Document Uploads

You will have to upload two files, an Investigator's CV and a Proposal Document.

Investigator's Brief CV

Upload a brief CV in either PDF or Word (doc) format, 2 pages maximum.

Proposal Document

Upload in either PDF or Word (doc) format, 2 pages maximum.

Proposals will undergo a review by a faculty panel in the broad research area (medicine, humanities, public policy, etc.). Top-ranked proposals will be subsequently reviewed by a lay panel of external reviewers for final ranking and selection. Therefore, it is advisable to avoid technical jargon to the extent possible. The project description should be concise and to the point. For ease of understanding, it might be divided into sections as illustrated in the following examples.

Examples

1. Specific Aims: What are the objectives of your project? What hypotheses will you test? Are you developing a new methodology? Your goals should be achievable within the one-year grant award period.

   Example

   This exploratory study draws from Vygotsky's (1978) sociocultural perspectives as well as the contributions of the funds of knowledge project (Moll, Amanti, Neff & Gonzalez, 1992). Its aims are to: 1) examine the inquiry process and literacy development (Jimenez, 2003) of Latino/Mexican secondary students as they produce and share authentic knowledge on environmental health issues; 2) explore the linguistic and cultural exchanges among bi-national students; 3) examine the "fit" of the research curriculum and its implementation; and 4) provide graduate students an opportunity to develop their Spanish skills and research experience within the borderland context (consistent with the goals of an Hispanic Serving Institution).

2. Background Information: Why is the work important? What will it contribute to your field? Relate your project to the current state of knowledge in your discipline and, if applicable, to your work in progress.

   Example

   During the past 15 years the College of Medicine has been involved in three agriculture development projects in the area of the Senegal River Valley in West Africa. The first two in Niger and Gambia were completed in 1990 and 1992, respectively. The Mauritanian Agricultural Research Project is scheduled to continue through fiscal year 2009. In the course of these projects, project personnel acquired a large collection of unique, nontraditional documents to support their activities. Many of these materials are in a format not normally found in traditional library settings. Included are approximately 1,500 manuscripts, and technical and progress reports. Because of the lack of information management facilities in the project countries, these materials currently are being housed in the Information Center at the Office of Arid Lands Studies (OALS). Although partially cataloged, the documents are not in a form readily available to the public or the current project personnel.

3. Project Description: What do you intend to do? State clearly what work you plan to undertake, including the objectives, their expected significance, and their relation to longer term goals.

   Example

   The OALS Information Center maintains a variety of database management systems for use on personal computers. However, in the international arena the system developed and distributed free-of-charge by UNESCO, called CDS-ISIS, is fast becoming the norm for maintaining and providing quick access to small document collections. During the past year, several government agencies in Senegal and Niger have initiated projects to organize their documentation using this system. Thus, to provide for the widest possible use and compatibility, it is proposed to use CDS-ISIS for creating a bibliographic database for the Senegal River Valley collection. Cataloging and classification schemes will follow an abbreviated Library of Congress format developed and outlined by the Investigator. However, a student from the School of Information Resources and Library Science will perform the actual cataloging and data entry. In addition, a student from the Department of French and Italian will assist with translations for those documents available only in French and to give a French title to the English language documents. The dual language approach will give the resulting database increased value for both U.S. and West African personnel.

4. Experimental Methods: How are you going to do the work? Outline your experimental design and the methods to be used for data collection, analysis, and interpretation. For projects focused on creative activity, please explain the specifics of how the project will be carried out.

   Example

   Data Collection: The disability service providers at the institutions in this pilot study can comply with the requirements stated in Objective 1. The specific data that is needed for the first, as well as subsequent research questions will be communicated to the participants via teleconference. There will be 5 teleconferences a year to discuss research plans and progress for the consortium. When necessary, digital video clips will be used to provide instruction on the data management system. The data collection system will allow disability service providers access only to the database from their home site. Only the primary investigator will have access to data across sites. Data will be a variety of continuous, dichotomous, and coded variables. The variables will come from the student's diagnostic report, intake interview, and characteristics related to specific accommodation. Information will come from already established information in the students' files that is legally accesible to the disability service providers, and from new in-hourse organization systems (e.g., test performance data).

   Analyses and Interpretation: Parametric and nonparametric statistics will be used for analyses. Summative and comparative data and descriptive statistics will be provided to each institution for each research question.

5. Potential Impact: Again, why is this work important? What benefits would be achieved?

   Example 1

   Five direct benefits would be achieved:

   1. Help understand an important fabrication process and suggest ways for improving coating uniformity;
   2. Promote undergraduate research as an enhancement of education;
   3. Encourage interdisciplinary collaboration between groups with particular strengths on campus;
   4. Help develop a new direction for applying infrared imaging technology;
   5. Stimulate proposal submissions to external agencies to continue the collaboration between groups.

   Example 2

   It is anticipated that the resulting database will provide the basis for initiating information management project activities throughout West Africa. Visitors from agencies in both Senegal and Niger have expressed an interest in obtaining access to the document collection and in having information managers come to their countries to install and train personnel in the use of the CDS-ISIS system. The creation and distribution of the Senegal River Valley database will provide a concrete example of The University of Arizona's commitment to and interest in West Africa.

    

    

6. Future Activities: State how the proposed project will contribute to future research and identify potential sponsors (e.g. foundations, agencies, public institutions and the specific program if applicable) to which you plan to submit a more comprehensive proposal.

   Example

   The findings from this pilot study will provide significant information to seek extramural funding for a longitudinal study focusing on two English Language Learners family cohorts (first generation and second generation Latino families) to monitor children's development of biliteracy skills throughout their first years of schooling (preschool through second grade). A proposal for the Foundation for Child Development is in progress for submission next Fall.