Initial Support Program for Innovative Research Excellence

Initial Support Program for Innovative Research Excellence 09. 05. 2014

OFFICE OF RESEARCH

Initial Support Program for Innovative Research Excellence

(INSPIRE)

 

Call for Proposals                        9 May 2014

 Proposals Due 30 May                2014

 Award Announcement8 June       2014

 

In order to support and promote research productivity Hena e Plote Beder University is investing in its faculty by providing funding for an internal award competition.  All full-time faculty members who are engaged in active academic programs are eligible to apply for INSPIRE grants that will distribute a total of 10,000 EUR in research support in this first call.  This source of internal funding can only be awarded once per academic year.

The primary purpose of the award is to help faculty conduct preliminary research that will be used to strengthen external grant proposals for the larger scale projects. INSPIRE grants are not intended for course development or for teaching-related work, including the development of textbooks or casebooks. The term "research" refers to the scholarly activity in a discipline contributing to knowledge in a subject area, taking a well-defined step toward acquiring new knowledge.  Therefore, we require faculty to submit grant proposals for external funding during the process of completing the work proposed in their proposals.

OBJECTIVE:

INSPIRE grants are provided by the Office of Research to encourage faculty to develop individual innovative research projects leading to the pursuit of external funding or to the promotion of scholarly activities. The program aims to,

  • promote creative research activity by the faculty at BEDER.
  • enable researchers to conduct the small scale research necessary to produce preliminary data that will be used in writing larger externally funded grant proposals.
  • cover minor unanticipated expenses associated with externally-funded research already in progress and to promote successful and timely achievement of the goals of the project as a whole.
  • help promising early stage investigators initiate multidisciplinary research projects.
  • nurture new and emerging research partnerships.
  • provide modest resources for important research in fields for which external support is either quite limited or unavailable.

FUNDING CATEGORIES:

Multidisciplinary Research Support Program: Funds will be available for research teams whose efforts intersect more than one traditional social science discipline. The program supports multidisciplinary pilot research projects in humanities and social sciences.

Funds will be available up to 5,000 EUR for a 2 year period.

Young Researchers Support Program: Funds will be awarded to a research faculty who is at the beginning of his or her career (with a PhD or a PhD candidate) in support to promote the development of research projects for further extramural funding. Collaboration and partnerships among researchers who have sir research interests are highly recommended in this category.

Funds will be available up to 3,000 EUR for 1 year period.

BUDGET INFORMATION:

Budgets must be presented in general categories and require detailed explanation. Although the INSPIRE Review Committee intends to fund projects as closely as possible to the requested amount, it reserves the right to alter the amount depending on the number of proposals received and funds available.

Allowable Costs

  • Salary and fringe benefits of project research personnel including undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and specialists
  • Equipment
  • Project supplies
  • Travel essential to conduct the project ( justification must be provided )
  • Graduate student tuition

Unallowable Costs

  • Costs in connection with faculty degree requirements
  • Travel to professional meetings
  • Undergraduate Student Tuition

APPLICATION PROCEDURE:

An application file must include following documents:

  • Completed official proposal form signed by the applicant and applicant’s Head of Department.
  • CV or resume of the collaborators.
  • Relevant publications of the collaborators

All materials must be submitted in both soft (PDF) and hard copy to the Research Projects Coordinator’s Office in or before the due date.

REVIEW PROCESS:

Submitted proposals will be evaluated for merit by the INSPIRE Review Committee. The Committee will then provide a prioritized list of recommendations for funding to the University Administrative Board based on the quality of the proposals per the review criteria (see below). The Rector will make awards based on the recommendations of the committee and available funds.

REVIEW CRITERIA:

Research Merit:

  • Does the proposal provide a compelling argument for the research?
  • Does the proposed project represent a significant contribution to the investigator's field of study? If so, how?

Nature of Proposal:

  • Does the proposal provide a clear statement of overall project objectives?
  • Are the proposed methodologies appropriate and accurate?
  • Does the proposal provide a sound justification with clear and specific budget information? Is there an activity plan, and is it realistic?
  • Is the text of the proposal well-written?

Leverage:

  • Will the project lead to further scholarly activity?
  • Does it significantly improve chances for funding from existing sources?
  • Does the project offer significant opportunities for funding from new sources?
  • Does the project help build research networks?

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

Contact: Mrs. Laurela Muça (Research Projects Coordinator)

Internal Phone: 147

E-mail: [email protected]