Faculty Research Support Program - Regular Grant

The Faculty Research Support Program (FRSP) – Regular Grant (RG) provides funds to support outstanding research, scholarship, or creative endeavors that will make a major contribution in any field of study.

Projects should lead to a significant outcome during the period of the award. The FRSP-RG should not be viewed as a seed funding opportunity for the generation of preliminary results. Grants ranging from $25,000 to $100,000 of total funding, as appropriate to the research proposal, over three years are available through this program. Augmentation of the grants by the Colleges and Departments are allowed.

Priorities

The following are key priorities for the FRSP-RG:

• Excellence: The program of research, scholarship, or creative endeavor must be of the highest quality. It is expected that the outcomes of the project will bring recognition to the researcher(s) and the University. It is assumed that outcomes of the project will be significantly recognized as leading the discipline or field of study and contribute to the overall prominence of the University
• Mission Fit: Projects should support the University’s Catholic mission. This can be achieved in many ways, including scholarship that promotes a better understanding of our common humanity, and applied research that strengthens our shared communities and promotes human flourishing
• Qualifications of Project Personnel: The committee will consider the ability of the researcher(s) to carry out the proposed project based on record and/or future promise
• Budget: All funding requests will be evaluated on their level of appropriateness in relation to the research proposal

Some example projects include:

• An intercontinental comparative study of the influences of current global changes
• A multi-year conference series that allows important exploration of an issue from many ethnic, cultural, and religious perspectives
• A research program that supports visits to archives and sites that would otherwise not be possible and would open new comparative study opportunities for international collaboration
• Collaborative research with distinguished scholars at other universities or with creative performers in professional activity
• Acquisition of materials or equipment to enable outstanding research–research plan for utilizing such materials or equipment should be included in the proposal

Note: These examples are for illustrative purposes only. Many other similar types of projects are encouraged.

Eligibility

The following categories are eligible to apply for this program:

• Full-time regular members of the University of Notre Dame faculty, including tenured and tenure-track faculty, research faculty, library faculty, and professors of the practice, are eligible to apply.
• Faculty members receiving FRSP-RG funding during the past five years are ineligible.
• The FRSP-RG program seeks to support outstanding research, scholarship, or creative endeavor that will make a major contribution in any field of study. The FRSP-RG is intended for standalone, seminal research that will help bring renown to the University. This grant program is not meant for research that may be funded through external sources, “seed” or “pilot” projects (e.g., proof of concept funding), and/or ongoing research.

With the exception of national fellowships, projects for which competitive funding is typically available from external sources are not suitable.

Proposals requesting support for ongoing research projects funded by another sponsor and/or projects in the final stages of completion are not appropriate.

Budget Requests

The following are allowable budget requests:

• Partial summer salary for faculty
  • Up to one-ninth of academic year salary maximum for faculty on nine month appointments and, if necessary, up to one-twelfth of annual salary for faculty on twelve month appointments
• Graduate research assistant and post-doctoral fellow stipends and benefits
• Undergraduate student support
• Equipment and supplies necessary for the research
• Payment to human subjects
• Library acquisitions
• Research travel for conduct of the proposed effort

The following are unallowable budget requests:

• Faculty academic year course reduction or academic year salary
• Travel for the purpose of presenting research results or attendance at conferences
• Book publication costs
  • Manuscript publication costs may be allowable should the project and budget justify it appropriately

Deadline

We are not currently accepting submissions at this time. Please check back.

Grant Period

The grant period is for up to three years. A one-year, no-cost extension may be approved with satisfactory progress or growth of the project. Funds will be available on the first of the calendar year following application.

Proposal Format

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

Part 1) Project Proposal

Using MSWord proposal template as a guide, each project proposal must be uploaded as a single PDF document with the naming convention of “<PIName>_RGProposal_<2023>.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 FRSP-RG
   • 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 the project will address the program priorities including:
     • Excellence
     • Mission fit
     • Personnel qualifications
5. References, 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
   • If applicable, indicate startup or capitalization funds available to the principal investigator and other faculty participants
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

Please note: The proposed project submission should use clear, non-technical language for a general audience as the review panel is likely to contain a broad representation from across the University. Additionally, no specific formatting is required. However, Arial 12 point with double spacing and one-inch margins is preferred.

Part 2) Budget Proposal

Using the interactive Excel budget template as a guide, the budget and budget justification must be uploaded as a single Excel document with the naming convention of “<PI Name>_RGProposal_<2023>.xlxs” and include the following items:

• Fully itemize and justify equipment purchases necessary to the project
• Fully justify any proposed travel

For any questions, please review the budget template directions.

Please note: Submitting materials in addition to the format outlined here is discouraged.

Submission

The Google Form submission should include two uploads: a single PDF document and a single Excel document with naming conventions of “<PIName>_RGProposal_<2023>”. Proposals that do not comply with format and content guidelines may be rejected without review.

We are not currently accepting submissions at this time. Please check back.

Review Process

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

Acceptance Conditions

In accepting an FRSP-RG award, the awardee agrees to:

• Conform to established practices and procedures concerning sponsored program activity
• Submit a final report to Notre Dame Research 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 FRSP-RG 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. To download the report template as a Word document, please click here.

Previous Awardees

View previous awardees.

Need More Information?

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