Research and Scholarship Program - Initiation Grant

The Research and Scholarship Program (RSP) – Initiation Grant (IG) provides seed funds to established faculty initiating new programs of research, scholarship, or creative endeavor or to early career faculty beginning their research programs. Grants up to $10,000 of total funding, as appropriate to the research proposal, are available through this program.

Priorities

The priorities for this grant are as follows:

• Projects of basic scholarship, research, or creative endeavor appropriate to the applicant's background and academic appointment
• Special projects for which other research funds are not available

Eligibility

The following categories are eligible to apply for this program:

• Full-time members of the University of Notre Dame regular faculty are eligible to apply.
• Proposals requesting support for ongoing research projects funded by another sponsor, or projects that can be funded by PI startup or discretionary funds, or projects in the final stages of completion are not considered priorities.

Note: Faculty may not receive more than two total RSP-RGs or RSP-IGs during their career at Notre Dame. 

Budget Requests

A maximum of $10,000 is awarded through this grant. The following are allowable budget requests:

• Equipment necessary to the research project’s aims
• Graduate research assistant summer stipends
• Summer salary for faculty
  • Up to one-ninth of academic year salary maximum for faculty on nine month appointments;
  • up to one-twelfth of annual salary for faculty on twelve month appointments
• Travel necessary for the success of the project
• Undergraduate student support

The following are unallowable budget requests:

• Academic year salary for the faculty.
• Publication costs. Manuscript editing costs may be allowable should the project and budget justify it appropriately.
• Ongoing research projects funded by another sponsor.
• Projects in the final stages of completion.
• Salary for postdoctoral research associates, administrative staff, technicians, or any other staff position.
• Travel for the purpose of presenting research results or attendance at conferences.

Note: Awards are partially based on need. Faculty members with significant discretionary or capitalization funds should not apply. A full list of past award recipients can be found here: https://research.nd.edu/our-services/funding-opportunities/faculty/internal-grants-programs/rsp-ig-past-recipients/

Deadline

This grant is currently closed. Please check back again soon for details of a future opening.

Grant Period

The grant period is one year. A one-year, no-cost extension may be approved with satisfactory progress or growth of the project.

Proposal Format

Interested applicants will submit two documents to Google Forms—the proposed project and the proposed budget with the directions below.

To submit a proposal, please use the following intake link (ND netID only):

Submit proposal

Part 1) Project Proposal

Each project proposal must be uploaded as a single PDF document with the naming convention of “<PIName>_IGProposal_<2024>.pdf” and include the following items in the order listed:

1. Cover page (one-page maximum)
   • Name of principal investigator, department, center, institute affiliation, phone, email, proposal title, and designation as a RSP-IG
   • Any co-principal investigators and their department, center, or institute affiliations
2. Abstract (one-page maximum)
3. Description (five pages maximum)
   • The objective of the project
   • Background, previous work, and motivation as appropriate
   • The project approach and methods
   • The anticipated outcomes
   • The anticipated time schedule
4. Discussion (one-page maximum)
   • How support from the RSP-IG will initiate an important new program
   • Anticipated outcomes and value of the project (scientific, creative, scholarly, and/or practical significance)
   • Plans for publication of research results and continuing the project beyond the funding period
5. Citations or bibliography, optional (one-page maximum)
6. Current and pending grant support
   • List all current and pending proposals by all faculty participants individually, including sponsor, amount, project title, and start/end dates
   • Indicate discretionary, startup or capitalization funds available to the principal investigator(s)
7. Current curriculum vitae (two pages maximum/per CV)
   • Required for each faculty member listed on the cover sheet as an investigator
   • If postdocs, graduate students, and/or undergraduates are included in the project as collaborators, please describe their qualifications (one page maximum per person)

Please note: The proposed project submission should use clear, non-technical language for a general audience as the review panel contains a broad representation from across the University. Arial 12 point with double spacing and one-inch margins is preferred.

Submission

The Google Form submission should include two uploads: a single PDF document and a single budget file with the proper naming conventions. Submitting materials in addition to the format outlined here is discouraged. Proposals that do not comply with format and content guidelines may be rejected without review.

Submissions are due 17:00, EDT (UTC-4), Wednesday, November 01, 2023

Review Process

Projects will be confidentially reviewed by an anonymous panel of senior faculty chosen from across the University. The panel will make a recommendation to the Vice President for Research, who will make the final decision.

Acceptance Conditions

In accepting an award from the RSP-IG, the awardee agrees to:

• Conform to established practices and procedures concerning sponsored program activity
• Submit a final report to Notre Dame Research at intprogs@nd.edu no later than three months after the end date of the award, including a summary of the activities funded by the award, significant results achieved, evidence that the project contributed to the international and/or national reputation of Notre Dame as a preeminent research institution, and a listing of any publications or manuscripts resulting from the award
• Act in accordance with the policy that all permanent equipment purchased under a RSP-IG is the property of the University unless otherwise specified when the grant is approved
• Adhere to university guidelines for all proposed international travel
• Obtain and follow guidelines and policies affecting these types of projects from Notre Dame Research Compliance; awards will be contingent upon approval of any protocols for research involving the use of live vertebrate animals, recombinant DNA molecules, and/or human subjects

Final Report

All internal grant awardees are required to complete a short final report, which shall be sent to intprogs@nd.edu. To download the report template, please click here for PDF, or for DOCX click here.

Previous Awardees

View previous awardees.

Need More Information?

For information on the RSP-IG, or the Internal Grants in general, please contact intprogs@nd.edu.