AHSS Request for Proposals

Grants in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences:
Funding for Faculty in the Colleges of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social and Behavioral Sciences

The focus for the Fall 2010 round of the AHSS Grants program will be posted on this webpage in late August.

Deadline for Proposal Submissions: Deadline for the Fall 2010 round of proposals will be posted on this webpage in late August.


Amount of awards: $10,000 to $30,000
Total amount of awards: $300,000

For general information about these grants, see the announcement page.

Note: This RFP is a draft and subject to change, in particular regarding allowable budget items. It is provided here for advance guidance. It will be finalized one month prior to each submission deadline.

This grants program, with funding provided by Provost Meredith Hay for faculty in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (AHSS) – specifically in the Colleges of Fine Arts (CFA), Humanities (COH) and Social and Behavioral Sciences (SBS) and faculty in AHSS in relevant Interdisciplinary Programs (e.g., American Indian Studies) – will provide a total of $300,000 in grants for scholarship and research in all areas represented in CFA, COH and SBS, as well as work in the creative, visual, and performing arts.

Through this initiative the University intends to increase the impact and visibility of its research, scholarship and creative activity across and beyond the fine arts, humanities, and social sciences, help faculty apply for a broader range of external funding sources in both the private and government sectors, and nourish the synergistic environment that brings faculty together from different disciplines to develop innovative research, scholarship and creative activity.


Request for proposals

We invite proposals that encourage scholarly and creative interactions that cross both disciplinary boundaries and intellectual orientations. We hope to bring together scholars and creative practitioners who are interested in working together to explore new types of knowledge and/or creative activity. We especially encourage:

  • Proposals that are interdisciplinary in nature and include two or more eligible applicants (see below for eligibility requirements) from different colleges or from different departments or schools in one college or who represent different disciplines within one department or school.
  • Proposals for projects that are very likely to lead to significant external support and/or national or international recognition.
  • Proposals for projects that will result in a concrete outcome within the timeframe of the grant.
  • Proposals for discrete projects or for projects that are discrete components of a larger project.
  • Proposals that support the core strengths of the university and address the following grand challenges:
    1. Human Identity as a Complex System: Exploring human conceptions of self, including ways that decision making is affected by the complex interaction of multiple factors--ecological, biological, economic, political, social, historical, linguistic, cultural, and philosophical.
    2. Transnational and Intercultural Dynamics: Addressing the challenges faced by individuals, communities, and governments at the intersections of places (real and virtual), societies, cultures, languages, identities and ideas.
    3. Creativity and Society: Giving expression to the heart and spirit of the human experience through disciplined individual creative endeavors. Promoting artistic collaboration and interaction, thereby enriching understanding across cultures, creeds, nations, and races.

For a longer description of the grand challenges, see the addendum at the end of this document.

While we are particularly interested in new projects, we will consider projects already under way but not yet fully funded that would be able to develop a significant new, interdisciplinary, collaborative component with the AHSS grant.

Projects that lack a scholarly or creative focus, or have as their primary outcome teaching or outreach, will not be considered.  Projects that include a teaching or outreach component will be considered as long as the research, scholarly or creative component is the primary focus of the project.

Eligibility
  • All tenure-track or tenured faculty, research scientists, non-traditional faculty, professors of practice, professional and scientific staff members and lecturers who are continuing or continuing eligible and for whom research and scholarship are assigned as one of their primary job responsibilities during the time of their application and the year of the project are eligible to apply for AHSS awards. There should be two (or more) Project Participants, of whom one is the Project Director/Principal Investigator (PI), who must have at least a .5FTE appointment in CFA, COH or SBS. The other Project Participants may be in any one of the colleges at UA. We regret that visiting faculty, associates, adjuncts, postdoctoral associates, and fellowship trainees are not eligible to apply.
  • Graduate students may be supported as project personnel, research assistants, or performers under these grants, but they should not be the principal participants in this grant.  In addition, graduate programs in CFA, COH and SBS and relevant interdisciplinary programs may nominate graduate students for graduate fellowships through two parallel new programs, one in Arts and Humanities (The 1885 Society Graduate Fellowships for Students in Fine Arts and Humanities) and the other in the Social Sciences (The UA Excellence Fellowships for Graduate Students in the Social Sciences).
  • A faculty applicant may appear on only one AHSS proposal. Graduate students may apply for the Graduate Fellowships and also be included in an AHSS proposal. However, they cannot be supported by both an AHSS grant and a graduate fellowship at the same time.
  • The intention of this program is primarily to invest in research and creative activity by faculty in CFA, COH and SBS. However, we do recognize that some projects may benefit significantly from participants from other colleges; therefore, we will consider projects that involve significant participation in a university-wide initiative.
  • Members of the AHSS Research Review Panel are eligible to be a Project Participant or a Project Director/Principal Investigator on an application, but in this case they will not participate in any meetings of the Panel during the period in which grant applications are being discussed.
Possible Project Outcomes
  • Publications or other scholarly or creative activity likely to make a significant impact on scholarship in the fields of the proposal and to enhance the scholarly reputation of the applicants and the UA. Publications may be of the traditional format (e.g., books, journal articles, book chapters) or of the less traditional digital/web based formats (e.g. e-publications and other web-based materials, including digitization of material from various media).
  • Major external grant proposals.
  • Portfolios to use in seeking donor funding.
  • Bodies of data, corpora, new types of (interdisciplinary) data.
  • Translations, including translation from one medium to another (e.g., verbal text to dance).
  • Films, art works, CDs, performances, festivals, exhibitions, cultural exchanges and partnerships.
  • Conferences and workshops, national and international, that bring recognition to scholarship and creative activities in AHSS and highlight UA’s strengths.  These will typically be held at the UA.
  • Creation of new centers or institutes for which continuing funding is assured and which will be located at the UA.
Project Narrative

Applicants should write in a manner that will be clear and comprehensible to reviewers outside of the applicants’ fields. Type must be at least 12-point font, margins no less than 1”, single-spaced. The application must contain the following sections in the order indicated, with each section clearly identified and beginning on a new page. Projects that do not conform to these guidelines will not be considered.

  1. AHSS Proposal Cover Sheet
  2. Project summary (maximum: 250 words). Provide a brief overview of the project that is understandable to a broad audience and is appropriate for posting on a website.
  3. Project description (up to 1500 words). Describe what you propose to do, why it will be an important scholarly or artistic contribution, how it will build on the applicants’ previous work and on the work of others, and in what way it is a new initiative. Provide a rationale for, and an explanation of, the interdisciplinary approach. Specify the contribution of each of the project participants. Define what the scholarly or creative product for which the funding is requested will be and when it will be completed. Describe how the proposed work will proceed, with a rough timetable for achieving the estimated completion date. If relevant, a strong argument may be made for the timeframe of the project to be extended beyond the grant period but significant work on the project must be done during the grant period: for example, a project may result in a conference that takes place after the grant period but all of the work of planning for the conference is done during the grant period.
  4. Addendum (up to 1000 words). Identify likely journals, publishers or other venues for the completed work. Identify any new or existing funding already given to the project. Indicate whether you will be developing a proposal for external funds and specify the likely agency, foundation or private donor. Provide a bibliography of references cited in the application.
  5. Curriculum vitae of each project participant. Each CV to be up to three pages, single-spaced, and include: name; position; department or unit; degrees (when and where earned); relevant publications or creative projects; all external grants and awards in the last five years; all internal UA grants and awards in the last five years; any other information relevant to the proposal.
  6. Other types of documentation. Due to the many possible projects and types of applicants, we will accept a variety of forms of additional documentation, such as: CDs, DVDs, links to websites, photographs, digital images of art or artisan work, and other audiovisual/multimedia materials. These should be kept to a minimum and are welcome only if they are essential to the review. The committee reserves the right not to look at the documentation if it is felt to be excessive. In any case, the documentation should be supplementary to the narrative: that is, the narrative should stand on its own.
  7. Support letter from Head, Director or Dean. Applicants must request that the Department/School/ Program Head/Director of each Project Participant submit a letter endorsing the project and, if applicable, agreeing to the timing of the course release/ course buyout and the budget for the course release/course buyout for the Participant. In the case of an applicant who is a Head/Director, the letter should be written by the relevant Dean.
  8. Budget and eligible expenses (details given below).
Amount of Awards

Awards will range from $10,000 to $30,000. Applicants should be prudent in requests; the committee will scrutinize each budget carefully in the interests of being able to grant as many awards as possible with the funds available.

Budget

An appropriate budget should be designed to permit the completion of all grant-related activities within 12 months of the award date; in the case of a project that extends beyond the award date, a significant amount of the budget must be spent or encumbered during the award period. If project costs exceed the amount requested on the AHSS budget, then other confirmed sources of funding must be identified and shown on the budget and a memo must be included that verifies the availability and projected use of those additional funds. A budget narrative is required, with specific justification of each line item of the budget.

Budget Categories
  • Salary: Salary + Employee Related Expenses (ERE) for all eligible personnel on the project, including graduate students. Specify personnel and amounts. (Course buyouts of Project Participants are allowed and the specific amount must be indicated. Summer salary/supplemental salary is allowed.)
  • Research assistance (e.g., graduate students, postdocs, undergraduates, project support).
  • Honorarium/consultant/guest artist fees and expenses. (The UA procedures for inviting and funding foreign visitors have to be followed.)
  • Payments to subjects.
  • Royalties.
  • Equipment: specify items and amounts.
  • Supplies: specify research supplies and amounts.
  • Rental of performance materials such as scores, sets and costumes.
  • Computer services.
  • Copying and replication charges.
  • Related services: services performed by non-academic units.
  • Travel: amount requested for all research-related travel costs. Domestic travel only; unfortunately, international travel cannot be supported on these funds. Specify each trip. Travel to conferences for presentation of project outcomes will be allowed but given lower priority. A case must be made for why travel couldn’t be funded from other sources.
  • Other: amount for costs not covered in other budget categories. Specify what these are and justify them.
Budget Notes
  • All relevant ERE costs must be included in the budget.
  • Equipment purchased may be used exclusively by the applicants but remains the property of The University of Arizona.
  • Book or CD subventions are not eligible for this competition – see the Provost’s Authors Support Funding for book awards.
  • All funds must be spent during the 12-month period of the award; any unspent funds must be returned to the OVPR, unless the award letter explicit states that the timeframe and the budget of the project can be extended beyond the grant period.
Deadline:

All proposals and any documentation will be submitted electronically (ideally in a single PDF file) to ahssgrants@vpr.arizona.edu. Any other types of documentation that cannot be submitted in this way may be delivered directly to the VPR’s office (Administration 601) by 5:00 pm on the due date. For questions about these guidelines or proposal preparation, please contact: Linda Nultemeier, lindan@email.arizona.edu or 621-3512, Administration Building, Room 601.

Applications will be judged on the following criteria:
  • The scholarly and/or artistic originality/creativity/innovative quality of the project.
  • The relevance of the project to the core strengths of UA and the grand challenges.
  • The significance of the project to the careers of the project participants and the likely broader impact of the work product on research and creative activity both at the UA and nationwide.
  • How the project builds on the past work of the applicants and of others, and the degree to which this is a new initiative.
  • The reasonableness of the procedures, the budget, and the timetable of the project.
  • The feasibility that the project will be completed and will produce an important outcome.
  • If applicable, the potential for future external grant funding.
  • The qualifications of the PD and project participants for the proposed project.
  • The potential of the project to enhance the national and international reputation of the University of Arizona
Review of applications and notification of awards
  • Applications for these grants will be reviewed by the AHSS Review Panel, selected from the membership of the AHSS Advisory Committee (names given below), and augmented as necessary by experts in fields not covered by the panel.  Members of the AHSS Advisory Committee who submit an AHSS grant proposal, will not serve on the AHSS Review Panel for the round in which his or her grant proposal is submitted.
  • The panel will forward its recommendations to the Vice President for Research, who will make the final decision about awards.
  • Project Directors of those projects that are funded will be notified by the end of September 2010.
Project Reports and Presentation

During the grant period, awardees of AHSS grants will submit an interim project report of 300 words no later than six months from the date of the award. All awardees are also required to do a public presentation consistent with the type of project for the UA community. This public presentation will be scheduled with the aid of the AHSS Advisory Committee and should occur during the grant period or shortly thereafter. A final report on each project of no more than 1500 words will be due six months after the end-date of the project. It should summarize in everyday language the objectives and results of the project; if any of the objectives of the original project have changed, it should provide an explanation. It should include information regarding applications for external funding. It should also discuss how the results of the project are of interest to the general public. If external funding is eventually obtained, a brief report on this funding should be sent to the VPR.

AHSS Grants Advisory Committee

Maribel Alvarez, Anne Betteridge, Peter Beaudert, Javier Duran, Paula Fan (Co-Chair), Terry Horgan, Fenton Johnson, Steve Johnstone, Tsianina Lomawaima, John Olsen, and Linda Waugh (Co-Chair).

 

Addendum: Grand Challenges
Human Identity as a Complex System

The Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences address challenges of understanding the dynamics of human identity and agency as complex systems. Humans understand themselves and confront difficult choices within a matrix of interdependent systems including ecological, biological, economic, political, social, historical, cultural, linguistic and philosophical among others. Researchers and artists address these issues in multiple dimensions through theoretical contributions in the realms of society and culture. Scholars in the social and behavioral sciences, literature, and performing and visual arts situate complex interrelations among identity, agency and systems in particular historical and cultural contexts. Meanwhile, faculty explore these historically and culturally specific understandings in relation to policy and practice in fields ranging from behavioral health and criminal justice to economic development and environmental and cultural sustainability. Scientists and artists representing a diverse range of disciplines develop new ways of exploring the deceptively intuitive propositions that "people are different from each other" and that "life is complicated”.

Transnational and Intercultural Dynamics

Human beings inhabit, migrate between, move through and connect places (real and virtual), as well as societies, cultures, identities and ideas. Compelling issues that inspire and challenge individuals, communities, and governments occur at intersections. Intersections are sites of mixture, merger, synergy and conflict: among cultures; across disciplines; between academia and communities; and at the borders between nations. Global competence in dealing with the interrelationships among countries, cultures and communities requires critical/analytical understanding of the histories and contours of: borderlands as spaces of physical, cultural, linguistic and political boundaries, crossings, interactions; language(s) as the core of human communication and creative expression, connecting and dividing people; translation as critical to communication and knowledge production across differences of time, space, culture, social location, and political borders; human rights, social justice and democratic participation insofar as borderlands and contact zones are too often sites of inequality, exclusion and violence.

Creativity and Society

The Arts stimulate imagination, promote disciplined collaboration, transcend boundaries of time, space, culture, creed, language, class and politics, express and explore the culture and community of a particular region, and provide an enduring record of human achievement. The Arts play a crucial role in the creation and dissemination of knowledge within and across disciplines. The Arts embody who we are, how we got that way, where we dream of going and how we will get there. The ability to analyze and contextualize the power of images, sounds and language and their potential for good or ill is an essential skill of a literate and informed people.