Critical Needs Initiative

The Applied Research to Address the State’s Critical Needs Initiative is a one-year research funding opportunity to support scholarly projects within the UND College of Arts & Sciences.

In accordance with the College’s Strategic Plan, the proposed research should anticipate, identify, or respond to the critical needs of the State of North Dakota.

Proposals that clearly align with the Grand Challenges outlined in UND’s Strategic Plan for 2017-2022 are encouraged and given preference in funding decisions. Collaborative efforts between faculty working in other divisions of the College and/or other colleges at UND are welcomed. Leveraging the proposed work with other sources of funding is not only allowed but encouraged. However, in the case of collaborative proposals, the Principal Investigator must be housed within the College of Arts & Sciences, and funds expended in the college.

Proposals

Proposals must include a plan for broadly disseminating the results of the research, including a plan for sharing the results with the general public. Proposals selected for funding must result in a grant proposal submitted to external funding agencies/organizations within one year of the completion of the project. Individual awards are limited to $20,000. The grant period is calendar year 2021.

The deadline to apply for 2021 was October 16, 2020.

Eligibility

• Any full-time faculty (including those on special appointment) in any College of Arts & Sciences department or program may apply as long as research or creative activity is required under their UND contract and they will complete the proposed work while employed at UND.
• Proposals that include collaborative efforts with UND faculty housed outside of the College of Arts & Sciences are allowed, but the PI must be College of Arts & Sciences faculty, and funds expended in the College.
• More than one proposal can come out of a single department or program. In those cases, the department chair or program director must rank the proposals and explain his/her rankings in writing. Rankings are due by the deadline for proposal submission (2022 date TBD). Chairs or directors cannot rank proposals in which they are an investigator. If needed, a tenured faculty member with no stake in the proposal may be appointed by the chair or director to rank departmental or program proposals.
• An individual faculty member can be included as an investigator in more than one submitted proposal.
• While faculty who have previously received an award are eligible, priority may be given to faculty who have not. A demonstrable outcome from previous funding in this program (e.g. receipt of external grant, high impact journal article) is viewed favorably.
• Faculty who have previously received an award but have not submitted a final report are ineligible to receive a new award.
• Proposals that fail to follow the guidelines outlined in this document will be returned without review.

Application Preparation

Cover Sheet

• Project Title
• Investigator Name(s) and Affiliation(s)
• Faculty Rank(s)
• Faculty and Department Chair or Pogram Director Signature(s)

Abstract

A brief (200 words or less) non-technical description of the research/creative activity to be performed and the expected outcomes

Project Narrative (three pages maximum)

• Clearly explain how the proposed activity will anticipate, identify, or respond to a critical need of the State of North Dakota. If applicable, explain how it aligns with the Grand Challenges outlined in the UND Strategic Plan. Describe the proposed research/creative activity, and include some brief background on the topic, specific objectives, and proposed methods.
• Describe the proposed activity’s potential for publications, conference papers, recordings, performances and/or other outcomes.
• Clearly and briefly describe the plan for broadly disseminating the results of the research, including a plan for sharing the results with the general public. In the event that the proposal is selected, more detailed plans in this section should be coordinated with Tanya Butler to disseminate information about your project.
• Explain why the proposed activity has potential to lead to external grant funding, and identify a target funding agency and program. Include a planned timeline for submission of an external grant proposal. For 2021 award cycle, the submission must be made on or before Dec. 31, 2022.
• State whether the project will be supported through other resources, including the source and amount (whether monetized or not). However, in the case of multiple funding sources, clear delineation of funding source(s) and expenditure must be made.

Budget and Budget Justification (two pages maximum)

• The budget must be broken down into individual line items with each item justified. Individual awards are limited to $20,000. For additional instructions, please refer to the Budget Guidelines for Research Initiatives.You should work with your department administrative staff before final submission of your proposal to ensure budget guidelines were followed. Failure to follow budget guidelines may result in proposal being returned for correction and/or adjustments to budget line items.
• The following are unallowable budget items: travel to attend conferences, enhancing campus physical infrastructure, and funding studies already completed.
• The following are allowable budget items: release time from teaching (see additional conditions in the following paragraph), summer salary (up to one month), travel to conduct scholarly activity other than attending conferences, purchase of supplies/research materials and/or research equipment, support for GRA and/or undergraduate assistants, employing technical assistance, software purchase, paying for promotional materials and services, bringing speakers and/or consultants to campus, funding public outreach events, paying for content access fees, covering subscription fees for research networks, and leasing off-campus space for research/creative activity. Please note that expenditures are subject to State of North Dakota and UND budget restrictions and accounting standards.
• If funds for release time from teaching are requested, a signed letter of support from the department chair or program director is required. The letter should indicate how the release from teaching will be effectively dealt with based on the resources requested. The absence of such a support letter will disqualify the proposal. To ensure there is enough time to adjust departmental teaching assignments and student progress to degree, release time should normally be for the Fall 2021 semester; requests for Spring 2022 release requires compelling reasons and the investigator's department chair support as evidenced in his/her letter.

Project Bibliography

The bibliography (one page maximum, not included in three page limit for narrative) should consist of primary and secondary sources that relate directly to the project. It is advisable to include works that pertain to both the project's substance and its theoretical or methodological approaches. Reviewers often use the bibliography to evaluate preparation in the subject area and approach to the topic. Links to online material cannot be used to circumvent the one page limit.

Abbreviated Curriculum Vitae (two pages per investigator maximum)

The CV should include education, employment history, and most relevant citations (e.g., publications, presentations, performances, juried exhibitions).

Award Selection Criteria

Members of the Resources and Infrastructure Committee within the College of Arts & Sciences will review and score proposals and make funding recommendations to the Dean, who will award funding.

Committee members will be asked to evaluate and rank applications according to the following criteria:

1. Significance of the contribution that the project will make in addressing a critical need of the state;
2. Alignment of the activity with one or more of the Grand Challenges identified in the UND Strategic Plan;
3. Quality or promise of quality of the applicant's work, qualifications of the applicant, and the likelihood that the work will lead to external grant funding;
4. Quality of the conception, organization, and description of the project, including clarity of the project goals and design;
5. Likelihood that the applicant will complete the project within the granting period and within the budget and other resources involved;
6. Likelihood that the successful completion of the project will bring recognition to the College of Arts & Sciences and UND;
7. Availability of funds; and
8. Adherence to proposal guidelines included here.

Award Requirements

• Provision of regular updates for social and/or other media dissemination. Please send updates to, and respond to requests for information from, Tanya Butler.
• If an award results in a tangible product such as a book, article, or a video/ audio recording, a copy must be provided to the College. The College’s support for the project should be acknowledged in all resulting presentations, publications, exhibits, performances, etc.
• UND policies and procedures must be followed for expenditure of funds including travel, purchases, reimbursements, payroll appointments and hiring processes. Please note that according to UND policy, anything purchased with UND funds is the property of UND (e.g., supplies, books, equipment, etc.).
• Submission of a final report to the College of Arts & Sciences within one month of the project’s end date (or Jan. 31, 2022). The report must include a brief summary of results of the project, how results were or will be disseminated, how funds were expended and whether or not the project resulted or will result in publications, presentations, performances, exhibits, etc. Send reports in MS Word format via email to: UND.artssci@und.edu.
• Submission of an external grant proposal within one year of the completion of the project.

Deadline and Submission of Proposals

October 16, 2020

Proposals are due to the A&S Dean’s Office in MS Word or PDF format. Please submit via email to: UND.artssci@UND.edu. In the email subject line, please type “Applied Research Fund.” Members of the Resources and Infrastructure Committee will review and score the proposals and make recommendations to the Dean. The final decision on awards is made by the Dean.

November 13, 2020

Anticipated announcement date for awards.

January 1, 2021

Start of the award period.

December 31, 2021

All award monies must be spent. Please submit questions about expenditures and project budgets to UND.artssci@UND.edu or call the Dean's Office at 701.777.2749.

January 31, 2022

Final reports are due to the Arts & Sciences Dean’s Office. Please submit the reports in MS Word format via email to: UND.artssci@UND.edu.

December 31, 2022

Submission of an external grant proposal resulting from research supported by this funding opportunity, if applicable.

Questions

Please direct questions to Mark Hoffmann, Associate Dean for Research, College of Arts & Sciences.