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The PI Research Investment Program is designed to provide support for principal investigators to conduct pilot studies, preliminary experimentation or research, obtain additional data to strengthen or produce proposals which have a high probability of attracting significant external funding, especially federal funding, and which show promise for publications, creative or scholarly works, patents and graduate assistantship support. Training workshops related to the development and submission of proposals to these programs are offered periodically by the Research Council through the Office of Research Services (ORS). Information on and electronic registration for current training offerings by the ORS can be found at http://research.ou.edu/workshops/workshops.asp.

The faculty member is expected to submit to an external funding agency the planned proposal within one year after receiving funds from this program.

A faculty member is normally not eligible to apply for any other internal funding programs administered by the VPR, including Research Council funds, until the research proposed in the request has been accomplished and a proposal has been submitted/resubmitted to an external agency for funding.

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II. ARTS AND HUMANITIES RESEARCH AND CREATIVE ACTIVITY PROGRAM

A. Matching Funds

B. Proposal Development Support Grants

The Arts and Humanities Research and Creative Activity Program is earmarked for endeavors which support the strategic plans of the arts, fine arts, humanities, and education graduate research programs. The primary functions of the program are to provide seed funds to stimulate the development of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary projects and programs which have promise of a comparatively high level of external funds (see Centers Program); provide matching funds for external grants and proposal development support for programs that fund to the University. Additionally, requests for funds to support other types of worthy research and creative activity endeavors will be considered. However, programs that make the award directly to the individual Principal Investigator are not eligible for University support, hence those from the National Endowment for the Humanities do not qualify.

The VPR will provide matching funds up to an amount equal to the college match for proposals being submitted for external funding. Proposals must be routed for approvals through Proposal Services and the award must be made to the University. The VPR match will not exceed the externally funded portion of the project. However, an exception will be made for proposals submitted to the Oklahoma Humanities Council (OHC). The VPR will provide an amount equal to the college match on awards received from the OHC. For example, when a $500 OHC award is received, the VPR will provide a match of $1,250 provided the college also provides $1,250 in matching support. The program must require a "cash match" and this match must be clearly stated in the proposal guidelines. The program must allow state funds to be used as a match.

A PI should apply for cost matching funds at least three weeks before the deadline for submission of the proposal.

In addition to a working copy of the proposal, including a completed budget, a request must include the guidelines of the agency with the cost match highlighted and a cover letter detailing the nature of the request, the amount requested and a justification for the request. The request must be supported by the departmental chair and budget dean and must include other internal match sources. The request should be submitted to the Vice President for Research (Robertson Hall, Room 134).

The Vice President for Research will provide Proposal Development Support Grants of up to $1,000 to assist individual faculty members who prepare and submit approved proposals for national/international fellowship programs. Proposals must be routed for approvals through Proposal Services and the award must be made to the University. A faculty member is eligible to receive only one such grant per fiscal year. Additionally, any faculty member who is awarded a summer fellowship through the University will receive from the Vice President for Research a supplemental stipend to raise the level of the fellowship to that of the Junior Faculty Summer Fellowship.

Deadlines:

Proposals to fellowship programs with no limitation on individual submissions - 30 days before the program deadline.

Proposals to fellowship programs that limit the number of applications to be submitted from any one institution - two (2) months before the program deadline.

To apply for these grants, faculty members who are submitting proposals to programs which place no limitations on the number of individual submissions from any one institution must submit a completed proposal ready for submission to the agency to the Office of Research Services (Roberston Hall, Room 134) no later than thirty (30) days before the agency program deadline date. Appropriate members of the Research Council augmented by other individuals, if necessary, will review and evaluate the proposals and recommend those proposals that are of high quality to the Vice President for Research.

To be considered as an applicant to fellowship programs that limit the number of applications received from any one institution faculty members must submit a letter of intent to the Office of Research Services (Robertson Hall, Room 134) containing the following information two (2) months before the program deadline.

1. Tentative title and a brief description of the project.
2. Brief biographical sketch.
3. Statement concerning which discipline or related discipline is addressed by the project.

Letters of intent from all faculty within a particular college will be sent to that college dean for consideration. The dean will be asked to provide a statement and recommendation on each letter. Comments from the deans and letters of intent will then be reviewed by members of the Research Council, who will recommend a list of no more than six nominees to the Vice President for Research. The Vice President for Research will then determine the applicants who will be selected to submit proposals and receive the $1,000 Proposal Development Support Grants.

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Proposals are evaluated on their intrinsic merit, but higher rankings may be given to proposals likely to assist the faculty member in obtaining external funding or those supported by evidence of quality research productivity on the part of the applicant. Funds are provided for the personal research of regular faculty in the rank of assistant professor or higher and permanent professional or technical staff who hold the terminal degree appropriate to their discipline. Instructors, adjunct faculty, visiting faculty, soft money personnel and students are not eligible.

An applicant can receive only one Research Council Grant per fiscal year. (For example, if an applicant receives a small grant, they cannot apply for another grant, small, over $1,000 or PI Research Investment, until the next fiscal year.) However, there is an exception for those receiving Junior Faculty Program awards.

The Research Council meets monthly to consider recommendations to the Vice President for Research (VPR) for support of proposals received in the Office of Research Services (Robertson Hall, Room 134) on or before the first of the month. The Council rates each proposal on a score between 1.0 (high) and 5.0 (low). The priority scores along with any special recommendations are forwarded to the VPR. The Small Grant Program normally provides up to $1,000 for equipment, supplies and/or travel to support research or creative activities. As a general rule, requests for personnel assistance are given a low Priority (See Section 3 of the Application Procedures). However, on occasion temporary (usually graduate student) support will be granted for a specific need, but funds cannot be used for faculty or staff salary. Additionally, awards may be made for interdisciplinary or discipline-specific group support, for multi-user equipment and faculty development in a new research area. The application procedures are outlined in "Procedure for Research Council Funds" that is available on this web page and in the Office of Research Services. Click HERE to Download Application Form in PDF. Each proposal is reviewed as soon as possible after it is received by the VPR and/or Chair of the Research Council.

An applicant can receive only one Research Council Grant per fiscal year. (For example, if an applicant receives a small grant, they cannot apply for another grant, small, over $1,000 or PI Research Investment, until the next fiscal year.) However, there is an exception for those receiving Junior Faculty Program awards.

Support for reprints/page charges of scholarly publications are reimbursed on a noncompetitive, first-served basis until the allocation for this program is exhausted. Requests must meet all the following criteria to be considered for support.

1) Reprints are defined as reprints of refereed articles that have appeared in scholarly journals. Page charges are defined as required charges by the publisher associated with the publication of refereed articles that have appeared in scholarly journals.

2) The only reprints/page charges authorized for reimbursement are those that report the results of research performed by University of Oklahoma tenured or tenure track faculty. Therefore, the publication must indicate that the faculty member is a University of Oklahoma faculty member. Research done by a faculty member before coming to or after leaving the University falls outside the guidelines for reimbursement.

3) A maximum of 100 copies (without covers) of each article or $100.00, whichever is less, will be provided. Only one request will be honored for multiple-authored publications.

4) Reprints/page charges should be ordered on a departmental or grant account.

5) When the invoice for the reprints/page charges is processed for payment, a copy of the invoice and a copy of the reprint should be forwarded to the Office of the Vice President for Research (Robertson Hall, Room 100). At that time a FORM IX "Expense Transfer" will be processed to reimburse the invoiced account.

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