Proposal Guidelines
To be eligible for consideration, the application must adhere to the following guidelines and include all of the required documents. Completed applications should be submitted to Peggy Duszynski in Room 123A of the Ingram Building no later than 4:30 pm on the day of the appropriate deadline.
- Applicants should submit the original hard copy with all original signatures ONLY. No additional copies are necessary.
- Please do not use staples in any of the documents.Your proposal will be scanned by a black and white scanner.
- No email submissions will be accepted.
Format Specifications
Abstract - Preceding the proposal, limited to 250 words, double-spaced
Length of proposal - Five (5) pages (excludes application, checklist, abstract, biographical sketch, IRB, budget page and supporting materials.)
Font characteristics - Font size = 10 point or 12 point; figures, charts, tables, figures legends, and footnotes may be smaller in size but must be readily legible.
Spacing and Margins - Proposal must be double-spaced with 1 inch margins in all directions.
Page numbering - Page numbers must be used on the proposal pages, centered at bottom of page.
Overall Structure
- Application
- Checklist
- Abstract
- Proposal
- Introduction
- Specific Aim/Background/Significance
- Research Design/Methodology (or)
- Creative Medium
- Timeline
- Resources/Budget
- Funding
- Dissemination
- Preliminary Studies/Progress Report
- Biographical Sketch
- Use of Animals or Human Subjects in Research
- Other supporting attachments (as applicable)
- References Cited
- Budget Forms
- IRB/IACUC/IBR/IBC approval
- Travel Authorizations
- Collaborative Agreements
- Survey Instruments
Amplification on each of the above items is provided below, as needed for clarification.
Required documents
Completed Application and Approval Form, including all required signatures.
Abstract of no more than 250 words (in 10-12 point font). Abstract should be written for a lay audience. The committee members who review these applications come from a wide variety of academic backgrounds and will not necessarily be familiar with each applicant's area of expertise.
Proposal narrative, no longer than 5 (numbered) double-spaced pages in 10- 12 point font with 1 -inch margins on all sides. You should include clearly-labeled subsections in the narrative to address each of the following required elements:
- Aim/Background/Significance: Include the objectives and the significance of the proposal research or creative activity; briefly review the literature to provide a context for the project's significance to current scholarship/research in your field; describe the contribution your project will make to the field; discuss the hypothesis to be tested or the specific thesis of the project.
- Research Design/Methodology: Describe the methodology for the project, including data collection, sampling, or other procedures that will be used. Provide evidence of the efficacy of your methodology. Describe any survey instruments that will be used and provide copies of those instruments in the attachments.
- Creative Medium: Describe, in detail, the activity to be carried out in the realization of your project. For example, discuss the specific methods of production or performance including details of construction, composition, editing, etc., using media appendices as examples where appropriate. Describe the projected mode of dissemination of the results of the activity, such as a book, journal, article, audio or video recording, presentation, performance, exhibit, etc.
- Timeline: Outline your schedule for completion of each of the major components of the project, from beginning to completion.
- Resources/Budget: Describe the resources necessary to carry out the project, including those already available and those requested in the budget. Justify the amount of reassign time that you are requesting.
- Funding: Indicate your attempt to determine whether there are additional or alternative sources of funding for the project and describe your results and any strategies you have for seeking external funding for the project. The Committee is particularly interested to know how a grant from the FRCAC can serve as seed funding for a project that will later be competitive for external funding.
- Dissemination: Describe how the results of the project will be disseminated (e.g., the publication of a book, a chapter, a journal article, a public performance, an art exhibition, or a production).
- Preliminary Studies/Progress Report: Document other possible sources of funding/support for your Creative Project. State whether you are continuing an activity supported by an FRCAC or other grant. If this proposal is related to an activity that was previously funded by an FRCAC grant, describe how this proposal differs from your previous proposal(s) on this topic.
- Statement on the Use of Human Subjects and/or Animals in Research: Research that involves human subjects or animals must secure the appropriate approvals. If approval is required for your project, indicate where you are in the process of obtaining written approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for use of human subjects and /or the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) for use of animals or the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC). The Committee will review proposals for which the required approvals are still pending, but funding will not be released until the approvals are complete. If you have any questions about these approvals, you may direct them to the Compliance Office.
Biographical sketch, completed on the provided form. Products of previous funding should be included.
Applicable attachments, including:
- References Cited in the proposal, limited to one page.
- Completed Budget Form.
- Written approval from the IRB, IBC and/or IACUC if that approval has been secured, or indication of application for same.
- Travel Authorizations, signed and approved, when the budget includes travel
- Survey instruments that will be used in the research.
- Collaborative Agreement documentation with external entities
Other Important Information
Final Reports - All awardees must submit a final report of 2 to 5 typed pages to the FRCAC Committee no later than 4 weeks following the granting year. Funds will not be allocated for any ensuing FRCAC Award unless final reports have been received for all prior Awards. This report should be submitted even if research results in publication. Please use a final report cover sheet.
FRCAC Acknowledgement - Grant recipients are expected to acknowledge funding by the Faculty Research and Creative Activity Grant Program on articles submitted for publication and/or presentations of creative works. If possible, the MTSU Faculty Research and Creative Activity Grant Program should be credited on program announcements distributed at presentations.
Intellectual Property. The Bayh-Dole Act imposes the duty of disclosure upon a researcher who makes an invention in the course of Federally funded research. Also, under the TBR Intellectual Property policy,(see The TBR IP Policy), faculty, staff, and students are all required to disclose all inventions as well as the creation of those copyrightable works which could be reasonably expected to have commercial value. Grant recipients are thus expected to disclose any intellectual property developed as a part of the project to the Office of Research
(see MTSU's IP Policy).
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