Programs for Faculty Members

The Faculty Research Committee administers funds available through the Dean of Faculty’s budget to aid faculty in their scholarly endeavors.  Such aid is available for all stages of research, from inception to the final push to publication or performance.  [NB:  as used here, “research” also includes creative activities in the arts intended to lead to public performances or exhibitions, or publication.]

During the 2008-09 year, the FRC will consider faculty requests for research support under two programs:

Faculty Research Grants: These grants are intended to help begin new scholarly projects or to support work already in progress. Proposals may request support of one or two years’ duration. Faculty members who plan a longer project may present this in their initial application, but any renewed funding will be based on a competitive proposal that clearly presents the accomplishments of the original funded period.

This program replaces the previous programs of One-Year and Three-Year Research Expense Grants.

Faculty Research Grant proposals will be considered twice yearly, in October and early February.  Ordinarily, they will be for periods starting the June 1 after the academic year in which they are made. The announced deadlines are firm; it is the policy of the FRC that late applications will not be considered.

For a detailed program announcement, click here.

Completion Grants:   These grants are intended to provide faculty members with funds to defray the costs of bringing their scholarship to the public arena. Examples of such costs include page or indexing charges, permissions, and exhibition staging charges. Normally, a request to fund the purchase of reprints as a stand-alone item is not fundable; however, a faculty member may make such a request if there is a necessity for high-resolution images which cannot otherwise be adequately reproduced. Requests for such grants will be considered on a rolling basis by a sub-committee consisting of the Chair of the FRC and the Associate Academic Dean. Ordinarily, such grants will be for less than $2,000.

Applicants should e-mail to the Chair of the FRC and to the Associate Academic Dean this brief form explaining the expenses (such as page rates for indexing, or title of article and name of journal for page charges) and providing an estimate of the costs to be incurred. 

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The Faculty Research Committee recognizes that these categories may not cover all eventualities. If an unanticipated research situation arises that cannot be accommodated under these categories, please contact the Chair of the FRC.

Support for Student Research

The Faculty Research Committee has long provided support for research experiences for Trinity undergraduates. The programs outlined below are intended to provide flexibility in accommodating the research needs of both faculty members and students.

Under the Faculty Research Grants program [see above], proposals of longer than one year’s duration may include a request for up to $4,000 in personnel costs of research assistance. As distinct from the Student Research Program [see below], this aspect of the Faculty Research Grants is intended primarily to suit the needs of the faculty member’s research. Assistants will not necessarily be Trinity undergraduates, nor will the work experience necessarily be an educational one.

The Student Research Program (SRP) enables faculty members to provide supervised research opportunities for Trinity undergraduates. Proposals are normally prepared by the faculty member and are for research projects that the faculty member is conducting. The principal criterion by which proposals are judged, however, is the educational benefit to the student.

Students receive a maximum stipend of $3,500 for 10 weeks’ full-time work (or the equivalent). For those working during the summer, the program’s benefits also include on-campus housing.

The FRC will consider SRP proposals under two deadlines, in late October and early February. For a complete description and applications forms, click here.

Student-Initiated Research Grants (SIRG): This reimbursement program is intended to defray the costs of student-initiated, faculty-mentored research projects for work than cannot be conducted at Trinity. Of particular interest to the committee are proposals for research leading to a senior thesis. The proposal—including a project narrative, budget, and budget justification—must be written by the student applicant; the sponsoring faculty member provides a statement of support, emphasizing the feasibility of the student’s plan.

The maximum award is $2,500, and stipends are not provided. There is one deadline, on March 30, 2010. For further information, click here.

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Program Limitations and Requirements: The Faculty Research Committee considers requests for travel support—from faculty members and students—only insofar as it is directly related to the research activity itself. Requests for travel to professional meetings, including travel to present the results of FRC-funded research, should be directed to the Associate Academic Dean.

FRC awards may not normally be used to defray the costs of capital equipment (e.g., computers, cameras). Award recipients are responsible for proper stewardship of grant funds and adherence to the approved budget.

Faculty members may submit applications for more than one project in a given year. However, in order to ensure an equitable allocation of funds, the FRC will, if necessary, fund acceptable single proposals before considering further applications from one person or group.

At the conclusion of the period specified in the grant—or at least annually, in the case of longer-term grants—the grant recipient must submit a report to the Associate Academic Dean and to the Director of Faculty Grants.