URC seeks proposals for 1996-97

The University Research Committee (URC), a unit of the University Senate, is seeking research proposals from Emory faculty members for 1996-97. The deadline for submitting proposals is Nov. 1, 1995.

The URC grants regular, year-long research awards open to all faculty, and summer research awards for junior, not-yet-tenured faculty. The maximum amount for a regular award is $15,000, which can be used for:

*Direct research support, which includes equipment, supplies, technician salaries and travel. Direct research support includes all items related to the conduct of research in a traditional sense, except for faculty salary support;

*Subvention of publication costs for compiled manuscripts of major projects. Subvention requests must be accompanied by evidence that the manuscript has been subjected to peer review (copies of reviews must be submitted if available). A letter from the publisher stating the amount and justification for the subvention must also be included, along with two copies of the manuscript. Royalties paid to the applicant by the publisher equal to the subvention of the URC must be returned to the URC; and

*Release-time support, which includes support for the replacement of courses normally taught by the applicant (a maximum of two courses, $10,000 replacement), as well as additional direct research support to a maximum of $5,000. Funds are to be used for the actual costs associated with the replacement of teaching faculty. Funds not used for teaching replacements will revert to the dean of Emory College. Requests to use unexpended teaching replacement funds for other research purposes must be made directly to the dean. The terms of the release time are to be determined by the applicant, the applicant's departmental chair and the dean.

Summer awards are approximately $4,000 and can be used for direct research support or as a salary supplement. Summer awards are intended to assist junior faculty in establishing their research programs. Applicants receiving these awards must not be otherwise employed during the summer.

Deadlines, funding periods and extensions

The deadlines for submitting both types of research applications is Nov. 1, 1995. Application forms may be requested from: Melanie Kingston, URC, 1686 Clifton Road, 727-7503. Applicants for summer proposals will be notified in early February, and applicants for regular proposals will be notified in early March. Accounts for summer awards will be established on April 1 and closed on Aug. 31. Accounts for regular awards will be established on Sept. 1, 1996, and closed on Aug. 31, 1997. Extensions generally are not made except under extraordinary circumstances and then must be made in writing to URC Secretary Melanie Kingston at least two weeks prior to the regular termination date.

Application review

Each application will be reviewed by members of the appropriate URC subcommittee. Applicants must specify their choice of subcommittee on their proposal cover sheet. Because proposals are reviewed by faculty who may not be intimately involved in the specific research area of the application, proposals must be written in such a way that they are intelligible to a non-expert. The URC evaluates proposals strictly on the basis of scholarly merit. Preference is given to faculty holding regular full-time, tenure-track appointments. Funds are not intended for faculty holding temporary positions such as visiting faculty, instructors, post-doctoral fellows and research associates. Preference will be given to faculty who are not presently funded from extramural sources and to faculty who have not received URC funds within the last three years.

The URC does not grant support for commercial publications such as textbooks, anthologies and workbooks, nor does it provide direct support for graduate students working toward an Emory degree. The URC will consider requests for funds to hire graduate students as technical assistants to complete work for which they receive no academic credit.

Editor's note: The information in this article is not a complete set of URC proposal guidelines. To obtain a complete set of URC guidelines, contact Melanie Kingston at 727-7503.