Research Opportunity Fund 2000

Winfred M. Phillips, Vice President

Research Opportunity Fund 2000 is created to provide early funding for new, potentially large-scale, faculty-initiated research programs that have the potential of becoming permanent, externally-funded programs within the University. The priorities for support include:

1. Major research initiatives that are intercollegiate and interdisciplinary and are intended to be funded by external sources that are accompanied by full indirect costs.
2. Matches for major research initiatives that are being developed by (and with financial support from) colleges.
3. Partnership programs with IFAS and Engineering that stimulate broad University research initiatives. Proposals requesting funds that cut across these three budgetary units will be expected to have appropriate contributions from the departments involved and the other budgetary units.

Successful proposals will normally provide for a maximum one year of funding. Extensions in time will be considered if warranted by the circumstances, but supplemental requests for additional funding are discouraged. Principal Investigators will be required to submit a year-end report to Research & Graduate Programs.

Proposal Guidelines

The proposal should consist of:

Up to five pages of text that describe the project. Explain the rationale for the work to be accomplished in terms that can be understood by an “intelligent nonexpert.” Please project a time-line for accomplishing each of the goals within the budget period (where feasible).

A list of the individuals to be involved and the roles each will play.

A detailed budget and justification of expenses. No indirect costs are involved. These funds are not intended to support on-going projects. It is expected that budgets will be reasonable but sufficient to accomplish the work proposed. The budget period can be any period within Summer and Fall 2000 and Spring 2001, up to 12 months in duration.

The specific plans to obtain continuing external support for the project. Proposals must provide evidence for the sources of external support that should follow on the seed money provided by Opportunity Fund 2000.

A current CV of the principal investigator and each of the Co-PIs and a list of their currently funded research with percent time commitment to each funded project. (2-page NIH style)
A DSR signature page with sign-offs from the primary faculty involved in the project, the department chairs and the deans.

A one-paragraph statement describing why and how the broader UF university community will benefit from this new initiative.

Review Process

A group from the newly appointed faculty proposal review committee will review the proposals and make funding recommendations to the Vice President for Research. A positive review is a necessary condition for consideration for funding.

Deadline

The deadline for submission of proposals will be January 15 annually. Notification of status will be given on or before April 15. Awards will be made in May.

If not all Opportunity Funds are allocated, a second call for proposals may be announced.

Submission of Proposals

Fifteen copies of a proposal and all required or optional supplementary material should be delivered to 223 Grinter Hall no later than 5 p.m. on January 15, 2000.

Evaluation

Funding success of the project and the investigators will be tracked. Annual reporting of funding success is required for three years after the termination of the Opportunity Fund grant.