Research Excellence & Impact Award

• Radow College’s largest and most competitive internal award, designed to move faculty from research momentum to external grant submission.
• Supports faculty who are within 18 months of submitting a competitive extramural grant application.
• The required deliverable is a completed grant proposal submitted to an external sponsor (federal, state, foundation, or other), positioning Radow College for future extramural funding growth.
• Funds may support protected time, research assistance, preliminary data collection, methodological development, and proposal-writing support.

The Research Excellence & Impact Award is designed to assist Radow College faculty in converting research-activity into successful extramural grant applications. Unlike seed or pilot awards aimed at early-stage idea development, this signature award assumes an established research trajectory and focuses investment on the final stage of proposal readiness — strengthening preliminary data, refining specific aims, building collaborative teams, and completing a submission-ready application. The award reflects the college’s strategic priority of increasing extramural funding capacity and visibility, and it is intended to generate grant submissions (and ultimately, funded awards) within a defined 18-month period.

Applicants must meet all of the following criteria:

• Full-time tenured or tenure-track faculty member in Radow College of Humanities and Social Sciences, in good standing.
• Demonstrated prior research productivity, evidenced by peer-reviewed publications, prior grant submissions or awards, conference presentations, or other scholarly outputs over the last 3–5 years.
• A clearly articulated plan to submit an extramural grant application within 18 months of the award start date, including an identified or targeted funding mechanism/sponsor.
• Has not received a prior Radow College Internal Grant Award for the same or substantially similar project (expansion or resubmission requests must justify new scope).
• Radow College interdisciplinary collaborators are eligible and encouraged; however, one Radow College faculty lead must be designated as PI for administrative purposes.
• Applicants with other active internal awards may apply if this award represents a clear escalation toward external submission, not a duplication of existing funded activity.

1. Full Application Submission: Completed application packet must be submitted via the college’s designated system, InfoReady, by the posted deadline.
2. Required Components:
   –    Project narrative (4–5 pages): research problem, significance, prior productivity, and specific aims.
   –    Grant submission plan: target sponsor/mechanism, submission timeline within the 18-month window, and readiness milestones.
   –    Detailed budget and budget justification aligned with Allowable Expenses.
   –    Biosketch (sciENcv) for PI and any co-applicants.
   –    Letter of support from department chair confirming feasibility (e.g., course release, space, time commitment).
3. Internal Review: Applications will be reviewed using the Evaluation Rubric below.
4. Notification & Award Setup: Successful applicants will be notified in writing by e-mail; funding will be made available through the college’s research administration process; reporting requirements will be outlined in the award e-mail.

Applications will be reviewed by the Radow College Associate Dean of Research. The review criteria emphasize research track record, feasibility of the 18-month submission timeline, strategic fit with sponsor priorities, and budget appropriateness. The review process may request revisions, clarifications, or interviews before final funding decisions are made. Awards are competitive and not guaranteed based on eligibility alone; applications will be prioritized based on the likelihood they will result in a submitted (and ultimately competitive) extramural proposal.

Total: 100%. Minimum threshold score for funding recommendation to be determined by the reviewer.

Examples of Allowable Expenses:

• Summer salary in June.
• Graduate or undergraduate research assistant support.
• Costs for preliminary/pilot data collection directly supporting the grant application (e.g., participant incentives, supplies, software/licenses).
• Statistical, methodological, or grant-writing consultation.
• Travel directly tied to research and proposal development (e.g., site visits, program officer meetings, required collaborator meetings).
• Proposal preparation costs (editing, figure/graphic design, translation where relevant).

Not Allowable:

• Conference travel to present research (please request this support from your department).
• General departmental operating expenses unrelated to the specific proposal.
• Equipment purchases not directly justified by the proposal’s aims.
• Retroactive reimbursement for activities completed prior to award notification.
• Use of funds for projects unrelated to the stated 18-month grant submission deliverable.
• All funding must be expended or encumbered by the date noted in your written award notification and is subject to standard institutional budget and procurement policies.

• Primary Deliverable: Submission of a complete extramural grant proposal (federal, state, foundation, or equivalent external sponsor) on behalf of Radow College within 18 months of award receipt.
• Interim Reporting: A brief progress update (written, ~1 page) at the midpoint of the award period, summarizing progress toward submission readiness.
• Final Report: Upon submission, awardee must provide documentation of the submitted proposal (including submission confirmation, sponsor, mechanism, and requested amount) and a brief summary of the outcomes or next steps if a decision has been received.
• Acknowledgment: Any resulting proposal, presentation, or publication arising from award activities should acknowledge Radow College Research Advancement Award support.
• Non-Completion: Awardees who do not submit a grant application within the 18-month window must provide a written explanation to the Associate Dean of Research; this may affect eligibility for future signature awards.
• Strategic Reporting: Aggregate outcomes (number of submissions, dollar amounts requested, funding decisions) will be reported by the Radow College Associate Dean of Research to support college-level research development metrics.