Funding Opportunities

As part of its mission to enhance multidisciplinary research, the Center for Environmental Sciences and Engineering (CESE) is funding projects to support multidisciplinary environmental research by graduate students. These awards provide support during the summer to encourage multidisciplinary collaborative research related to environmental sciences and engineering by graduate students (either Masters or Doctoral) and faculty at UConn.

These awards are intended to provide supplemental support for new collaborations and activities that are not being supported by current funding. Allowable expenses include summer stipend for student, travel for field research, and supplies and equipment to conduct the research. Funds may not be used for indirect costs, salaries, publication costs, page charges, text books, or attendance at meetings.

Eligibility

Student must be in good standing in a graduate program at the University of Connecticut at the time of application and during the period of summer research. The applicant should identify two faculty mentors who will collaborate in the conduct of the proposed research. Faculty mentors must be members of the graduate faculty, and should be in two different disciplines, preferably from two different departments.

Awards

Estimated number of awards: 20-25.

Funding amount: Generally not more than 5 K per proposal, except in well-documented circumstances and with strong justification.

Timeline: Except in unusual and well-justified cases, award funds must be encumbered by the end of the 2008 Fiscal Year in compliance with regulations issued by the University Controller.

Award Conditions

Awards require the following:

1. Participation in a workshop on “writing for the public” and production of a onepage fact sheet that describes the main research activities of the grant.

2. Participation in a multidisciplinary graduate colloquium.

3. A final report or poster that summarizes accomplishments and future directions.

4. Copies of manuscripts or proposals that arise from the collaboration.

5. Acknowledgement of CESE in publications and presentations related to the supported work.

Deadlines

Submission:      Electronic receipt of complete application by 5:00 PM on 1 February 2008

                              (submit to environment@uconn.edu); you may verify receipt with Kathy Allard (486- 2798).

Proposal Content

Proposals must be submitted electronically by students as a single PDF document. The Adobe Acrobat “CESE Cover Page” (available above) must be completed and inserted at the beginning of the document. Please use the following convention in naming your document (“Lastname_CESE_Proposal.PDF”). To be complete, proposals must include the following materials in the specified order, using the text in bold to identify sections:

1. CESE Cover Page (1 page);

2. Non-Technical Abstract (1/2 page);

3. Research Description (maximum of 4 pages);

4. Budget & Justification (maximum of 1 page);

5. Statement of the Multidisciplinary Nature of the Environmental Research (maximum of ½ page);

6. Statement that details a Plan for Collaboration with both faculty mentors (maximum of ½ page);

7. Statement of the “Relationship of Proposed Research to Thesis or Dissertation” (maximum of ½ page);

8. Statement of the “Relationship of Proposed Research to that of Faculty Mentors”, more specifically to each of the two faculty mentors (maximum of ½ page);

9. Letters of support from each faculty mentor; and

10. Curriculum Vitae of applicant and each faculty mentor.

Items 2 through 8 must be single-spaced and prepared using 12 point font, with 1 inch margins (top, bottom, left, and right), formatted for 8 ½ by 11 paper. The length of the “Research Description” includes tables and figures, but does not include Literature Cited, which may be inserted after the 4 page description of research.

No other documents or supporting material will be considered by the Panel. Proposals received after the deadline, incomplete proposals, and non-compliant proposals will be returned to the applicant without review.

Please read and follow the guidelines on the “Additional Instructions” page.

Please direct questions to Dr. Kathleen Segerson, Co-Chair of the Committee (kathleen.segerson@uconn.edu).

ADDITIONAL INSTRUCTIONS

A single PDF should be prepared by the student applicant for final submission of the complete proposal; it should be named using the convention “LastName_CESE_Proposal”. The “CESE Cover Page” (available above) must be completed in full and inserted so as to be the first page of the complete proposal. Prior to completing the form, check the “highlight fields” and “highlight required fields” boxes. You may navigate the form by tabbing between text boxes. To create a PDF of the completed “CESE Cover Page” that can be inserted at the beginning of your final proposal, you must do the following: (1) Complete the form; (2) Select “Print”; (3) In the menu box for Printer Name select “Adobe PDF”; (4) Name and store the document as appropriate.

So that all applicants have equal opportunities to compose a compelling proposal, we have established limits to the length of sections, sizes of margins (1 inch all around), and the font sizes of characters. Nonetheless, the curriculum vitae of student (1) and mentors (2), as well as letters of recommendation from mentors (2) may be formatted without limitations regarding margins, font sizes, or length. Beyond the proposal content specified on the announcement, no additional material may be submitted and no additional information will be considered by the Panel in evaluating the proposal.

Project Title.—This may not exceed two lines of text.

Non-Technical Abstract.—This section should summarize the salient features of the proposed project in the context of environmental research, and do so without jargon. It should be targeted for the “non-scientist”. It should highlight the importance of the work and the manner in which it will advance environmental understanding, including broader impacts that relate to issues of societal concern.

Project Description.—To the extent possible, applicants should avoid use of jargon or highly technical terms. The proposal will be evaluated by a panel of faculty members that includes individuals who are not in your discipline; thus clarity of exposition is critical to success. The goal should be to communicate the conceptual value of the research, including its scientific merits, its importance to advancement of environmental understanding, and its ramifications for societal well-being.

Budget & Justification.—Applicants should itemize budgetary items so it is clear how the requested funds will be spent. The justification should enable the review panel to understand the extent to which the requested funds are critical to the conduct of the research.

Multidisciplinary Nature of Research. —Applicants should identify the features of the proposed research that are multidisciplinary and environmental.

Plan for Collaboration. —Applicants should expose the particular steps that will be taken during the conduct of the research that will ensure that it represents a multidisciplinary collaboration with both mentors.

Letters of Support from Faculty Mentors. —Two letters, one from each mentor, should be included in the complete proposal. The letters of support should provide insight into the capabilities of the applicant to execute the research, as well as the extent to which the proposed research could lead to publication or subsequent grant applications. Because these awards are intended to support new multidisciplinary collaborations that enhance the research experiences of the applicant, it would be helpful for the mentors to include such perspectives in their letters of support.

Curriculum Vitae. —These should appear at the end of the complete proposal in the order: student applicant, mentor-1, and mentor-2.

Final Assembly of the Complete Proposal.—To create a single PDF of your final proposal, you will have to combine separate files that may be of different types (e.g., MS Word or PDF documents). Acrobat Reader will not merge such files. To merge multiple files into a single final proposal as a PDF (i.e., inserting material into a PDF document), you must use Adobe Acrobat Standard or Professional.

Please address any technical questions concerning either the creation of the final proposal as a PDF document, or use of the “CESE Cover Page” to Phill Caron via phone (6-2254) or by e-mail (phillip.caron@uconn.edu). Please make every attempt to do this well before the submission deadline.