Internal Funding Programs

• Faculty Research Committee Programs
  • University Faculty Scholars
  • Faculty Research Grants
  • Publication, Reprint, Exhibition, and Performance (PREP) Costs
• Book Publication Grant
• Strategic Investment Fund
• Rapid Investment Program

Faculty Research Committee Programs

The Faculty Research Committee sponsors the following three programs:

• University Faculty Scholar and University Junior Faculty Scholar Awards honor faculty who have demonstrated a sustained level of excellence in research or other creative activity.
• The Faculty Research Grants program awards funding to encourage the development of externally funded research at Miami University. The Committee interprets research as creative endeavors that seek to add to the sum of human knowledge; as well, the Committee supports a wide range of professional activities and recognizes that research varies from discipline to discipline.
• The Publication, Reprint, Exhibition, and Performance (PREP) Costs program provides grants to reimburse certain publication and presentation expenses.

Book Publication Grant

Book Publication Grants provide support for the final preparation, publication, and dissemination of scholarly monographs and other books essential for promotion, tenure, and professional advancement. Awards are anticipated to average $5,000. Awards for larger amounts can be made provided that sufficient justification is provided. Awards can be applied to expenses such as, but not limited to, professional indexing; image reproduction and map-making; required permission fees for the use of images or texts; professional translation into another language; copy editing and proofreading not supplied by the press; and essential subvention and open access costs.

Awards are intended for completed manuscripts that are in press or have already been published in a different language. (Generally, “in press” means that the completed manuscript has been successfully peer-reviewed, is under a board-approved contract, and has been delivered to the press for final editing and production.) Faculty with completed manuscripts but without a board-approved contract may apply prior to this stage, however, and should indicate the importance of funding to securing a book contract. Co-authored books are eligible, provided that all authors seek funding from their home institutions. In such cases, awards are not contingent on other institutions’ funding but may be reduced to ensure that funding is conserved for Miami faculty.

Book Publication Grants do not fund the research or writing of a manuscript itself. Book Publication Grants are not intended for books generating significant royalties.

Applications are submitted via InfoReady. Information regarding required components for applications and the evaluation process can be found on InfoReady. Book publication grants will have two submission deadlines per year, one in the fall and one in the spring.

Strategic Investment Fund

Strategic Investment Fund (SIF) awards provide cost-share on external funding applications to eligible categories listed below. Applications will be due on the 1st of every month and must be submitted by the monthly deadline that is at least 6 weeks before the proposal submission date. Applicants must submit their proposal budget to the appropriate Research and Sponsored Programs staff member for approval at least one week before the SIF submission deadline.

SIF awards provide cost-share on external funding proposals. SIF requests should be for no more than 50% of the total indirect costs for the proposed award or $75,000, whichever is less. The categories of SIF support include Concurrent Graduate Research Assistant, Postdoctoral Fellow Matching, Research Assistant/Associate Matching, or Equipment and Instrumentation. For each proposal, requests can fall into one, two, or all three categories.

• Multiple positions on a single external funding award application
• Multiple categories on a single external funding award application
• RA stipends and AY tuition
• Through FY25

For proposals requiring cost-share, a SIF award will provide funds to be included in the submitted budget. For proposals where cost-share is voluntary or not allowed, a SIF award will provide funds as internal cost-share that will not be included in the submitted budget. Typically, SIF awards can be mentioned in the facilities section of the proposal, however, no dollar amounts can be included. Any mention of SIF awards in the facilities section must be discussed with and cleared by the appropriate Research and Sponsored Programs staff member.

Applications will be submitted through the Strategic Investment Fund Formstack Application. In addition to demographic information (name, department, and college for the lead applicant), applications must provide the draft proposal budget document and the specific amount of funds requested in each support category. The draft proposal budget document should be submitted as a .xls or .xlsx file.

Proposals will be evaluated by the Office of Research and Innovation (ORI) for compliance with SIF award guidelines. Awards will be administered and tracked by ORI. Check-ins with awardees will be conducted by ORI at 3-month, 6-month, 9-month, and 12-month intervals to provide connections between awardees and ORI and enable assistance with external proposal preparation, pre-review, and external consultation. Awards will require the submission of an annual report.

Rapid Investment Program

The Rapid Investment Program (RIP) aims to substantially invest in the research programs of faculty with a demonstrated track record of success in receiving external funding, who are primed to grow their research program, and who are poised to acquire new external grants by submitting external funding proposals within 6-9 months. These strategic investments are a highly-competitive program with the goal of generating a strong return on investment. It is anticipated that each RIP award will be approximately $75k-$100k for one year. Details of the application process for the RIP follow below.

Application Deadlines

Proposals are accepted in a continuous, rolling submission window. Awards are contingent upon the availability of funds to the RIP.

Proposal Preparation

Faculty should prepare a single PDF document composed of a 1-page research proposal, a budget, a budget justification, and an external funding plan. Proposals should be submitted via the RIP Grant FormStack Application.

• The research proposal should include enough detail to make a case for the investment and to lay out a clear plan for how the proposed funding will enable growth of the research program and facilitate submission of external funding proposal(s) within 6-9 months.
  • Literature or references cited do not count toward the 1-page limit.
• Budgets should be 1 year in duration.
  • Budgets proposing the use of graduate students should include full tuition.
  • Travel is ordinarily not an allowed cost unless the travel is essential for enabling the proposed research.
  • Budgets do not count toward the 1-page restriction.
  • Budget justifications must have an accompanying section and description of each budget category included in the budget.
    • The justification for each category should be a concise description for why that particular budget category, and the amount requested, is necessary for success of the proposed research.
    • Budget justifications do not count toward the 1-page restriction.
  • External funding plans must include:
    • Details regarding the funder(s) and grant mechanism(s) that will be pursued.
    • An anticipated timeline for applying to the identified grant mechanism(s).
    • Evidence of demonstrated success in submitting and receiving external funding awards.
      • This evidence will typically be provided through a list of current and past grants.
    • External funding plans do not count toward the 1-page restriction.
  • External funding plans must propose the use of grant mechanisms that allow for full indirect costs.
  • Awardees will be required to work with the Office of Research and Innovation (ORI), and external grant consultants chosen by ORI, in preparing proposals for external funding.

Proposal Review

For each submitted proposal, the Associate Vice President for Research and Innovation (AVPRI), the Committee on Faculty Research (CFR) Chair, or select members of CFR from the cognate area of the submitted proposal will evaluate the proposal. Other members of the Miami University research community, or external reviewers, may be called upon for review if the AVPRI determines that additional review expertise is needed. Award recommendations will be reviewed by the VPRI. Modifications to proposals, as requested by the VPRI, may be necessary before an award is made.

Awards

A limited number of awards will be made and the program is expected to be highly competitive. Awards will be administered and tracked by the ORI. Check-ins with awardees will be conducted by ORI at 3-month intervals to provide connections between awardees and ORI and enable assistance with external proposal preparation, pre-review, and external consultation.