RFP: Biomimicry Collaborative Research Incentive Grants

Purpose: To broaden participation and support formation of new Biomimicry research teams. These grants are meant to be incentives for Biomimicry research, and not provide full support for large-scale projects. Successful proposals will make an argument that this grant will support preliminary data collection for a larger proposal to an identified specific program.

Rationale of the Competition: As part of developing the Biomimicry Research and Innovation Center at UA, we are interested in expanding/enhancing the portfolio of Biomimicry research being pursued at UA. We are explicitly looking to expand our capacity to train PhD students in collaborative Biomimicry research teams. Several annual rounds of incentive grants are planned. Projects proposed for the current round should pursue ideas that clearly demonstrate potential for external funding (in any form), and help to establish/strengthen research areas amenable to doctoral student training in Biomimicry at UA.

Funding Model: Proposals should be written for a broad audience; they will be reviewed by the Biomimicry Collaborative Research Incentive Grant Committee (BCRIGC)- an interdisciplinary team of faculty representing science, engineering, and the arts. We expect to fund 5 research projects at $10,000 or less for each award.

Eligibility: Grant proposals must be submitted by interdisciplinary teams that include faculty from at least two different departments. Proposals that include three or more investigators, especially from different colleges, are especially encouraged. The Biomimicry content/context of the project should be explicit. If you have questions about eligibility, contact Dr. Richard Londraville (londraville@uakron.edu). Finally, we welcome proposals which include participants at collaborating institutions.

Evaluation: Proposals will be evaluated according to the following criteria (in order of importance)

  1. Potential to stimulate Collaborative Biomimicry Research at UA (i.e. the strength of the idea in the context of Biomimicry)
  2. Potential for external funding (funding program must be identified)
  3. The degree to which the proposal incorporates interdisciplinarity (e.g. cross-college collaborations weighted more heavily than cross-department collaborations)
  4. Research productivity record of collaborative team

Instructions for proposal preparation and submission:

Proposals are due Feb. 28, 2014 by 5 P.M.

Format and general guidelines for submission will follow those of the Faculty Summer Research Fellowships here.

DO NOT submit your proposal to the address listed in the FRG guidelines, instead submit the pdf file to Dr. Richard Londraville (londraville@uakron.edu), Chair of the Biomimicry Collaborative Research Incentive Grant Committee (BCRIGC). BCRIGC will evaluate all proposals. The committee strongly suggests that each of the evaluation criteria (above) is explicitly addressed in the proposal.

Proposed work should commence during Summer 2014.