Research Catalyst Grant (RCG) Program

 

Overview

The Research Catalyst Grant (RCG) provides up to $35,000 for early-stage, collaborative, interdisciplinary research/scholarly projects and creative endeavors. RCG awards are intended to begin a distinctive line of inquiry of scope and duration that will go well beyond the period of the RCG grant.

 

Purpose

Research programs and creative endeavors can be uniquely enlightening and productive when they incorporate distinctive combinations of talents or apply methodologies or theoretical frameworks across disciplines. RCG supports early-stage interdisciplinary collaborations that aim to leverage disciplinary differences to address significant problems and/or that have potential to generate knowledge that can be translated from theory to practice. RCG awards are intended to be used for project initiation activities. Some examples of project initiation activities include the study of a new and potentially revealing research question, testing/piloting the feasibility of a novel approach or synthesis, demonstrating the potential of a new interdisciplinary approach or application of concepts from one field to another, establishing an initial record of joint publication, and/or other collaborative activities that lay foundations for a sustained program of research or creative endeavor beyond the RCG grant period.

Because the purpose of the RCG program is to start projects that continue beyond the period of RCG support, applicants should have a clear vision and write convincingly about their projects’ futures. Proposals should describe the long-term goals of the project in a manner that makes clear its potential impact within and beyond the immediate fields of study. The RCG program recognizes that distinctive interdisciplinary, early-stage projects, will entail risk. Typically, these involve factors such as the untested nature of the ideas or the sheer novelty of the approach. The proposal should identify such issues, including barriers to obtaining support for its continuation, and should describe a specific plan for addressing those barriers.

Proposals should be as specific as possible as to how they expect the RCG-funded activities to enable them to obtain external funding to support the continuation of their research program and/or creative endeavor. While RCG-funded projects are not necessarily expected to be competitive for external funding by the close of their RCG grant period, applicants should detail when/how they expect the project to become competitive for extramural funding and how they plan to support their continued research in the interim (e.g., specific internal funding sources, etc.).

Teams awarded RCGs are encouraged to plan to take appropriate risks in moving their early-stage projects forward, for instance, by capitalizing on unexpected results and being creative and entrepreneurial in crafting plans for continuation and expansion of their programs.

 

Eligibility and Requirements

All full-time tenured, tenure track, and continuing non-tenure track faculty are eligible to apply. This grant is specifically for early stage, collaborative, interdisciplinary projects. Ongoing projects that have already produced substantive publications or other outputs are not appropriate for this opportunity.

Each proposal must include at least two eligible faculty members not appointed in the same department to serve as Project Leads. Interdisciplinary collaborations should capitalize on differences in Project Lead talents, methodologies, or theoretical frameworks. Proposals submitted by an individual will not be considered for funding.

Faculty members may not hold RCG awards concurrently with Small Research Grant (SRG) or University Summer Grant (USG) awards.

 

Award Amounts, Uses, and Restrictions

Funding is available for a limited number of $35,000 awards (or awards of a lesser amount based on proposed budget). RCG award funds can be expended over a maximum of 24 months. The requested award period should be clearly stated in the application and, if the proposal is successful, will be confirmed in the award letter.

Allowable expenses

Faculty summer salary, offered at a flat rate of $12,500

This flat rate applies regardless of faculty members’ base salary, with the expectation that an equivalent amount of time will be dedicated to the proposed research. Summer salary is to be paid in either June or July. Support cannot be received from other internal or external sources during the month(s) in which RCG support is received if that support would result in compensation over 100% during that month(s).

Project Leads (PLs) may request summer salary in the full amount of $12,500, at the half rate of $6,250, or not at all.  Each PL may also choose to divide their summer salary over two summers, depending on project timeline and need. 

Total summer salary expenditures may not exceed $25,000 per proposal.

Graduate and undergraduate student salary.

Funds may be used to pay students on an hourly wage basis to assist faculty members in the execution of the proposed research. Funds may not be used for graduate or undergraduate students to work on their own thesis/dissertation research unless it is integral to the proposed research.

Reasonable research-related expenses.

Some examples of allowable expenses include, but are not limited to, travel to research-related sites, equipment, supplies and books, data sets, software, transcription services, community-engaged research expenses (e.g., wages and materials for community partners) and other reasonable needs.

Research conferences/workshops

Hosted at Villanova University or elsewhere that bring together project participants for the dedicated purpose of collaborative work on the research project.

Excluded expenses

Known exclusions (and there may be others) include childcare, professional society fees, travel and expenses for most conferences (see above), and student stipends. For questions about allowable expenses, please contact the VIRS Director. The merits of a project will not be discussed.

Research compliance

Studies involving human subjects or animals must demonstrate that they have appropriate approvals in place before funds can be disbursed.

 

Application 

The RCG uses a team application to be submitted through Villanova’s InfoReady Portal.

The application should be a collaborative effort involving all team members with one person designated to submit the final version. The submitting faculty member will be the main correspondent and will be responsible for all deliverables and management of the budget.

The application package includes 7 parts: a cover page and six substantive components, as detailed below. Components 2-7 must be integrated into a single PDF and uploaded to InfoReady as indicated by the system. Page margins must be at least one inch. Text must be 11 point or larger, with the exception of figures. Page limits are indicated per component.

1. Application cover page

Online form (link posted during August annually)

The cover page form will appear when you click ‘apply’ on InfoReady. It which requests descriptive information about your project such as title and abstract, team member names and related details, budget request, IRB/IACUC status and other summary information. To preview the questions on the application detail form, download this PDF.

2. Narrative

Limit: three pages plus references

The proposal narrative should enable reviewers to judge the merits of the project using the evaluation criteria outlined in the Evaluation and Review Criteria section of these guidelines. Your narrative should follow the outline below and may not exceed three pages (not including references).

A)     Background, Context and Long-term Goals

Describe the long-term goals and potential of the project, beyond the initial period of RCG support. Develop your narrative in reference to or in contrast with established work in the relevant fields, providing appropriate citations. Describe how realization of the project’s long-term goals will make a difference beyond the immediate fields of study, for instance, by promoting the visibility of historically marginalized perspectives or subject matter, leading to innovation in practice, or other impact of broader significance.

Discuss the project in the context of the backgrounds and research agendas of the faculty members involved, making it apparent why the project presents a good opportunity for Villanova and for the faculty members involved in the project. Highlight any unique combination of background, prior experience and capabilities that are being brought to bear on the project.

Briefly describe any related research at Villanova, including areas of existing strength and potential future opportunities.

Identify the most critical barriers to moving forward with the project at this point, with emphasis on what will be required to convince others of the merits of the research program.

B)     Project Plan

Against the background provided in the previous section, describe the work you plan to undertake during the RCG award period and its expected outcomes. Briefly describe the method/approach and indicate the specific involvement of each participant in the proposed work. Make it clear to reviewers that you have devised a well-crafted plan that makes good use of talent, experience, and existing resources. After reading this section, reviewers should appreciate how expected outcomes (if successfully achieved) would address the critical barriers as identified in the previous section.

NB: In crafting the narrative please keep in mind that your proposal will be reviewed by a faculty panel with members who may not be familiar with your specific areas of study. Therefore, it is important that technical terminology be kept to a minimum and that the project be described in a manner that can be readily appreciated by non-specialists.

3. Timeline

Limit: one page

Provide a timeline for completion of the proposed work in simple, readable form such as a short paragraph or simple diagram. The proposed work should be completed within 24 months of the start. The earliest start date is January 1, 2024. Where appropriate, please recruit students and have compliance protocols in place prior to the planned start date. 

4. Plans for Continuation

Limit: one page

Describe plans for continuation, with intent to realize the long-term goals described in part (A) of the proposal narrative. Identify expected sources of extramural support. For each, include:

• the agency or organization and any recurring or special program to which you plan to apply, and any known submission deadlines.
• a description of how the project will be responsive to the funding source’s priorities and/or the requirements of the specific program.
• a description of how funding through this source would advance the project in accord with your long-term plans.

Provide a realistic assessment of the prerequisites to success with these future funding opportunities. To what extent will these prerequisites be fulfilled if the expected outcomes of your proposed work are achieved? What prerequisites do you anticipate still needing to meet after the RCG award period?

5. Budget

Limit: one page

A one-page budget, specifying a budget total. Detail the amounts requested and the proposed expenditure of funds; provide a brief justification for the allocation of the funds. Your budget must be appropriate for the proposed work, and the work you propose must be appropriate for your goals. Your budget justification should be crafted with an eye toward enabling faculty reviewers from outside your field to understand the necessity of each budget item to the completion of the work. 

6. Team Member Contributions

Limit: up to two pages per participant

Provide a CV for each Project Lead, not to exceed two pages for each person, that details educational preparation, research activity and relevant publications.

7. Grant Activity

Limit: up to one page per participant. Use minimum pages possible per team.

For each participant, create a table listing all grant activity for the past three years. Tables should include current, pending, and unsuccessful internal and external grants/grant applications. For each grant/grant application, indicate the status (e.g., awarded, not successful, pending), title, award amount (if successful) or requested (if pending or not successful), funding period (requested or actual) and funding agency. For each, also indicate either “no relationship,” or succinctly describe the relationship between the work supported or proposed by the grant and the proposed RCG project.

 

Review and Evaluation 

Proposals will be peer reviewed by a panel of faculty members selected for their experience and representation of the scope of research endeavors at Villanova.  Reviewers will be reading and evaluating proposals within and across subject areas. Proposals should therefore describe the project and its potential in a manner that can be readily appreciated by non-specialists, and details necessary for evaluation by specialists should be kept as concise as possible.  Final selections for funding will be made by the Vice Provost for Research.

Selection Criteria

1.      Originality, intellectual merit and potential impact

Do the applicants pose novel research questions, describe a new way of studying an existing question, propose novel means of bridging between theory and practice, or otherwise promise to advance an important field of scholarship, discovery or praxis?  Is there potential for a sustained research program with broad impact? Is the work significantly different in scope from that of any pending, funded or recently completed grant?

2.      Quality of the research plan

Have the applicants proposed a sound research plan that makes good use of their talents and existing resources? Have they identified critical questions about the feasibility or promise of their new ideas, or barriers to its acceptance by others in their field and focused their plan on addressing those questions? Is the proposed timeline appropriate?

3.     Budget and personnel

Is the budget appropriate for the proposed work? Is every team member making a substantive contribution?

4.     Long-term potential

Does the project have potential to open new avenues or opportunities for the applicants and for Villanova? Does that potential reach beyond the initial focus of the RCG project? Could it solidify or serve to expand a research team that could be uniquely productive and generative? Does it make productive use, or creative new use, of existing resources?  Does the project have the potential to establish or enhance connections between academic work and broader concerns?

5.     Potential for enabling external support

Has the team clearly enumerated prerequisites to success with future funding sources on which they will depend for continuation of the project? Does their vision for the project serve the missions and priorities of those sources? If expected outcomes are achieved during the RCG period, are the applicants likely to be competitive in the near term? Or, if applicants anticipate needing a longer time-horizon to fulfill the prerequisites for success, have they identified sufficient alternative resources to support project continuation to that point?

 

Key Dates

Application submission deadline: Mid-September TBD.
Decision announcement: Late November TBD

 

Post-award requirements

After receiving an award and completing the proposed work, and in order to be eligible for future VIRS research awards, awardees must submit two follow up reports: 1) close-of-award report, due one month after the award period ends; 2) post-award report, to be submitted one year after close-of-award report. Instructions and reminders will be provided to awardees. 

 

Questions?

Questions about proposal preparation or review can be addressed to Janice Bially Mattern, PhD, Director, Villanova Institute for Research and Scholarship.