Faculty Recognition & Funding Opportunities – December 15, 2016
RECOGNITION
Travis Wilkerson, Visiting Assistant Professor of Film, has had a project accepted by the Sundance Institute for the 2017 New Frontier at the Sundance Film Festival. As president and founder of Sundance Robert Redford observed of New Frontier, “Every year, more artists are drawn to the vanguard of art and technology: independent, creative storytellers have more tools to break the mold than ever before. For the last decade-plus, New Frontier’s vision has evolved and grown with this expanding palette, to curate and showcase the most exciting new work made with the latest advances.” Wilkerson’s featured documentary, Did You Wonder Who Fired the Gun?, is described as a murder-mystery, “a Southern Gothic torn apart and reassembled.” Journeying straight into the black heart of a family and country, this multimedia performance explores a forgotten killing by the artist’s great-grandfather—a white Southern racist—of a black man in lower Alabama.
*** EXCLUSIVE OPPORTUNITY FOR VASSAR FACULTY ***
FEBRUARY 24, 2017 Catwalk Institute (Catskill, New York)welcomes proposals from artists, scholars and collaborative teams for residencies of up to 8 weeks at Catslair and Catwalk. This residential complex is situated on a magnificent historic site of 70 acres on the Hudson River across from Olana, the home of Frederic Edwin Church, America's first environmentalist and just north of Thomas Cole’s home, Cedar Grove. Residencies are available to artists, writers and scholars in all media and disciplines exploring subjects related to place, landscape and environment investigating universal aspects of nature embedded in the Hudson Valley landscape and ecology. Residencies are space/time grants fully outfitted lodging, but note that stipends are not available and visitors must have access to a car during their stay. Participation is exclusively for faculty and alumni from Columbia University, New York University, School of the Art Institute of Chicago and Vassar College. Applications are by recommendation through each institution; if you are interested, please contact Gary Hohenberger (gahohenberger@vassar.edu , x7092). Deadline is February 24 for April-October 2017 residencies.
SOME UPCOMING DEADLINES FOR EXTERNAL FUNDING
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING & MATHEMATICS
JANUARY 11, 2017 National Science Foundation (NSF) Major Research Instrumentation Program (MRI) serves to increase access to shared scientific and engineering instruments for research and research training in institutions of higher education. The MRI program assists with the acquisition or development of a shared research instrument that is, in general, too costly and/or not appropriate for support through other NSF programs. Instrument acquisition or development proposals that request funds from NSF in the range $100,000-$4 million may be accepted from any MRI-eligible organization. Proposals that request funds from NSF less than $100,000 may also be accepted from any MRI-eligible organization for the disciplines of mathematics or social, behavioral and economic sciences and from non-Ph.D.-granting institutions of higher education for all NSF-supported disciplines. See the full solicitation online: http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/2015/nsf15504/nsf15504.htm
Many other NSF funding opportunities are available. See the list and links here!
JANUARY 15, 2017 The Whitehall Foundation assists scholarly research in the life sciences through its research grants and grants-in-aid programs. It is the foundation's policy to support those dynamic areas of basic biological research that are not heavily supported by federal agencies or other foundations with specialized missions. The foundation emphasizes the support of young scientists at the beginning of their careers and productive senior scientists who wish to move into new fields of interest. 1) Research: Research grants of up to $225,000 over three years will be awarded to established scientists of all ages working at an accredited institution in the United States. Grants will not be awarded to investigators who have already received, or expect to receive, substantial support from other sources, even if it is for an unrelated purpose. 2) Grants-in-Aid: One-year grants of up to $30,000 will be awarded to researchers at the assistant professor level who experience difficulty in competing for research funds because they have not yet become firmly established. Grants-in-Aid can also be made to senior scientists. To be eligible, applicants must hold the position of assistant professor or higher, hold principal investigator status, and be considered an “independent investigator” with his/her own dedicated lab space or with lab space independent of another investigator. Letters of Intent must be received no later than January 15, 2017. Upon review, selected applicants will be invited to submit a full application by June 1, 2017. For complete program guidelines, information about previous grant recipients, and application procedures, see the Whitehall Foundation website: http://www.whitehall.org/grants/
JANUARY 31, 2017 The American Chemical Society is seeking applications to its Local Section Innovative Projects Grants program. The biannual program encourages local ACS sections to conceive of and implement innovative projects aimed at strengthening the functioning of the local section. Projects must be new to the applying local section, stimulate local section member involvement, and pilot a continuing section activity or else take advantage of a unique upcoming opportunity for the local section. Projects that support interaction with other ACS local sections, ACS divisions, ACS committees, other professional associations, or community groups are especially encouraged, as are programs that foster inclusiveness and participation of diverse section membership or segments of the general public. Awards will be up to $3,000 per project. See the ACS website for complete program guidelines and application instructions: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/funding-and-awards/grants/acscommunity/lsinnovativegrant.html
JANUARY 31, 2017 The Simons Foundation invites applications for its Collaboration Grants for Mathematicians, which are designed to stimulate collaboration in the field of mathematics by substantially increasing collaborative contacts among mathematicians. To that end, the foundation will make a large number of collaboration grants to accomplished, active researchers in the United States who do not otherwise have access to funding that supports travel and visitors. Each grant provides $8,400 per year over five years: $6,000 per year for collaboration, travel, and research expenses for the awardee; $1,000 per year in discretionary funds for the grant recipient’s department; and $1,400 per year in indirect costs to the grant recipient’s institution. To be eligible for a grant, applicants must have a Ph.D. and tenure-track/tenured position or be a professor emeritus at a U.S. institution of higher education; have a current record of active research and publication in high-quality journals; and not hold any other external grants of over $3,000 per year that allow for support for travel or visitors during the collaboration grant award period. For complete program guidelines and application instructions, see the Simons Foundation website: https://www.simonsfoundation.org/funding/funding-opportunities/mathematics-physical-sciences/collaboration-grants-for-mathematicians/
FEBRUARY 10, 2017 The Camille & Henry Dreyfus Foundation is accepting nominations for its Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Awards Program. The annual program supports the research and teaching careers of talented young faculty in the chemical sciences at undergraduate institutions. Based on institutional nominations, the program provides discretionary funding to faculty at an early stage in their careers. The award is based on accomplishment in scholarly research with undergraduates as well as a compelling commitment to teaching, and provides an unrestricted research grant of $75,000. The program is open to academic institutions in the states, districts, and territories of the United States that grant a bachelor's or master's degree in the chemical sciences, including biochemistry, materials chemistry, and chemical engineering. Nominees must hold a full-time tenure-track academic appointment; be beyond the fourth and not after the twelfth year of their independent academic careers; and be engaged in research and teaching primarily with undergraduates. For complete program guidelines and nomination instructions, see the Dreyfus Foundation website: http://dreyfus.org/awards/camille_dreyfus_teacher_award.shtml
MARCH 1, 2017 Research Corporation for Science Advancement’s Frontiers in Research Excellence and Discovery (FRED) Award supports the early stages of exceptional high risk/high reward research that will potentially transform a field of scientific research. These competitive awards are given to highly creative Cottrell Scholars whose ideas and potential solutions address major current challenges in their areas of research expertise. By developing unique perspectives for solving key research challenges, FRED awardees create new approaches that accelerate basic science research for the benefit of society. Award size is $250,000. Applicants must be tenured Cottrell Scholars who received their initial Cottrell Scholar Award (CSA) within the past five to ten years. For the 2017 competition, eligibility will be limited to Cottrell Scholars who received their awards during the 2007-2012 time period. FRED proposals should contain a five-page research plan to be conducted in a period of three years. Proposed projects may build upon on-going research in the principal investigator’s laboratory, but new directions must be clearly delineated. Successful proposals must convince external reviewers and the Science Advisory Committee that the applicant is a highly creative researcher and that the proposed project is poised to have a transformative impact in the specific research field. While CS SEED awards support testing new ideas, FRED Awards are for fully developed proposals, expected to lead to top-level publications in scientific journals of high impact. For details and application instructions, visit Research Corporation online: http://rescorp.org/cottrell-scholars/fred-award
Rolling The Simons Foundation invites Letters of Intent for its new Targeted Grants in Mathematics and Physical Sciences program, intended to support high-risk projects of exceptional promise and scientific importance on a case-by-case basis. For projects with principal investigators at different institutions, the LOI should be submitted by the lead PI and his/her institution. Applicants will be notified within two months of the submission of the LOI. See the Simons Foundation website for complete program guidelines and application instructions: https://www.simonsfoundation.org/funding/funding-opportunities/mathematics-physical-sciences/targeted-grants-in-mps/
Rolling The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation believes that a carefully reasoned and systematic understanding of the forces of nature and society, when applied inventively and wisely, can lead to a better world for all. The Foundation makes grants to support original research and broad-based education related to science, technology, and economic performance; and to improve the quality of American life. The Foundation is unique in its focus on science, technology, and economic institutions. It believes the scholars and practitioners who work in these fields are chief drivers of the nation’s health and prosperity. In each grant program, the Foundation seeks proposals for original projects led by outstanding individuals or teams.
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation is interested in projects that it expects will result in a strong benefit to society, and for which funding from the private sector, the government, or other foundations is not widely available. For areas of interest and application instructions, visit the Sloan Foundation online: http://www.sloan.org/major-program-areas/?L=0%3FcHash%3D3abefb807773927e5a962594e662c143
SOME UPCOMING DEADLINES FOR EXTERNAL FUNDING
ARTS, HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
JANUARY 9, 2017 (letters of inquiry) The Russell Sage Foundation dedicates itself to strengthening the methods, data, knowledge, and theoretical core of the social sciences as a means of diagnosing social problems and improving social policies. The foundation’s program on Social Inequality supports research on the social, economic, political, and labor market consequences of rising economic inequalities in the United States. Priority will be given to projects that use innovative data or other methodologies to address important questions about inequality. Examples of the kinds of topics that are of interest include, but are not limited to, economic well-being, equality of opportunity, and intergenerational mobility; the political process and the resulting policies; psychological and/or cultural change; education; labor markets; child development and child outcomes; neighborhoods and communities; families, family structure, and family formation; and other forms of inequality. The foundation encourages methodological variety, but all proposals should have well-developed conceptual frameworks and research designs, and must be investigator-initiated. Analytical models should be specified and research questions and hypotheses should be clearly stated. Awards are available for research assistance, data acquisition, data analysis, and investigator time for conducting research and writing up results. Letters of Inquiry must be received no later than January 9, 2017. Upon review, select applicants will be invited to submit full proposals. For complete program guidelines, application instructions, and an FAQ, visit the Russell Sage website: http://www.russellsage.org/research/funding/social-inequality
JANUARY 11, 2017 NEH Digital Humanities Advancement Grants (DHAG)support digital projects throughout their lifecycles, from early start-up phases through implementation and long-term sustainability. Experimentation, reuse, and extensibility are hallmarks of this grant category, leading to innovative work that can scale to enhance research, teaching, and public programming in the humanities. This program combines the former Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants and Digital Humanities Implementation Grants programs; the combined program is offered twice per year. Proposals are welcome for digital initiatives in any area of the humanities. Through a special partnership, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) anticipates providing additional funding to this program to encourage innovative collaborations between museum or library professionals and humanities professionals to advance preservation of, access to, use of, and engagement with digital collections and services. Through this partnership, IMLS and NEH may jointly fund some DHAG projects that involve collaborations with museums and/or libraries. For full guidelines, visit NEH online at https://www.neh.gov/grants/odh/digital-humanities-advancement-grants
Many NEH funding opportunities are now open! Check out the list at https://www.neh.gov/grants
JANUARY 15, 2017 The Samuel H. Kress Foundation’s History of Art grant program is accepting applications from nonprofit organizations for its from scholarly projects that can enhance the appreciation and understanding of European art and architecture. Grants are awarded to support projects that create and disseminate specialized knowledge, including archival projects, development and dissemination of scholarly databases, documentation projects, museum exhibitions and publications, photographic campaigns, scholarly catalogs and publications, and technical and scientific studies. The program also supports activities that permit art historians to share their expertise through international exchanges, professional meetings, conferences, symposia, consultations, the presentation of research, and other professional events. In previous years, grant amounts have ranged from $1,000 to $100,000. See the Kress Foundation website for complete program guidelines, information about previous grant recipients, and application guidelines: http://www.kressfoundation.org/grants/default.aspx?id=142
JANUARY 25, 2017 The New York Foundation for the Arts has awarded Artists' Fellowships to artists living in New York State and/or Indian Nations located in New York State. In 2015, NYFA awarded grants to ninety-eight awardees and five collaborations totaling $647,000. The unrestricted $7,000 fellowships are intended to fund an artist’s vision or voice, regardless of the level of his or her artistic development. NYFA is committed to supporting artists from diverse cultural backgrounds at all stages of their professional careers. In the 2017 cycle, grants will be awarded in the categories of crafts, sculpture; printmaking, drawing, book arts; nonfiction literature; poetry; and digital/electronic arts. Applicants must be at least 25 years old at the time of the application deadline (January 25, 2017) and must also be a resident of New York State and/or one of the Indian Nations located in New York State for at least two years prior to that date. Applications will not be considered from graduate or undergraduate students enrolled in any degree program at the time of the application deadline. Recipients of an NYFA Fellowship award in the past five years are not eligible for a new grant. For complete program guidelines, an FAQ, the online application, and an informational video for applicants, see the NYFA website: https://www.nyfa.org/Content/Show/Artists'%20Fellowships
FEBRUARY 1, 2017 The Spencer Foundation Small Research Grants Program invites proposals for education research projects. In keeping with the foundation's mission, the program aims to fund academic work that contributes to the improvement of education, broadly conceived. Examples of previously funded projects include an experimental study of how college students use visual representations in solving math problems; a study exploring the process of racial and rural identity formation among African American high-school students who attend de facto segregated schools in the rural South; and a mixed-methods study focusing on the different types of knowledge novice and experienced teachers draw on in teaching reading comprehension. The program awards grants of up to $50,000. To be eligible, principal investigators and co-PIs must have an earned doctorate in an academic discipline or professional field, or appropriate experience in an education research-related profession. In addition, the PI must be affiliated with a college, university, school district, nonprofit research facility, or nonprofit cultural institution that is willing to serve as the fiscal agent if the grant is awarded. See the Spencer Foundation website for complete program guidelines, an FAQ, and application instructions: http://www.spencer.org/small-research-grants
MARCH 1, 2017 The Ucross Foundation Residency Program provides uninterrupted time, work space, and living accommodations to competitively selected visual artists, writers, and composers. Nearly thirteen hundred individuals from every state in the U.S, as well as Germany, France, Scotland, England, Poland, Egypt, the Netherlands, Canada, and Thailand, have spent time at Ucross since it first opened its doors in Sheridan, Wyoming. The foundation currently is accepting applications for its 2017 Fall Residency program. Residencies vary in length from two weeks to six weeks. At any one time, there are up to nine individuals in residence, a mix of visual artists, writers, and composers. In most cases, studios are separate from living quarters. Lunch and dinners are prepared Monday to Friday by a professional chef with ample provisions on hand for breakfasts and weekends. In addition, there is cell phone service on the property and several wireless Internet connection sites for resident use. Residents are responsible for providing their own working materials and for their travel to Sheridan, Wyoming. There is no charge for a residency. Artists, writers, and composers from the United States and around the world, in any stage of their professional career, are invited to apply to work on an individual or collaborative project. For complete residency information, information about previous artist residents, and application guidelines, see the Ucross Foundation website: http://www.ucrossfoundation.org/residency-program/
APRIL 21, 2017 The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Studies Department at Yale University is inviting applications for the Yale LGBT Studies Research Fellowship. The annual fellowship is designed to provide access to Yale resources in LGBT studies to a scholar who lives outside the greater New Haven, Connecticut, area. The program supports scholars from any field interested in pursuing research in lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and/or queer studies using faculty resources, manuscript archives, and library collections available at Yale. The one-month fellowship, which must be taken up between September 1, 2017, and April 30, 2018, provides an award of $4,000 to pay for travel to and from New Haven and act as a living allowance. The fellowship recipient is expected to be in residence for a minimum of twenty days during the period of his or her award. Graduate students conducting dissertation research, independent scholars, and all faculty are invited to apply. Scholars residing within a hundred miles of New Haven are ineligible. For complete program guidelines and application instructions, see the Yale LGBT studies website: http://lgbts.yale.edu/research
AUGUST 21, 2017 The Russell Sage Foundation is accepting applications for its Social, Economic and Political Effects of the Affordable Care Act Program. The program supports innovative social science research on the social, economic, and political effects of the Affordable Care Act. The foundation is especially interested in funding analyses that address important questions about the effects of the reform on outcomes such as financial security and family economic well-being, labor supply and demand, participation in other public programs, family and children's outcomes, and differential effects by age, race, ethnicity, nativity, or disability status. The foundation also is interested in research that examines the political effects of the implementation of the new law, including changes in views about government, support for future government policy changes, or the impact on policy development outside of health care. Funding is available for secondary analysis of data or for original data collection. Projects that propose novel uses of existing data and projects that propose to analyze newly available or underutilized data are welcome. The foundation will not fund research on the effects of the ACA on healthcare delivery or health outcomes (e.g., barriers to implementation, changes in the quality of care and health status, or trends in enrollment and affordability), as other funders already do that. Grant requests are limited to no more than a two-year period, with a maximum of $150,000 (including overhead) per project. LOIs must be received no later than August 21, 2017. Upon review, selected applicants will be invited to submit a full application that must be returned no later than November 15, 2017. http://www.russellsage.org/research/funding/affordable-care-act
Rolling Mellon Slavic Studies Initiative Russian, East European, and Central Asian studies are the focus of this joint publishing initiative supported by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation in offered in partnership with Northwestern, Pittsburgh, and Wisconsin university presses. Northwestern seeks studies of Slavic literature, art, and culture; Pittsburgh is looking for projects in the social, political, environmental, urban, and cultural history of the former Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and Central Asia; Wisconsin is especially interested in cultural and intellectual history, literary and film studies, anthropology, and human rights, with a focus on Russia and Eastern Europe. For program details, please visit: http://www.mellonslavicstudies.org/submissions.htm
Questions about funding for research and scholarship? Contact us:
Judith Dollenmayer (5376, judollenmayer), Associate Director, Corporate, Foundation & Government Relations
Katherine Hite (7661, kahite), Professor of Political Science & Faculty Director of Research Development
Gary Hohenberger (7092, gahohenberger), Director, Corporate, Foundation & Government Relations
Lori McElduff (5490, lomcelduff), Grants Office Specialist
Patricia Pritchard (5893, papritchard), Director, Grants Accounting
Amanda Thornton (5309, amthornton), Director of Grants AdministrationPosted on