This document summarizes a conference focused on providing research opportunities for undergraduate students and faculty. It discusses defining research and sharing experiences conducting undergraduate research. It also outlines various grant opportunities from the National Science Foundation, National Endowment for Humanities, and other organizations to fund educational innovations and undergraduate research projects. Eligibility requirements and examples of funded projects in areas like STEM education, disability studies, and the humanities are provided.
2. CUR Dialogues Colleges, universities and individuals share a focus on providing research opportunities for faculty and students at undergraduate institutions Guided by the premise that faculty members enhance their teaching and contribution to society by remaining active in research and by involving undergraduates in research
16. FIPSE Comprehensive Program “. . . innovative reform projects that promise to be models for improving the quality of postsecondary education and increasing student access.”
17. FIPSE Eligibility Academic and administrative All disciplines Potential foci: access, retention, preparation, curricular reform, etc. Not generally for basic research - “action-oriented”
20. Applying for FIPSE Funding Meet all published criteria Establish significance and a clear capacity to enhance secondary education Demonstrate potential for sustainability after FIPSE funds are exhausted Propose modes of dissemination (include letters of commitment from outside participants) NOTE: Invitation priority is NOT important
22. TUES Program Eligibility To improve the quality of science, technology, engineering & mathematics (STEM) education for all undergraduate students All institutions Supports creation of curricular materials, developing faculty expertise, implementing educational innovations
25. RDE Program Eligibility Supports projects that increase the participation & achievement of people with disabilities in all fields of STEM education & associated professions Assess educational, social and pre-professional experiences that influence disability related differences in student interest, academic performance, retention in STEM programs, STEM degree completion and career choices All institutions
27. STEP Program Eligibility Focus on retention and/or recruitment of undergraduate students into STEM fields All U.S. institutions and two- and four-year colleges (including community colleges) that offer either associate or baccalaureate degrees in STEM Implement pedagogical approaches such as active learning strategies, effective materials, financial incentives for students entering & persisting in STEM
29. Successful NSF STEM Proposals Improve the quality of STEM education for all undergraduates Measurable outcomes (Qualitative and/or quantitative assessment) of student learning & achievement Supports interdisciplinary & interinstitutionalprojects Demonstrate project sustainability Plan methods of transferability & dissemination
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33. 1. Summer Stipends What Up to $6K for two months of full-time independent study and research. 1200 awarded in 2009 Who Applicants nominated by their institutions. Tenured/tenure track only Outcome: Scholarly articles, a monograph, a book, a site report, a translation, an edition, or a database.
34. Sample Summer Research Funded Chiang, Connie Young Bowdoin CollegeNature Behind Barbed Wire: An Environmental History of the Japanese Internment Coffey, Mary Pomona CollegeTracing the Ghost of Colonial Experience in 19th Century Spanish Literature Finkel, Stuart University of FloridaThe Political Red Cross: A Voice for Political Prisoners in Early Soviet Russia
35. 2. NEH Summer Seminars/Institutes What Summer opportunities for college teachers to study humanities Who “teachers of American undergraduate students.” Adjunct and part-time lecturers
36. 2010 Summer Seminars The Aesthetics of British Romanticism, Then and Today The American Civil War at 150: New Approaches Brazilian Literature: Contemporary Urban Fiction Aristotle on Truth and Meaning Descartes, Galileo, Hobbes: Philosophy and Science, Politics and Religion During the Scientific Revolution Free Will and Human Perfection in Medieval Jewish Philosophy Philosophical Perspectives on Liberal Democracy and the Global Order
37. 2010 Summer Institutes (4+weeks) Teaching the History of Political Economy Ritual and Ceremony from Late-Medieval Europe to Early America Native Cultures of Western Alaska and the Pacific Northwest Coast Mapping and Art in the Americas Cultural Hybridities: Christians, Muslims, and Jews and the Medieval Mediterranean
41. Award recipients must work full time on their projects.- Teaching assignments not allowed - This can be appealed if it presents hardship to institution
42. Sample Projects Project 1: A full-time project for twelve months ($50,400) to conduct archival research in Paris on the development of jazz in Europe. Project 2: A half-time award over eighteen months (the equivalent of nine months at full time, $37,800) to document and analyze traditional folk medicine practices among community elders. Project 3: An applicant proposes a full-time award during two months in the summer ($8,400) to conduct research on local history to broaden the appeal of an American history survey course taught by the applicant every year.
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44. To improve existing undergraduate courses.Awards of 3-5 months carry a stipend of $4200 per month. (Max: $21,000) May work up to half time teaching while on fellowship
45. 4. Collaborative Research Projects What: Original research that because of its scope or complexity requires additional staff or resources beyond the individual’s salary. FT or PT activities for 1-3 years. Publication and presentation to public audiences expected. Who: FT/PT faculty
46. Sample Collaborative Projects John Buridan’sQuestions on Aristotle’s De Anima (On the Soul): A Critical Edition with an Annotated TranslationFordham University, Bronx, NYPreparation for publication of three bilingual Latin-English volumes, with a fourth volume of expository and interpretive essays. Outright Funds of $195,000 over a period of two years. The Annotated Translation and Analysis of a Lao Historical Work of Literature, PheunKhamThaungLuangUnaffiliated Independent Scholar, Bangkok, Thailand The preparation for online publication of a French colonial period work written from a Buddhist perspective.Outright Funds of $105,725 over a period of two years.
47. NEH Evaluation Criteria The intellectual significance for humanities scholars, general audiences, or both. The quality or promise of quality of the applicant’s work as an interpreter of the humanities. The quality of the conception, definition, organization, and description of the project The feasibility of the proposed plan of work, including, dissemination The likelihood that the applicant will complete the project.
“Innovation is a hallmark of this grant category. … Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants should result in plans, prototypes, or proofs of concept for long-term digital humanities projects.” Support is available for various combinations of scholars, consultants, and research assistants; project-related travel; and technical support and services. Up to 20 percent of the total grant may be used for the acquisition of computing hardware and software. All grantees are expected to communicate the results of their work to appropriate scholarly and public audiences. In order to facilitate dissemination and increase the impact of the projects that are ultimately developed through Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants, applicants are strongly encouraged to employ open-source and fully accessible software.
“Innovation is a hallmark of this grant category. … Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants should result in plans, prototypes, or proofs of concept for long-term digital humanities projects.” Support is available for various combinations of scholars, consultants, and research assistants; project-related travel; and technical support and services. Up to 20 percent of the total grant may be used for the acquisition of computing hardware and software. All grantees are expected to communicate the results of their work to appropriate scholarly and public audiences. In order to facilitate dissemination and increase the impact of the projects that are ultimately developed through Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants, applicants are strongly encouraged to employ open-source and fully accessible software.
