Description of Program and Solicitation of Faculty Proposals

The Office of Academic Affairs is pleased to announce a fourth round of this internal grant program that was initiated in 2002. The goal for this initiative is for internal grants to help investigators purchase an item of laboratory equipment that will strengthen their research program, and thus assist them in applications for external research funding in the near future. Proposals must involve at least two faculty from one college, or among CUNY colleges.

The deadline for receipt of grant proposals was Friday, November 17, 2006.

Funding

The grant proposals can request an amount up to $40,000 and require a match of funds from your college. The minimum match is 50% and maximum is 100%. For example, for an item of equipment costing $60,000, the maximum amount of $40,000 can be requested and would require a match of $20,000. However, if the equipment cost is $80,000 then $40,000 can be requested but would require a match of $40,000, allowing a maximum of $80,000 for the item of equipment. Items of equipment costing less than $60,000 may be requested and would require a 50% match from your college.

Eligibility

a) Only full-time faculty at the CUNY campuses are eligible to apply.

b) Faculty who received an equipment grant in the previous round (‘04-‘05) are not eligible.

c) A faculty member can submit only one proposal for the present round.

Specific Proposal Guidelines

The application should include:

1) Signed cover page with the project summary

2) Budget page detailing equipment, cost, total amount requested and total amount of matching funds. Please note that the purchase of laptop computers is not permitted.

3) A comprehensive description of one research proposal which should be 3-5 single-spaced pages, with 1 inch borders and 12 point type. This narrative should include a justification of the necessity of the proposed equipment to the research project. The research described may be a collaboration, or may be from one PI. Please note that this description will be sent to external reviewers for evaluation.

4) Additional research projects outlined in no more than a half-page, which describes other CUNY faculty‘s usage and need for the proposed equipment.

5) The CVs (2-page, NIH style) of each participating faculty member.

6) Optional form to suggest potential external reviewers, and/or individuals to not select as reviewers.

Proposals will be sent out for external review by the internal committee that oversees this program. The committee will choose external reviewers based on the nature of the research project described. If a proposal is in a subject area not covered by the expertise of the review committee, a senior member of the CUNY faculty in that field will be asked to assist in the recruitment of external reviewers.

Evaluation

An internal Committee made up of Executive Officers of the University‘s doctoral programs and senior faculty at the campuses oversees this program. Proposals will be evaluated (1) for their technical quality and feasibility, (2) for the promise of the research program to grow and flourish beyond the funding period, including the potential to generate its own external funding over time, (3) necessity for equipment in proposed research, and (4) appropriateness of the budget.

The evaluation will be carried out in two phases. First, there will be an external evaluation based on the four criteria above, conducted by at least one expert outside of CUNY selected by the Committee. Reviewers will rank according to the following numerical values:

1 – excellent

2 – very good

3 – good

4 – fair

5 – poor

Fractional ratings may be used when the reviewer judges that the application falls between two categories. Second, there will be a ranking by the Committee based on the scores and comments of the external reviewers.

Please note that the last page of the application form provides space for applicants to suggest potential reviewers for their proposal, or to name individuals they do not want to review their proposal. This form is optional, and there is no guarantee that the names submitted would be contacted or used. However, such information may be helpful to the Evaluation Committee in finding appropriate reviewers for the field(s) and topics the proposal addresses.

Approvals, Submission and Timetable

The proposals must be approved and signed by the faculty members requesting the funds, by an official at the college who is authorized to commit the college to providing the matching funds, and by the grants officer.

One (1) paper copy of the signed proposal must be submitted, with an electronic copy of the full proposal (word or pdf) sent as an email attachment to oaaresearch@mail.cuny.edu.

Following review, we expect to announce the awards in early February 2007. Applications should be sent to:

Tel: (212) 794-5521
oaaresearch@mail.cuny.edu

Proposals must arrive at Central Office no later than 5:00 pm on Friday, November 17, 2006.

Download complete applications in Word <doc> or PDF <pdf> format.