New Seed Grant Program to be Initiated at USU

The Utah State University Vice President for Research Office has restructured its internal seed grant program in an effort to grow sponsored research and support the mission of USU.

Under the new system, three new grants will be offered: Grant-Writing Experience through Mentorship (GEM), Research Catalyst (RC) and Seed Program to Advance Research Collaboration (SPARC).

 

The grant program changes were recommended by a focus group assembled by the vice president for research in February 2007, charged with identifying opportunities and best practices for growing sponsored research at Utah State.

 

“The simple reality is that even though USU has sustained impressive growth in sponsored research, we are still not keeping pace with our peer institutions,” said Brent Miller, vice president for research. “To that end, we have established a strategic plan to increase sponsored research by at least 25 percent over the next three years.”

 

According to Jeff Broadbent, associate vice president for research and chair of the research focus group, the three new grants will target specific programs, goals and expected outcomes. The grants will focus on junior faculty development, interdisciplinary opportunities and catalyzing new initiatives.

 

The GEM seed grant will provide one-year funding of up to $5,000 to enhance the professional development of junior researchers through one-on-one research and grant-writing interaction with successful research mentors.

 

“GEM will increase extramural funding by enhancing the proposal development skills of junior researchers,” said Broadbent. “It is a great opportunity for assistant professors and research professionals with no more than four years in rank.”

 

The RC, designed to increase funding from government agencies and private sources, will provide one-year funding of up to $20,000 to help researchers develop new initiatives or directions in their disciplines that will lead to new externally funded grants. Eligibility is open to all faculty and research professionals, regardless of rank.

 

The third program, SPARC, will provide one-year funding of up to $35,000 to catalyze development of large interdisciplinary research teams and projects. All faculty and research professionals are eligible for this grant.

 

“For SPARC grants, we’re looking for scholarly research that encompasses more than one department, research center, college or institution,” said Broadbent. “By funding these large projects, we hope to help researchers secure new, large-scale, interdisciplinary grants from external sources.”

 

GEM, RC and SPARC will replace the two old grant programs previously funded by the Vice President for Research: Community University Research Initiative (CURI) and New Faculty Research Grants (NFRG).

 

In addition to the new grant program, the research focus group made several other recommendations to increase the volume and competitiveness of USU’s research portfolio, including developing a Grant-Writing Institute with specialists to facilitate proposal development, implementing a formal process for strategic hires, raising awareness among campus researchers of external funding opportunities and recovering more facilities and administration (F&A) costs.

 

For more information about GEM, RC and SPARC, including guidelines, RFPs, deadlines, applications and eligibility requirements, visit the Web site.

 

Contact: Jeff Broadbent [jeff.broadbent@usu.edu] 435-797-1199
Writer: Anna McEntire [anna.mcentire@usu.edu] 435-797-7680