The University Research Board (URB)

URB Guidelines and Procedures

1. PI Eligibility for Faculty Research Grants
2. Conditions for Faculty Research Grants

3. Application Deadlines
4. Procedures for Grant Application
5. Preparation of the Research Proposal

6. URB Grant Management
7. URB Grant Renewal
8. Reporting

The URB provides two types of research funding which are administered by the Office of Grants and Contracts:

a. Regular Research Grants, awarded to support individual, group, or collaborative research projects.

b. Seed Grants, awarded to support newly appointed faculty members.

1. PI Eligibility for Faculty Research Grants

The URB seeks to encourage quality research throughout the University and only supports research by faculty members in professorial ranks. Priority for funding will be given for Junior Faculty Members' research activities. Normally, URB does not award grants to faculty members who are in their terminal year with the University or who are on one-year contracts. Visiting faculty may apply for URB funding, but such applications will only be considered if they are strongly recommended by the department Chair and the Dean.

2. Conditions for Faculty Research Grants

A. Regular Research Grants

Faculty members are urged to supplement URB funding with additional grants from other sources. The Faculty Research Committee (FRC) and the dean must approve all proposals. Faculty research grants will normally not exceed $10,000.

Both individual and collaborative applications by AUB faculty are considered. If collaborative applications include scholars from outside AUB, URB funds can only be used to support the AUB faculty members involved.

Guidelines for URB Regular Research Grants' Funding

a. Priority for funding will be given for Junior Faculty Members' research activities.

b. Funding of grants is competitive. The FRC will evaluate applications according to clearly developed written guidelines established by each Faculty/School and announced to faculty members. It will also carefully review all budgets. The FRC must solicit confidential letters of external review from qualified individuals who are not members of the FRC from within and, if necessary, from outside of AUB and use them in the evaluation process. Copies of these letters should accompany the application submitted to the URB. Prior research activity and quality of prior publications will be considered. Projects must be ranked in clearly defined categories. The FRC must include written justification for its decisions with each recommendation.

c. Funding will only be approved for the highest ranking proposals. No proposal will be approved for funding if a progress report (for renewals) or a final report for previous funded URB project was not submitted to OGC and FRC and approved.

d. Proposals requesting one year duration cannot be extended. For longer-term proposals, see (d) below. URB research accounts will be monitored to ensure timely use. Failure to use grants in a timely manner may jeopardize eligibility for new URB grants.

e. Proposals requesting more than one year in funding (not more than 3) will be considered only during the Regular Funding Cycle. In this case, proposals should contain detailed description of the specific aims to be conducted each year, and the amount of funding required for these aims per year. Yearly funds cannot be carried over from one fiscal year to the next. Renewed funding during subsequent years will be contingent on submitting to OGC and FRC an acceptable progress report of the previous year research activities.

f. Unless explicitly authorized in the URB award letter, URB funds cannot be used for any travel-related expenditure (including registration fees for conferences, workshops, or training courses) equipment (including computers and accessories) books, publication costs and professional societies' membership fees.

g. Applying for external funding is encouraged to supplement the cost of the research activities proposed, and will not jeopardize chances for URB approval.

h. Faculty members who have received URB support for a total of six (6) years, but who failed as PI to submit proposals and receive funding from external sources may jeopardize her/his chances from receiving any further URB funding.

i. Upon the Board of Deans' recommendation, the University may designate areas of institutional priority and make additional funds available for grants in these areas.

B. Seed Grants

Seed grants are intended to provide limited start-up funds for newly appointed faculty members. The Faculty Research Committee (FRC) and the dean must approve all proposals. Faculty research grants normally range from $3,000 to $7,000, depending on the discipline. The URB will review all group applications carefully to ensure compliance with the definition.

Those eligible to apply for Seed Grants include:

a. Faculty members who are appointed within one year of the Seed Grant Deadline for submission and have not received previous URB funding.

b. Lecturers, instructors and visiting professors, who are not usually eligible to apply, on an exceptional basis if their applications are highly recommended by the departmental chairperson and the Dean.

c. Lecturers or instructors who are newly promoted to a professorial rank without having benefited from URB funding prior to the promotion.

Guidelines for URB Seed Research Grants' Funding

a. Funding of grants is competitive. The FRC will evaluate applications according to clearly developed written guidelines established by each Faculty/School and announced to faculty members. It will also carefully review all budgets. The FRC shall solicit confidential letters of review from qualified individuals who are not members of the FRC from within and use them in the evaluation process. Copies of these letters should accompany the application submitted to the URB. Projects should be ranked in clearly defined categories. The FRC must include writeen justification for its decisions with each recommendation.

b. Unless explicity authorized in the URB award letter, URB funds cannot be used for equipment and/or books.

c. URB funds cannot be used for any travel-related expenditure (including registration fees for conferences, workshops, or training courses), computers and accessories, software, publication costs and professional societies' membership fees.

d. Applying for external funding is encouraged to supplement the cost of the research activities proposed, and will not jeopardize chances for URB approval.

e. The same guidelines and regulations of the URB regular grants apply for the seed grants' funding.

3. Application Deadlines

There are two application cycles (Spring and Fall) for the Seed Grants, and one cycle for the Regular Research Grants (Spring).

Applications for either type of URB funding should be submitted to the appropriate Faculty Research Committee (FRC) in March of every year for the Regular and Spring Seed Grants; and in October for Fall Seed Grants, the exact deadline dates will be announced by OGC at least a month before the deadline.

Application Deadlines to OGC: Applications can only be submitted by the FRCs to the Office of Grants and Contracts. Each FRC must submit its recommendations (ranking) to the Office of Grants and Contracts (OGC) by May 31st and November 30th for the spring and fall funding cycles respectively. The URB committee will make every effort to announce decisions for grant funding at the end of June and the end of December of each year.

4. Procedures for Grant Application

Faculty members must adhere to the following procedures in preparing their grant applications:

1. Proposals should include the URB Proposal Transmittal and Approval Form.

2. The Faculty member must secure the signatures of the department chair and the dean. The proposal should then be sent to the Faculty Research Committee by the FRC posted deadline for review.

3. If applicable and if proposals involve human subjects, faculty must apply and/or obtain the approval of the Institutional Research Board (IRB) prior or at the same time of submission to the appropriate FRC. All those involved with human subjects will be required by the IRB to take a Web-based course on ethical issues in clinical research entitled: "Human Participant Protections Education for Research Teams". This is part of the effort to comply with international standards and regulations for conducting clinical research. If the proposal is approved by URB, funds will not be released until the IRB application is approved.

4. If applicable (in the case of using experimental animals in the proposed research), an animal use application and/or approval must be obtained from the Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) prior or at the same time of submission of the proposal to the appropriate FRC. If the proposal is approved by URB, funds will not be released until the animal use application is approved.

5. If applicable, a license for the use of radioactive material or use of biohazardous material should be applied for and/or approval must be obtained from the Radiation Safety and/or Biosafety Committee prior or at the same time of submission of the proposal to the appropriate FRC. If the proposal is approved by URB, funds will not be released until such are approved.

5. Preparation of the Research Proposal

The proposal must include the following:

1. Title of the project

2. Abstract (not to exceed 200 words).

3. Specific aims (must not exceed one page).

4. Introduction, including review of related work (1-3 pages).

5. Preliminary Results (if applicable (1-3 pages).

6. Methods of inquiry and analysis (1-5 pages), including how each specific aim is investigated.

7. Significance of the project (not to exceed one page).

8. Time commitment and role of the PI(s) and, if applicable, co-investigator(s).

9. Itemized budget in US dollars.

10. Justification of the budget.

11. Pending and/or current funding: Include title of the projects, percentage effort on each, and overlap with the present proposal if any. Applicant must clearly indicate if funds have been received from other sources to support the project for which you are now seeking URB funds.

12. A list of publications that have resulted from previous URB grants in the last five years.

13. A list of previously awarded URB grants.

14. A list of the PI active grants' funding (including start and end dates).

15. A curriculum vitae of the PI and Co-PIs.

6. URB Grant Management

The Office of Grants and Contracts is responsible for administering the URB awards. The URB officer at OGC will monitor the project for administrative and financial compliance with the award conditions.

7. URB Grant Renewal

A request for renewal of a current URB grant, which was originally proposed as a multi-year project, will normally be granted after review of a detailed progress report on the project for which the grant was awarded. Renewals will not normally be granted for grants that were not originally proposed as multi-year projects.

8. Reporting

A progress report (for renewals) and a final report are required from those who receive URB funding. The reports are due for submission to OGC and FRC six weeks after the end of the project. Further funding from URB might be contingent on receiving and approving these reports.