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For information concerning the FFE program please see the links below:

2024-2025 Funding For Excellence Program:

Pool 1 - Health Sciences, STEM, and Education

The Office of Research & Economic Development at UMKC is pleased to accept applications for the 2024-2025 Funding For Excellence intramural funding program in the fields of Health Sciences, STEM, and Education (HS+STEM+Ed). The deadline for submission is Thursday, October 31, 2024 at 5 p.m. CST.

FFE is an institutionally-funded grants program to support the highest level of research, scholarship, and creative endeavors by UMKC faculty. For 2024-2025, there will be two distinct FFE programs: Pool 1- Health Sciences, STEM, and Education, and Pool 2 - Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. This announcement pertains solely to Pool 1. A separate announcement will be made in early 2025 for proposals to support Pool 2 projects.

The goals of the FFE program are to provide funding which:

  • Allows preliminary data collection to support significant future sponsored research submissions
  • Encourages collaborative research between units (Schools, Divisions, Departments, or Disciplines)
  • Enhances the research, scholarly, and creative reputation of UMKC
  • Support highly innovative, high-risk projects

The program provides two funding Tier options to support interdisciplinary collaborative and single investigator research. The total number of awards will depend upon the availability of funds. Awards will be made on a competitive basis, following review and recommendation by the UMKC Research Advisory Council (RAC).

 

Application Tiers

Tier 1 – up to $75,000 (approx. 2 awards)

Tier 1 proposals are solicited for interdisciplinary multiple PI research proposals which must include a minimum of two contributing investigators representing independent UMKC units (Schools, Divisions, Departments, or Disciplines). Co-investigators external to UMKC are permitted provided the contributions from the external collaborator are covered by in-kind support. These proposals are intended to support preliminary data collection for major future submissions to NSF, NIH, and other external funding sources. The budget cap for Tier 1 proposals is $75,000; however, we encourage submitters to create a budget and justification that estimates what aspects of their research can be completed if smaller amounts were awarded (for example, $25K, $50K, full funding) and how each level of budget would support an external grant submission. The budget cap for Tier 1 proposals is $75,000.

 

Tier 2 – up to $10,000 (approx. 4-5 awards)

Tier 2 proposals are solicited for single or multiple PI research proposals. These proposals are intended to support data collection and preliminary research generation for future sponsored project submissions. For these proposals, multi-investigator, cross-unit applications are encouraged but not required. If multi-investigator, the same requirements as set out for Tier 1 apply. The budget for Tier 2 proposals is up to $10,000.

 

Eligibility Requirements

Tenured, tenure-track and non-tenure track faculty at the rank of Assistant Professor or higher holding at least a 0.75 FTE appointment are eligible to serve as Investigators if their appointment allows it. A PI may resubmit a previously unfunded proposal from a prior FFE cycle but must include an explanation of how the proposal has been revised and how the reviewers’ comments have been addressed. Past recipients of FFE awards are ineligible to apply for this round if they received their FFE award for either 2022-2023 or 2023-2024 (i.e. in the last two years). Recipients prior to 2022 may apply provided a final report and summary of submitted external research proposals has been received by the Office of Research Services as outlined in the “FFE Production and Reporting Requirements” section at the end of this document.

The project narrative must not exceed FIVE (numbered) pages and must be submitted online, along with all associated documents, by the 5:00 p.m. deadline on Thursday, October 31, 2024.

The text must be single-spaced with a standardized, non-condensed font in either 11-point or 12-point font size. Use no less than 0.5-inch margins throughout. The bibliography section is NOT included in the 5-page limit. Applicants are encouraged to use the following outline when preparing the proposal narrative; however, additional sections may be added as appropriate. The length of each section is just a guide and applicants may vary the length of the sections based on their need while keeping to the 5-page limit.

The application should be written so that it is understandable to faculty from a wide range of disciplines. For resubmission of an FFE proposal, up to one page that is not included in the 5-page limit may be used to describe how the proposal has been revised and to address reviewers’ comments.

 

1. Brief Introduction & Specific Aims (1 page suggested)

  • Specific objectives including what the return on investment will be
  • Statement of how the proposed project is collaborative (if applicable)

2. Significance and Innovation Statement (1/2 page suggested)

  • Significance of the work, including a statement on the impact to UMKC
  • Description of the innovation of the research

3. Project Background (1 page suggested)

  • Previous work of the applicant(s) and by other scholars in the proposed project area
  • Relationship of the proposed project to current state-of-the-field
  • Description of how this FFE project advances the field
  • List any FFE award received by the applicant and collaborators in the last 4 years along with the outcomes including publications and extramural grant applications. State whether these applications are pending, declined, or awarded.

4. General Plan of Work (2 pages suggested)

  • Design of activities to be undertaken, including methods and procedures
  • Plans for preservation, documentation, and sharing of data or products, if appropriate
  • Description of the role of each collaborator in execution of research plan

5. Expected Achievements, Future Plans, & Timetable (suggested 1/2 page)

  • State the expected deliverable(s) AND how this award will support a larger external grant application
  • Timetable for completion of project within one year

The following documents are NOT included in the 5-page limit:

6. Budget and Justification

Please use the budget template provided on the RedCap online submission page or the FFE webpage and include a brief justification of budgeted items. Please note, the FFE funds are not intended to support or supplement faculty salaries. However, for PIs and co-PIs on 9-month appointments, a salary request is permitted but the combined PI/co-PI salary request is capped at $4000 for Tier 1 proposals and $2000 for Tier 2 proposals. Project budgets that exceed the funding limit must describe the source of additional support.

 

YOUR BUDGET MUST BE SIGNED BY YOUR SUPERVISOR (DEPARTMENT OR DIVISION CHAIR, OR IF YOU ARE DEPT. CHAIR, YOUR DEAN), PRIOR TO FFE PROPOSAL SUBMISSION.

 

7. Bibliography

8. Appendix:

  • 1-page appendix with supplementary figures, tables, etc. is allowed.

9. Biosketch

Please use either the NSF or NIH biographical sketch (Biosketch) form.
• Note: NSF has partnered with the National Institutes of Health to use SciENcv: Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae as the NSF-approved format for use in preparation of the biographical sketch section of an NSF proposal
If the intent is to use this FFE award for another funding agency, the applicant may choose either the NSF or NIH format for their Biosketch. The choice of Biosketch must be consistent for all named applicants on the proposal.

 

10. Statement on human subjects and/or experimental animals (if applicable)

If the proposed study involves the use of human subjects and/or experimental animals, the appropriate protocols MUST be filed for review with the Institutional Review Board (IRB) and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), respectively, at the time of application. A statement with the date when the protocol was submitted must be included with the final submission documents. If an IRB or IACUC protocol has already been approved, please indicate the approved protocol number and the date of approval and expiry. Applications without the accompanying required IRB and IACUC protocol submission will not be evaluated.

 

11. Letter of Collaboration

Internal or external collaborators should include a signed letter of collaboration describing their role in the project and in preparation of this application. External collaborators should include any intended in-kind contributions to the project.

 

Convert the final budget template and justification, bibliography, Appendix (if needed), all Biosketches, the statement on human/animal subjects (if applicable), and letter(s) of collaboration into PDF format and then combine with the 5-page application narrative into a single PDF file, with the narrative appearing first in the single combined PDF.

Submissions of proposals for this cycle will be online via RedCap. Please use the link to upload your proposal.

If you have questions regarding the REDCap submission process, please contact Alexis Petri in the Center for Advancing Faculty Excellence. If you have questions regarding the specifics of this intramural funding call for proposals, please contact RAC Chair: Dr. Cynthia Russell Lippincott.

Since FFE awards are intramural, applications should not be submitted to ORS Pre-Award.

 

NOTE: All proposals must be submitted online by 5:00 CST on Thursday, October 31, 2024. Proposals that do not conform to the submission guidelines (above) will be RETURNED WITHOUT REVIEW.

Each proposal will be reviewed using the following criteria:

  • Do the intended outcomes (deliverables) of this application align with the FFE goals including development into a competitive application for an external grant (where appropriate)?
  • Are the deliverables feasible given the applicant’s background, expertise, budget, timetable, and plan? AND is the budget and scope appropriate for the selected Tier?
  • Quality of Proposal (Clarity, Significance, Innovation): List the proposal strengths and weaknesses

At the completion of the FFE award, awardees will be required to submit two documents:

  1. A brief report summarizing the research and creative results from the FFE project.
  2. A list of proposals submitted, along with funding status, as a result of FFE funding; and a summary of any publicity or additional notoriety attributed to UMKC as a result of the FFE project.