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Student/Faculty Research Awards

The Student/Faculty Research Awards are used to advance the scholarship of graduate students and faculty working in partnership. Every award requires a Student PI and a Faculty PI. The benefit to both should be evident in the proposal. This mechanism is intended to help support student research/scholarship/creative activity; give students experience writing grants; and foster the mentoring relationship between faculty and graduate students. Applications must show that the student’s proposal is approved by a faculty member and under the faculty member’s direct supervision.

Graduate students in all disciplines, including those disciplines (e.g., arts, humanities, and social sciences), which traditionally do not conduct collaborative work, and/or do not expect to publish jointly with a faculty member are eligible to apply.

Grants up to $5,000 will be awarded to student/faculty pairs who submit proposals for funds to support research or creative projects. The funds may be used to purchase supplies needed for research; for travel to work in other laboratories, libraries, or archives; for specialized training or in a variety of other ways, so long as the outcome will be the professional development of the graduate students and the advancement of an identified research/creative agenda of both the student and faculty member. Special consideration will be given to students and faculty who do not have current, or recent, institutional support for their research.

  • The awards provided through this mechanism are intended to be utilized within one year of receipt, so plan according and avoid submitting proposals that cannot be completed within a one year period of time.
  • If conducting research with human subjects, PLEASE consider incentives other than gift cards, since Fiscal Policy requires that names be reported when gift cards are distributed.
  • Student/Faculty Research funds will not be used in support of travel to meetings or for purposes of scholarly presentation.
  • Student/Faculty funds cannot be used for PI salaries (neither the faculty PI nor the graduate student PI), overhead costs (aka F&A), computers, or publications fees.
  • All compliance requirements (e.g., IRB, IACUC, IBC) must be followed in order to be eligible for these funds.

Proposal Instructions

Each proposal should be sent to the department head for review and evaluation before submitting the proposal. An endorsement letter from the department head is required when submitting the proposal. The deadline for proposals to be received in the Graduate School for spring 2023 is February 10, 2023 by 5:00 p.m.

Online application is now open for submissions.

Each proposal must include the following elements. These requirements will form the basis for the proposal evaluation. Proposals that exceed the listed word limitations will be rejected.

  • a narrative of no more than 1000 words (excluding references) describing the proposal
    This should be written for an educated, nonspecialist audience and must include the significance of the project, as well as a clear explanation of methodology and expected outcomes.
  • a statement of how the project will advance the professional development of the student PI (250 words or fewer)
  • a statement of how the project is related to the faculty PI’s expertise and research agenda (250 words or fewer)
    If the faculty PI has extramural funding, please address the independent nature of this work from funded research.
  • an itemized budget for the amount requested
    Requests should be for amounts between $1,000 and $5,000. Be sure to indicate a projected timeline for use of the funds.
  • if applicable, documentation of an invitation or host institution support
  • a document providing the name of the PI, source, title and amount awarded for any current support held by student PI and faculty PI from other university or external sources and any proposals under consideration by other university or external funding sources.
  • CV of the faculty PI (2-page limit) and the graduate student PI (2-page limit)
  • endorsement letter from the department head

These materials should be submitted online between January 23, 2023 and February 10, 2023. Please direct any questions to Catherine Cox (cathcox@utk.edu).

Evaluation

A Subcommittee of the Graduate Council, along with the Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School and a representative from the Office of Research and Engagement, will evaluate proposals and make awards.

Reimbursement

If you receive an award through this program, please use the Student Faculty Research Award Reimbursement Form to submit expenses to be reimbursed.

Extension

The SFRA One-Time Extension form should be used by awarded student/faculty pairs to request a one-time extension of your project.