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This page contains the various current funding opportunities coordinated by the Research and Scholarship Advisory Committee. This page is updated with offerings as they become available.

Download the Application Instructions

Submit via Kuali Build

Southern Connecticut State University is pleased to announce the continuation of a program to support independent undergraduate research during the Summer or Fall Semester 2024. This initiative, Undergraduate Research Grants, is funded by the SCSU Foundation. Grants of $3,000 each will be awarded to undergraduate students to complete research in any academic discipline represented on the SCSU campus. Each student awardee will be guided by a faculty mentor.

Faculty mentors will receive one credit of 10.12 supplemental pay for their guidance of the proposed student research.

The student may accept the full $3,000 as a stipend, or, if needed, a portion of the money can be used for expenses related to the project.

The purpose of these grants is to promote high quality research and creative activity at the undergraduate level by having students work closely with a faculty mentor.

Eligibility:
To be eligible, a student must:

  • be a matriculated undergraduate with a cumulative GPA of at least 3.0;
  • have completed at least 45 course credits by the end of Spring Semester 2024;
  • be enrolled in undergraduate courses for the Summer or Fall 2024 terms (i.e., seniors graduating in May are not eligible);
  • work with a mentor who is a full-time faculty member at SCSU.

If a student has previously received an undergraduate grant from this program, a copy of the final report from the previous grant must be included with the proposal.

For projects involving human participants or animal subjects, approval from the SCSU Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) must be obtained before beginning the research. Permissions from the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) may also be required.

To apply:
The application must be submitted via the Kuali portal using this link: Undergraduate Research Grant Application by 4:00 p.m. on March 25, 2024.

Incomplete applications will not receive consideration, nor will late applications.

The electronic application will require:

    1. Identifying information as a cover sheet in the Kuali Build application
    1. An itemized budget table outlining how the awarded grant will be distributed (student stipend and/or anticipated project expenses) in the Kuali Build application
    1. A PDF of your Statement of research: using a maximum of five pages (single-spaced, 11-point Times New Roman font), please describe the:

      1. Research problem;
      2. Research design (methodology and status of IRB and/or IACUC clearances, if applicable);
      3. Research resources (e.g. laboratory access, equipment, libraries);
      4. Expected outcomes;
      5. A plan to disseminate results; and
      6. A mentorship plan
    1. A PDF of an unofficial copy of your CURRENT SCSU TRANSCRIPT
    1. A Letter of Recommendation from your Faculty Mentor: using a maximum of two pages (single-spaced, 11-point Times New Roman font), address each of the following five items, in order, under the appropriate side heading:

      1. Qualifications of the applicant, including academic performance
      2. Evidence of applicant’s ability to conduct research in a timely fashion
      3. Applicant’s proposed research activities
      4. Authorization of projected expenditures outlined in initial proposal, if applicable. Please note that this budget must incorporate and adhere to all current SCSU and CSCU Covid-19 protocols.
      5. Evaluation plan to assess student’s achievements

Faculty mentors will receive notification to upload a PDF of their recommendation into the electronic application before routing to the Department Chairperson for approval.

Awards:
Members of the Research and Scholarship Advisory Committee (RSAC) will review proposals and recommend awardees to the Provost.

Academic Honesty:
Please note that these proposals should be written by the student proposer, any proposal that was clearly written by the sponsoring faculty member will be disqualified. Likewise, any student proposal which contains plagiarism or exhibits any other form of academic dishonesty will be disqualified.

Please distribute this information widely so that interested students and faculty can consider research projects for this exciting program.

Questions regarding the application process or other issues may be directed to C. Michele Thompson at ext. 2-5614 or via e-mail to thompsonc2@southernct.edu.

Questions regarding the electronic form can be directed to the SPAR office: spar@southernct.edu.

Download the Application Instructions

Submit via Kuali Build

 

Deadline: Completed proposals must be received by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5th, 2024

Description and Purpose
Southern Connecticut State University recognizes the importance of faculty scholarship and creative activity in furthering its mission. The University is committed to expanding the array of support for such scholarship and creative activity. In recognition of the increased responsibilities placed on senior-level faculty members, the Senior-Level Faculty Research Fellowship was created to support and encourage research, creative activity, and scholarship among senior-level faculty members with a significant amount of reassigned time for these purposes. The Fellow may generate publication(s), performances, or exhibitions from their previous research, or they may conduct new research or creative activity or produce and submit a major grant proposal for external support. The work must be original to the proposer, i.e. editorial work will not be considered. It is expected that the Fellow will pursue work leading to a publishable article or its scientific or creative equivalent and will make a public presentation at Southern or within the CSCU system.

Applications will be reviewed by a group of faculty, representing a broad range of disciplines, who have been appointed by the Provost to serve on the University-wide Research and Scholarship Advisory Committee.

This fellowship is sponsored by the Office of the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs and is independent from the reassigned time allocated in the AAUP contract. This reassigned time will be coupled with a proportionate release from service responsibilities for the semester, or semesters, of the fellowship.

For this project, ONE fellowship of NINE hours of reassigned time will be awarded for Academic Year 2024 – 25. In consultation with their Chair and their Dean the fellow may take all nine hours in one semester or may take 3 hours in either Fall or Spring semester and 6 hours the other semester of AY 2024 – 25. The proposer must state, in the workplan section of the proposal, how the credits will be distributed--all in one semester or divided between both. ALL reassigned time hours for this fellowship MUST be used during AY2024 – 25.

Eligibility, evaluation criteria, and proposal guidelines follow.

Eligibility
Senior-level faculty are here defined as all full-time faculty at the rank of Professor. Such faculty who have completed at least one year of service at SCSU by the end of Fall 2023 are eligible to apply for this fellowship. The applicant must hold a terminal degree in their field.  Previous winners of this award are not eligible to apply for three years after the academic year during which they held the Fellowship.

Criteria
The Committee will use the following criteria to rate the quality and completeness of proposals:

  1. Significance: Evidence of a well-focused and worthy purpose, presented in relationship to previous scholarship. Please include in your application a discussion of how the project will contribute to your discipline or field of study.
  2. Workplan: An appropriate and feasible method as well as a plan of action or a setting of conditions that will result in accomplishing the objectives of the project. Please include a proposed schedule or timeline noting how the credits will be distributed--all in one semester or divided amongst both.
  3. Outcomes and Reporting: Likelihood of significant outcome, such as publication, performance, exhibition or grant proposal. Applicants should be aware that a final report highlighting scholarly accomplishments will be due 90 days after the completion of the project. Furthermore, it is expected that the recipient will complete a manuscript for a publishable article, or its scientific or creative equivalent, and make a public presentation at Southern or within CSCU, or they will submit a major grant proposal. These responsibilities must be fulfilled within two years following the end of the fellowship year.

Proposals
A fellowship proposal must contain the following:

  1. Cover Sheet and Abstract: Completed in the Kuali Build Electronic Application.
  2. Proposal Narrative: The narrative should respond to and be organized by the headings given in the “Criteria” section (i.e., Significance, Workplan, Outcomes and Reporting). The narrative should fit onto no more than five double-spaced pages of printed text using 12- point font and one-inch margins. A bibliography or works cited page is required in order to help the committee understand the significance of your research and should not exceed one page; this page will count toward the five-page limit. No other materials/appendices will be allowed in the application. Please keep in mind that the review committee consists of faculty in a range of disciplines, so that proposals will likely be read by faculty who are not necessarily discipline specialists. Therefore, proposals should be written for an informed generalist while still giving enough specific information on the significance of the research and the soundness of the proposed method to allow a reasonable evaluation by faculty from outside of your area. A brief review of related research undertaken by the applicant and/or others will help the committee understand the significance of the proposed project. A creative arts proposal should contain a description of the work to be produced, materials and facilities to be used, and production details.
  3. Curriculum Vitae: Please include a curriculum vitae indicating your educational background, professional experiences, previous and present research, and other scholarly accomplishments. This CV should not exceed 4 pages and should concentrate on the candidates most recent and most relevant, to the proposed project, accomplishments.
  4. Human Subjects and Vertebrate Animals: If the research involves either human subjects or vertebrate animals, you must indicate so on the proposal cover sheet (on the electronic form). As with any research project, the Fellow must seek approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for human research subjects or the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) for vertebrate animals. The Fellow should contact the appropriate committee for information on submission procedures and timing. In no case should work with human beings or vertebrate animals as research subjects be undertaken until the proper approval is obtained. Failure to obtain proper approval may result in the termination of the fellowship. Letters of approval from the IRB or IACUC must be attached to the final report.

To Apply
The application form and all required supporting materials must be fully completed and submitted in electronic format within the Kuali system at the link below by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday, March 5th, 2024.

Note: Applications submitted through the Kuali portal route directly to the department chairperson for approval, then to the RSAC Chairperson for submission acceptance. Please alert your department chairperson of the application so they can respond to the electronic notification in a timely manner.

Link to electronic application: RSAC Faculty Research Fellowship Application

Proposals that fail to adhere to these application guidelines will not be reviewed.

Proposal Review
Applications will be reviewed by a committee of faculty appointed by the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs to serve on the Research and Scholarship Advisory Committee. The sub- committee designated to evaluate Fellowship applications will represent a broad range of disciplines. The sub-committee may solicit feedback from additional readers in the event that special expertise is required to evaluate the proposal.

Each reviewer will be asked to assign a rating from "1" for weak to "5" for excellent for each of the three criteria listed above. The scores from the readers will be added to produce total scores, which will assist in ranking the proposals.

The Research and Scholarship Advisory Committee will make recommendations to the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs, who will announce the awards.

In order to avoid undue hardship for a department, the recipient of the fellowship should work with the school dean, department chairperson, and the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs to choose the semester(s) for the fellowship.

Questions
Questions regarding the content or other issues may be directed to C. Michele Thompson via email: thompsonc2@southernct.edu
Questions regarding Kuali and the application process should be directed to the SPAR office: spar@southernct.edu

Download the Application Instructions

Submit via Kuali Build

 

Description and Purpose:  Southern Connecticut State University recognizes the importance of student and faculty scholarship and creative activity in furthering its mission. The University is committed to expanding the array of support mechanisms for such scholarship and creative activity. The Conference Travel Grants for Students aims to provide graduate and undergraduate students with funds to support travel costs and/or registration fees for national or international conferences whether virtual or on ground for the purpose of presenting their scholarshipProposals from students who wish to attend a conference without presenting their work will not be considered for funding.  Proposals from students whose work demonstrates a high probability of producing, for example, a published manuscript (or other relevant scholarly representation aligned with their discipline, i.e., art exhibit, book contract) will be given priority.

Eligibility:  Matriculated graduate or undergraduate students (both full and part time), whose conference proposal has already been accepted by the conference organizers, are eligible to apply for this support.

    • Faculty cannot be the lead author. 
    • Student presenter must be the first or second author.  If two students are on one panel, they cannot get full funding but will have to split the award amount.
    • No more than two students for one paper or poster will be allowed.
    • Student must have completed at least one semester at SCSU.
    • FT faculty may not apply for these funds even if they are enrolled as a Graduate Student.
    • PT faculty who are enrolled in a graduate program at SCSU may apply for AAUP travel funds or for a student travel grant, but not both.

Review Process:  Applications will be reviewed by a group of faculty members representing a broad range of disciplines, who have been appointed by the Provost to serve on the University-wide Research and Scholarship Advisory Committee (RSAC). These grants are sponsored by the Office of the Provost/Vice President for Academic Affairs and the Deans.  Students with other concurrent funding must disclose their funding.

Award Amount: Matriculated graduate students may apply for up to $1,000 for a national conference or up to $1,500 per international conference, depending on the budget submitted.  Undergraduate students may apply for up to $500 for a national conference only. Please note: regional conferences cannot be awarded under this Call.  Funds for both types of students may only be applied towards the costs of registration, transportation, and hotel room expenses.  All travel must abide by regulations of the CDC and CT Department of Health as they exist at time of travel.  Funds may not be used for faculty travel expenses. 

For virtual conferences: Matriculated graduate or undergraduate students may apply for up to but not more than the cost of registration for a virtual conference.  Funds may not be used for faculty registration expenses. 

Application Process:  The application and all required documents must be submitted via the Kuali portal system using this link: Conference Travel Grants for Students.

All the following documents must be submitted (in PDF format).  Incomplete applications will not be funded.

  • Conference announcement
  • Student's Conference abstract and proof of acceptance of the student's abstract
  • Unofficial transcript
  • Budget of travel-related expenses.

Please note that only the cost of registration, estimated traavel to and from the conference site, and the estimated expense for a hotel room during the conference should be listed in the budget. For virtual conferences only the cost of registration (not supplies) for the conference can be submitted.

  • Proof of conference registration costs.

Students must indicate a faculty mentor on the form; the faculty mentor is expected to formally approve the application through the electronic portal.

We recognize that conferences send acceptance at different times, therefore there is no hard deadline for submission of proposals.  However, after committee review and approval, commitments to fund will be granted on a first come, first serve basis. Therefore, students should apply as soon as possible after they receive organization/society/conference acceptance. Funds are ordinarily distributed on a reimbursement basis following processes used by the university Travel Office. All expenses, following travel, must be fully reconciled prior to the end of the fiscal year (by no later than June 30, 2024).

Further Information

For questions, please contact Professor C. Michele Thompson thompsonc2@southernct.edu.

Please note that awardees are responsible for completing the University/State required Travel Authorization and associated paperwork within the required timeframe to be reimbursed.