Dean's Faculty Update
Request for Proposals - 2008 IFAS Research Innovation Fund
Date: July 15th, 2008
From: Mark R. McLellan, Dean
The Florida Agricultural Experiment Station is calling for proposals to seek funding from the IFAS Research Innovation Fund which provides funding for three target areas:
- Projects that position faculty with preliminary data to be successful with large scale national grant applications;
- High risk projects (lower odds of success) with potential for spectacular scientific payoff;
- Projects that need funding to position them for commercialization.
Each IFAS unit (Department, REC, and IFAS recognized Center) may submit one proposal to the Dean for Research Office. Multi-unit and multi-disciplinary proposals are encouraged and should be submitted through the PI’s home unit. PIs must be a UF/IFAS faculty member eligible to submit a proposal to an external funding agency. A faculty member may be the PI on only one submitted grant.
Deadlines:
The deadline for receipt of proposals to your unit leader is 5 p.m., Wednesday, August 12, 2008.
Each unit will then select one proposal to be submitted by e-mail to Mark McLellan (mrm1@ufl.edu) by 5 p.m., Wednesday, August 26, 2008.
Proposal Guidelines:
The proposal must be in the form of a PDF file and no more than 5 pages maximum consisting of the following materials in this sequence:
- Title, PI and Co-PI names, departments, name of unit submitting proposal, and contact information.
- Abstract.
- Project Description.
- Detailed budget(s) with justification of expenses. Projects will be supported for one year, however unique cases may have up to a 2-year period of support. Requested budgets should not exceed $50,000 per year. Projects with matching support are encouraged and will be considered as a plus in the evaluation process.
- Target area being addressed (choose from the 3 areas listed above) with specific future plans for obtaining external support or specific efforts towards commercialization.
- Identify if you have attended the IFAS Grantsmanship Training Seminar.
Review Process:
Each unit will review proposals by a method selected and implemented by the unit leader. The unit leader will select one proposal to submit to the Dean for Research Office with a supporting cover letter. An ad hoc committee in the Dean’s office will review the unit-leader selected proposals and make recommendations of funding to the Dean.
Funding Expectation:
We expect to fund at least 10 new 2008 awards with this fund and possibly more depending upon project budgets, matching funds, and total available funds. Our target funding goal is $500,000.
Availability & Use of Funds:
The IFAS Research Innovation Fund awards for 2008 will be announced no later than September 23, 2008 and will be provided as Federal Formula Funds. Use of these funds must follow all federal cost accounting guidelines. All principal investigators must have a current (active) CRIS Project (Hatch or McIntire Stennis) that is inclusive of the proposed research. Funds will be transferred in the new federal fiscal year beginning October 1, 2008.
All 2008 awards must be fully expended by the end of the Federal fiscal year – September 30, 2009. There is no carryover of these funds from one fiscal year to another. A sweep of unencumbered funds will be made on or about August 15, 2009. A project results summary should be submitted to the Dean for Research Office by October 10, 2009.
Mark R. McLellan
Dean for Research, IFAS
