Description
The purpose of the SSRI Collaborative Research Grant Program is to encourage interdisciplinary collaboration among Rice School of Social Sciences faculty on research projects that will lead to the submission, revision, or resubmission of a competitive proposal to an external funding agency within 12 months after the end of the SSRI Collaborative Research Grant award period.
Eligibility
The SSRI Collaborative Research Grant Program is open to full-time tenured and tenure-track faculty members at all ranks. At least two different disciplines must be represented in the proposed project team. The Principal Investigator must hold a primary appointment in a School of Social Sciences department. Applicants are encouraged to collaborate with faculty or researchers from other Rice schools and with external institutions, including academic, industrial, nonprofit, government, and medical institutions. Recipients of an SSRI Collaborative Research Grant are not eligible to apply for another Collaborative Research Grant during the three subsequent competitions. Faculty who receive an SSRI Collaborative Research Grant but do not submit an external grant proposal within the required timeframe will be ineligible to apply for future SSRI Collaborative Research Grants, unless an exception is approved in advance. Faculty may participate in only one competitive SSRI faculty funding proposal per funding cycle, whether as Principal Investigator, Co-Principal Investigator, or other named investigator.
Application Deadline
Not accepting applications at this time.
Award Information (FY27)
Estimated Number of Awards: 0
Anticipated Funding Amount per Award: $0
Award Duration: 18 months
The expected start dates are as follows: TBD
Funding
Requests may be up to $25,000 in direct costs and must be clearly justified in the application. The amount awarded may differ from the amount requested. There is an annual award competition. Applications will be evaluated by a faculty review panel representing multiple departments in the School of Social Sciences, with final funding decisions made by the Dean of Social Sciences. Proposals must be written for a multidisciplinary academic audience. All research must comply with applicable Rice University policies and requirements, including Institutional Review Board approval for human subjects research, when applicable. IRB approval must be obtained before human subjects research begins. All funds remaining at the time of award expiration will be returned to SSRI. No-cost extensions will not be granted.
Allowable Expenses
SSRI Collaborative Research Grant funds may be used for reasonable and necessary research-related expenses that directly support the proposed project. Allowable expenses may include research-related travel, including transportation, lodging, and other necessary travel costs; wages for staff, graduate students, or undergraduate student workers, including applicable fringe benefits and tuition remission; subject compensation or participant payments; research supplies; special software directly tied to the project; and other miscellaneous research-related costs necessary to complete the proposed work. Travel funding requests must include actual dollar estimates of anticipated expenses. Meals, subsistence, and per diem costs are not allowable. Faculty supplemental compensation, conference or workshop travel, computer hardware, meals, subsistence, per diem costs, and general-purpose equipment or software not directly tied to the proposed project are not allowable under this program. Funds must be used for the approved project. Significant rebudgeting may require prior approval from SSRI.
Application Procedure
Applicants must submit the completed online Collaborative Research Grant application (at the bottom of this page) by the stated deadline. Required proposal components are listed below. Incomplete applications will not be considered for funding. All materials must be written in at least 11-point Arial or Times New Roman font, with 1-inch margins and single spacing, and saved as a PDF.
- Proposal narrative (maximum of 5 pages). The proposal narrative may not exceed five pages. The narrative should describe the proposed research and explain how it is expected to lead to a larger project for which external funding will be sought. The research question, project goals, and proposed methods should be clearly explained and written for a non-specialist academic audience. The proposal narrative should address the significance and innovation of the proposed research in the context of existing literature; the research question or problem being addressed; the methods or approach that will be used; why the project requires an interdisciplinary team; how each discipline contributes to the project goals; each team member’s role and planned activities; whether the team has worked together previously and, if so, the outcomes or products of that collaboration; the anticipated end product of the SSRI-funded research; and how the project will position the team to pursue external funding. Relevant literature should be included in a separate References or Bibliography section. References do not count toward the five-page narrative limit. The proposal narrative must include a project timeline as a separate section. The timeline should indicate when the research will begin, where it will be conducted, major project milestones, and when the research activities will end.
- Potential funding sources. Applicants must include a list of potential external funding sources appropriate for the proposed research and for expanding the project beyond the SSRI award period. For each potential funding source, include the funding agency or sponsor; name of the funding opportunity; link to the funding announcement or request for proposals, if available; anticipated award amount; expected due date or submission cycle; and a brief explanation of why the opportunity is appropriate for the project.
- Itemized budget and justification (maximum of two pages). The itemized budget and budget justification may not exceed two pages. The budget should include each requested item, cost, quantity, and justification. The justification should explain how each cost directly supports the proposed research. Examples of allowable costs include research-related travel, student or staff wages, applicable fringe benefits, tuition remission, human subject payments, supplies, special software directly tied to the project, and other necessary research expenses. Requests for travel funding must be based on actual dollar estimates. Meals, subsistence, and per diem costs are not allowable. Faculty supplemental compensation, conference or workshop travel, and computer hardware are not allowable.
- Curriculum vitae (maximum of two pages per investigator). Applicants must include a curriculum vitae for each investigator. Each CV may not exceed two pages. Any format is acceptable, including NSF or NIH biosketch formats, provided the document is limited to two pages per investigator.
- List current and pending support for each investigator (no page limit). Applicants must include current and pending support for each investigator. There is no page limit. Any format is acceptable, including NSF or NIH current and pending support formats.
- Prior reviews, if applicable. If the SSRI Collaborative Research Grant will support the revision or resubmission of an external proposal that was previously declined, the application should include a summary of the significant criticisms raised in the prior review and an explanation of how the SSRI-funded work will address those concerns.
Evaluation Criteria
Applications will be evaluated based on the significance of the proposed research; innovation of the research question, approach, or collaboration; strength of the interdisciplinary team and rationale for collaboration; feasibility of the proposed work plan and timeline; appropriateness and justification of the budget; likelihood that the project will lead to a competitive external funding proposal; and clarity and accessibility of the proposal for a multidisciplinary academic audience.
Requirements and Expectations
Recipients of an SSRI Collaborative Research Grant are required to submit final reporting and external proposal submission updates as described below.
- A final report must be submitted within 60 days after the award expiration date. The report may not exceed two pages and must summarize project outcomes, including presentations, publications, products, collaborations, and external grant proposals submitted or planned.
- Recipients are required to notify SSRI of the submission of an external funding proposal within 12 months after the end of the award period. If the intended external sponsor does not have a deadline within the required 12-month submission window, recipients must contact Chris Rodriguez at carod@rice.edu before the end of the 12-month period to discuss the planned submission timeline.