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Faculty Research Grant Proposal Guidelines

The following guidelines should be strictly adhered to in preparing your Faculty Research Grant proposal. Proposals should be submitted using the online FRG proposal​, which is opened for approximately one month prior to and closes on the fall and spring deadlines.

As you work on your proposal you may save your work by clicking the “save and continue later” button. However, it is always advisable to work in a separate document and then cut and paste your answers into the form. You will be asked to provide the information below – you may wish to prepare your answers in advance and cut and paste text into the form. If you have accompanying figures, illustrations, graphs or charts which you wish to include, please compile into an appendix labelled with your name, and email to the FRG administrator when you submit your proposal. The Faculty Research Committee may wish to consult your CV as posted on your faculty profile, but if you would like to provide the committee with an alternate CV you may send it to FRG administrator when you submit your proposal. Questions about Faculty Research Expense Grants should be directed to Faculty Research Committee member Shane Ewegen.

Information required by the FRG proposal:

Title of your project

Abstract of no more than 100 words

Body of the proposal: Using no more than 2,000 words, explain your project. Because this is an expense program, give special attention in the body of the proposal to the rationales for budget items and their relation to the methods you will employ. Requests for expenses that may fall into a gray area between capital and non-capital expenditures must be fully justified in the body of the proposal. FRC grants may not be used to pay for or supplement payments for capital equipment. Capital equipment is any equipment valued at more than $5,000. You will be asked to provide the following information:

  1. Please provide a statement of the problem/goals of your proposed research;
  2. Explain the significance of the work to your discipline;
  3. Describe the research methods to be used;
  4. Explain how the proposed project fits into your long-term scholarly program;
  5. Outline the plan for dissemination of the results;
  6. If appropriate, include a brief review of relevant literature.

Funding:

  1. Available Funding: List all current and anticipated sources of internal and external funding. This should include, but is not limited to, external grants and/or indirect slush funds, previous FRC awards, other Trinity grants, start-up funds, and funds available to faculty who hold endowed or named chairs. The list should indicate plans for the allocation of these funds during the period of the proposed project.​
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  2. Previous Funding: List all attempts to obtain funding from Trinity and from external sources during the past five years or since coming to Trinity (whichever is shorter). You should include funding for any projects, not just work related to the current application. Include the title of the proposals, amounts requested, sources, periods of proposed funding, and the disposition of the proposals, and provide a brief indication of the publications or similar results for each grant awarded. The applicant’s accomplishments resulting from previous funding will be considered as one piece of evidence regarding the likelihood that present support will have fruitful results.​

The FRC pays close attention to available and previous funding in reviewing requests, and applicants are urged to prepare this section carefully. In the interests of making College resources as widely available as possible, faculty members who have access to restricted funds will be expected to provide some cost-sharing on FRC awards. If an applicant has remaining start-up funds, a persuasive case must be made for FRC funding of research expenses that could otherwise be covered by the start-up account. Applicants who have balances remaining on prior FRC awards should provide 1) the current balance for each grant and 2) a concise and specific plan for the use of these funds. For current funding status, contact Patricia Moody​, director of academic finance.

Budget:

Download the FRC Grants Budget Form and then save and upload the completed form through the link on the online form before submitting your proposal. On the form, please list anticipated expenses and provide budget justification as appropriate. Allowable expenses fall into two categories:

  1. Non-personnel expenses: Faculty may apply for funds to cover the costs of non-personnel expenses listed above, as justified by appropriate budgetary documentation.
  2. Personnel expenses: Faculty members can hire Trinity students during the academic year as research assistants or may hire qualified non-Trinity individuals to help with research. However, if the Trinity student researcher qualifies for the summer research program, they should apply directly to the SRP.

The sum of both expense categories is capped at $4,000 per year. The form includes lines to indicate, when available, additional funding that is known and brings the request under the cap.