Faculty Research Grants

Full-time JSU faculty members may apply for a Faculty Research Grant as a source of funding for a research project. The following timeline identifies important dates in the proposal process and requires a progress report for those awarded funding. Carefully consider the following timeline for submission, award, expenditure of funding, and reporting of research progress. Guidelines for the research proposal format require summary information, proposal details, and School / Department consent and indication of support. Questions about this process should be addressed to the Faculty Research Committee Chair. This process is now managed by the Office of Sponsored Programs, 381 Merrill Hall.

Faculty Research Grant Timeline

  • January – Call for Faculty Research Grant proposal
  • March 31st -  Faculty Research Grant proposal due
  • May / June – Faculty notified of funding decision
  • October 1 (current calendar year) to August 31 (next calendar year) – All funds awarded must be expended. Budget managers should plan for purchases that will need to be made during this time and obtain purchase orders prior to August 31
  • March 1 (next calendar year after funds awarded) – Progress report due from Faculty Research Award recipients 

Guidelines for Research Proposal Format

Please read all guidelines before submitting your proposal. Failure to follow guidelines may result in proposal rejection.

Applicants will submit their proposal through the online Faculty Research Grant Proposal Form. The following guidelines reflect the minimum requirements that applications must meet in order to be reviewed by the Faculty Research Committee. All required fields (marked in the online form by an asterisk) must be completed.

  1. Summary Information
    • Research Proposal Submission
      Proposals will be considered for original research. Funds are limited and projects that are feasible with partial funding will be considered. This fund is to support faculty research writ large; with this in mind, applications for speculative research are welcome. Speculative research grants should be used to travel to archives or research sites for purposes of ascertaining the feasibility of a research project. 
    • Researcher Information
      Detailed information must be provided for each researcher, to include contact information for the principal researcher. A curriculum vitae must be attached for each researcher. Up to three additional researchers may be added to the proposal. 
    • Application Limits, Training, and Grant Conditions
       There are no limits on the number of applications one can submit year-over-year. However, to receive funding for a third year on the same project, the applicant must show significant progress over the previous two funding periods. Successful applicants will undergo budget manager training before they can use grant funds. Successful applicants may also be required to present their research at a Faculty Research Symposium or Faculty Commons event.
  2. Proposal Details
    • Objectives and Benefits
      Research objectives must be clearly stated and identify the benefits of this research to the faculty member’s research agenda and to his or her discipline. Limit the use of technical terminology in stating objectives and benefits to facilitate better understanding of the research proposal by diverse committee members. 
    • Methodology and Literature Review
      Researchers are required to describe the methods or techniques, to delineate their research methodology, show achievement objectives and how they will be measured so that the committee can analyze the proposal and determine its merit. Attach documentation of the research methods.
    • Detailed Line Item Budget
      Each proposal must include a detailed line item budget using the Faculty Research Grant Budget Form. Requests should not be inflated and should minimize expenditures for equipment. The Faculty Research Committee reserves the right to modify line items in a budget request. If the principal investigator/research coordinator is conducting research with another academic institution, agency, etc., the amount of funding from that participating body must be indicated. Any changes made in the budget during the grant period that exceed $200 in any one category or object code must be approved by the Chair of the Faculty Research Committee.
      • No funds are available for travel to attend meetings for the purpose of papers. Such requests should be submitted to the University Travel and Self Improvement Grant Committee. Travel funds in the research project will be allocated for direct research or data collection purposes only. Such funds will be allocated in accordance with university travel policies.
      • If a line item exceeds $500, please provide justification and specify the impact that the purchase of the item may have on future research activities for the investigator and colleagues.
    • Schedule of Events
      All funds must be expended within the 12-month period beginning October 1 of this year and ending August 31 of next year. Note that expenditures made before or after this time period do not qualify for reimbursement. For each of the following, give an approximate date of completion in terms of months from date of the award: (1) data gathering, (2) data analysis, (3) data synthesis, and (4) final draft of paper.
    • Potential Outlets for Reporting Research Results
      Indicate the intended vehicle for dissemination and/or to what professional organization/society the work might be presented.
  3. School / Departmental Support
    • Resource Support
      Material support by the School or Department is important to proposal acceptance. The Faculty Research Committee will consider more favorably proposals with such support. Examples of support include supplies, clerical and student assistance, photocopying, mailing, and statistical analysis, etc.  
    • Submission Approval
      Faculty Research Grant proposals must be approved by the School or Department of submitting faculty members. It is the responsibility of faculty members to discuss with the appropriate dean or department head and receive consent for proposal submission before filling out the Faculty Research Grant Proposal form.

Human Subjects Review
For proposals where humans or live animals are to be used in the research, National Science Foundation and U.S. Government standards for humane treatment must be followed, as well as requirements set forth in the University's Policies and Procedures Manual. If using human subjects, funding of the research is contingent upon approval of the University Board for Human Subjects Review (IRB). Documentation of approval by the University Board for Human Subjects Review is required before final approval can be granted.

Faculty Research Grant Progress Report 

A vital objective of this Committee is that awards result in successful outcomes. Therefore, if you received a Faculty Research Grant from this Committee in the prior year, you must submit a Faculty Research Grant Progress Report. 

The principal investigator/research coordinator must provide a brief description of the project's results and a list of publications or other evidence of accomplishments resulting from the sponsored research. The report is due by March 1 of the next calendar year after funding was received.  

Failure to submit progress reports will result in a cessation of funding for future research projects. The following guidelines reflect the minimum requirements for the Faculty Research Grant Progress report:

  • Name
  • Brief Description of the status of the research project (progression of research, preliminary findings, etc.)
  • Listings for the research (if applicable):
    • Research papers presented at professional meetings
      • Presentation listing(s) should be in the format: Author name(s), Date of presentation, Title of paper, Organization/society where paper was presented, City and state of presentation
    • Citations of works published from the research
      • Citations should be in the format: Author name(s), Year of publication, Title of paper, Journal, Volume/Issue (if applicable), page numbers
    • Other evidence of accomplishments
  • Evidence of all publications from the research (conference programs with presenters listed, journal table of contents or first page of article, etc.) 

Forms