Research and Graduate Programs Internal Support Programs

Winfred M. Phillips, Vice President

For the last several years, Research and Graduate Programs (RGP) has distributed all indirect costs back to the colleges after the allocation of certain central costs and the cost for supporting sponsored research. This return also includes the annual formula returns to investigators and units. In addition, RGP uses a combination of carry-forward funds and earnings from the UF Research Foundation to fund the following internal support programs:

Special Matching Requests: Funds are available for: (1) Matching contributions required on large instrumentation and facilities grants and (2) other matching required by the sponsor in their policy. Requests must be made through the department chairs and the college deans. The college and/or department forwarding such requests are expected to cost share with RGP in the funding.

Opportunity Fund: RGP will continue to fund this program to seed interdisciplinary initiatives. The priorities of this fund include: (1) Major research initiatives that are typically intercollegiate and interdisciplinary and that will lead to new funding from external sources: (2) Matches for major research initiatives that are being developed by (and with financial support from) colleges.

Guidelines are being revised and an annual deadline for proposals will be instituted. An announcement on this program will be forthcoming.

Support for Meetings, Workshops and Conferences: Matching support generally ranging from $1,000 to $3,000 is available to assist with the organizational expenses of national meetings sponsored by the University of Florida. In order to qualify for support, the meeting must be widely publicized and open to faculty, students and other UF personnel who would like to attend one or more sessions. There are special guidelines and forms. Requests may be submitted at any time.

Fine Arts and Humanities Scholarship Enhancement Fund: This fund was established by RGP in 1997 to stimulate new or existing creative/research activity in the humanities and fine arts at the University of Florida. Approximately 40 awards will be supported annually. The maximum award request is $10,000, with the average award expected to be less. Eligible applicants are UF ranked faculty working on projects in the humanities or fine arts. The humanities awards process is handled by the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contact: Associate Dean Joe Glover, 2014 Turlington Hall, 392-2230). The fine arts competition is managed by the College of Fine Arts (Contact: Associate Dean Marcia Isaacson, 101 FAA, 392- 0207).

Graduate Student Travel Funds: Highest priority will be given to doctoral level students and students in other terminal degree programs who are invited to give major talks, are in their final year of their programs and are presenting work at a national meeting, or have a unique research or collaborative opportunity at an off-site location. These one-time awards are limited to $300 per trip and require a dollar for dollar match from the college and/or department. There are special guidelines and forms. Requests should be submitted a minimum of one month in advance of the desired travel date.

Grinter Fellowships: These prestigious fellowships which honor Dr. Linton E. Grinter – long-time dean of the UF Graduate School and champion of quality graduate programs, faculty and students – are used by UF colleges to recruit the highest quality graduate students to the University of Florida. RGP provides $630,000 annually to fund Grinter Fellows in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the Health Science Center colleges and the Colleges of Architecture, Business Administration, Education, Fine Arts, Health and Human Performance, and Journalism and Communications.

Named Presidential Fellows: The Graduate School awards fellowships named in honor of former University of Florida presidents; the candidates are expected to be among the strongest prospective students in their respective colleges. The fellowship represents a four-year commitment to the student (assuming satisfactory progress toward the degree). First and fourth years are funded by the Graduate School (including tuition waiver); second and third years are funded by the department/college. College nominations are due annually in mid-February.

UF Research Foundation Awards: Five percent of the unrestricted funds in the University of Florida Research Foundation will be used annually to stimulate and reward research efforts. Two programs are available: (1) Research Foundation Professorships – Thirty new awards annually will recognize faculty research contributions and provide incentives for continued excellence in research. Each Professorship will be awarded for a three-year period and includes a $5,000 annual salary supplement and a $3,000 research grant. Associate and Full Professors who are tenured and who have been on the UF faculty for at least five years are eligible to be nominated by their department chairs.

Recipients of the Professorship will be selected by their colleges. (2) Matching Funds for New Training Grants – To aid faculty in their efforts to secure more training grants for graduate education, RGP will provide an institutional match (usually in the form of an additional stipend and tuition payment) and a letter of support for all NEW training grants that are submitted to external agencies. Matches form colleges will be considered in determining the level of support from RGP.

RGP will no longer maintain the Research and Technology Investment Fund as a separate program. Funds to assist investigators with a highly promising technology or process that requires further development will be awarded by the UF Research Foundation as determined by the Director of the Office of Technology Licensing (OTL) and approved by the Vice President for Research.