea level rise and compete for external funding opportunities from federal and other sources.
Seed projects are intended to produce a coherent, substantive result that will advance ODU's initiative by building strong research collaborations. Successful proposals should have a sustainable structure that will give rise to further development or tangible outcomes after the funding period, Karim said. Outcomes of the seed grants are expected to be external grants, major conferences, or other measurable academic or related products that position ODU for large-scale collaborations, greater influence and stature or provide significant impact.
Eligibility: All full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty members and full-time research faculty are eligible to apply. This award program seeks to encourage teams of researchers (minimum of two faculty PIs) to collaborate on new avenues of research. The research project must not overlap in focus with ongoing funded research and is expected to lead to applications for new external funding.
Amount: Up to $50,000 per project
Allowable Expenses: Research supplies, equipment and services directly related to the project (should be outlined in detail and estimates provided where applicable); PI stipend not to exceed $6,000 for either partial summer salary or a course release to be used in fall 2011; hiring of undergraduate and graduate students; travel for research or collaboration purposes (excluding travel to meetings or symposia).
Each individual's role in the project should be clearly outlined in the proposal or budget justification. PI's receiving a stipend should play a significant role in the project. Co-Investigators acting more as consultants should not request a stipend.
Stipends for faculty at collaborating institutions and ODU postdoctoral associates are not supported under intramural grants.
Project Period: May 15, 2011 - Dec. 31, 2011
Proposal Deadline: March 15, 2011
Proposal Submission
Please email a single electronic file of the proposal in either Word or PDF format to Lisa Kelch in the Office of Research (lkelch@odu.edu). The file should be named using: PI Last Name - Climate. The Office of Research may ask for additional information as well as seek budget adjustments before making final decisions by April 15, 2011.
Proposal Preparation
Provide a short summary of the proposed research (not to exceed ½ page) understandable to a lay audience.
Project narratives are limited to five single-spaced pages.* Margins should be at least one inch. Font size should be at least 11 point.
Provide a detailed project budget with justification (not to exceed one page).
Provide a resume, not to exceed two pages, for each PI and Co-PI (students and collaborators excluded).
Appendices and other attachments are not allowed.
*The proposal should consist of a narrative plan (not to exceed five pages) including:
a) Description of the research problem.
b) Targets that will be accomplished during this phase and subsequently.
c) A statement as to how this project could help the proposing team attract new or additional research dollars.
d) The target agency, program and program deadline, or other funder. The rationale for choosing this funding mechanism for the proposed project.
e) Description of any interactions with the target agency or other funder to date, either through previously funded projects or discussions about the project at hand. Prior to discussing potential intellectual property with any company, please discuss with Zohir Handy (zhandy@odu.edu), licensing manager, in the Office of Research.
f) A timeline for this seed project to be completed by Dec. 31, 2011.
Funded teams will be asked to make a presentation of their results and progress to the university community in December 2011.