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Strategic Research Initiative (SRI)
Student Research & Scholarly Activity Funding Program

Request For Proposals

Calendar Year 2021

Recognizing the need to help support faculty-mentored research/scholarship opportunities for students, the College of Arts & Sciences (A&S) is sponsoring a Strategic Research Initiative (SRI) Student Research & Scholarly Activity funding program 2021. The A&S Office of the Associate Dean for Research is accepting proposals for faculty-mentored graduate and undergraduate student research projects to be funded during Calendar Year 2021.

Student Research & Scholarly Activity PROPOSAL GUIDELINES

General Information:

  • SRI Student Research & Scholarly Activity proposals will be considered in two tracks:
    • Track I is designed to support graduate students
      • in acquiring data for peer reviewed publication or other scholarly work
      • in acquiring data to support proposal development in response to graduate fellowship opportunities or nationally competitive RFPs being sought by the faculty mentor
    • Track II is designed to support undergraduate students
      • in acquiring data for peer reviewed publication or other scholarly work
      • in acquiring data to support competitive RFPs being sought by the faculty mentor
  • Awards will be announced mid-late Dec. 2020. Funding period is one calendar yr (Jan. 1 – Dec. 31).
    • Spending authority and project period of performance for awardees is Jan. 1 – Dec. 31, 2021.
    • A one-time six-month no-cost extension may be approved upon request. If a request is not made and approved prior to Dec 1 2021, any funds remaining unspent will be returned to A&S.

Track I: SRI Student Research & Scholarly Activity Funding for Graduate Students

  • Track I SRI Student Research & Scholarly Activity Funding is restricted to Graduate Students. Other MSU faculty or students can serve as co-PIs and/or collaborators.
  • The Graduate Students serving as PI must be working toward their degree in and conducting faculty-mentored research/scholarly activity within A&S.
  • If the proposed research/activity seems within the scope of the faculty advisor's current sponsored project, the Student must describe how the proposed effort is different from and/or how it could leverage the funded project.
  • Leveraging of existing faculty and/or departmental funds, resources, and/or partnerships is encouraged.
  • Projects can initiate as early as January 1, 2021.
  • An annual/final report is required within 30 days of the end of the project. These reports can be submitted by logging into the web portal and completing the report form available at the end of the active proposal tracker https://w.msstate.edu/cas/rfp/sri-students/.

Track II: SRI Student Research & Scholarly Activity for Undergraduate Students

  • Track II SRI Student Research & Scholarly Activity Funding is restricted to Undergraduate Students. Other MSU faculty or students can serve as co-PIs and/or collaborators.
  • The Undergraduate Student serving as PI must be working toward their degree in and conducting faculty-mentored research/scholarly activity within A&S.
  • Projects can initiate as early as January 1, 2021.
  • An annual/final report is required within 30 days of the end of the project. These reports can be submitted by logging into the web portal and completing the report form available at the end of the active proposal tracker https://w.msstate.edu/cas/rfp/sri-students/.

Proposal specifics

  • A compliant proposal submission will contain a Proposal Cover Sheet (web form) and a Full Proposal Document described below and must follow the format included in this RFP.
  • You can enter the proposal submission portal by clicking the Login button in the upper right of the SRI Student Research & Scholarly Activity Funding announcement webpage.
  • To create a new proposal and enter to submission portal, click on the +New Proposal/Submission box.
  • The submission portal will request that you enter the following information in a web form (Cover Sheet):
    • PI (Student) NetID, Name, and Contact Information
    • PI (Student) Status (anticipated graduate date)
    • Student's Major
    • Faculty Mentor: NetID, Name, and Contact Information
    • Proposal title
    • Track I or Track II
    • Anticipated Start Date
    • Total Requested Proposal Budget (see Budget Specifics below)
      • SRI Student Funding request
      • Other source of funding if available
    • Abstract/Project summary (type in or cut and paste summary into box provided)
  • The portal provides a browse and upload function to upload the Full Proposal Document (PDF format). The Full Proposal Document must consist of only the following:
    • Project Narrative (3 pg max; Single spaced; 1" margin; 12 pt font; Narrative must include project goals, objectives, anticipated outcomes, future plans. If appropriate please include a COVID-19 impact statement; if using Figures and Tables they must be included within the 3 pg max narrative)
    • Literature Cited
    • Budget/Budget justification (should include all budgeted categories; include other sources of funding if appropriate).
    • No Supplemental Documents are allowed.
  • Co-PI/collaborator information can be entered in the boxes provided.
  • Faculty Advisor, Department Head and Business Manager information is required.
  • When you have entered all required information, uploaded the Full Proposal Document, reviewed the requirements, and are ready to submit, click the Submit for Approval box at the bottom of the page.
  • After successful submission, you will receive a confirmation screen and your Proposal Packet will be routed to the Faculty Advisor for review, addition of Statement or Comments of Reference for the Student PI (box provided), and approval. If you (Student PI) do not receive a confirmation, please contact sknox@deanas.msstate.edu.
  • Once the Faculty Advisor reviews, adds Statement or Comments of Reference for the Student PI (box provided), and approves, a confirmation is sent, and the proposal is routed automatically to the Department Head for review and approval.
  • Once the Head approves, a confirmation is sent and the proposal is routed automatically to the ADR queue, where it will remain until the review process is complete.
  • Proposals must be submitted and approved through the head via the SRI Student Funding Web Portal by midnight Oct. 30, 2020.

To begin your proposal go to https://www.cas.msstate.edu/research/collegefundingopportunities/ and click on SRI Student Research & Scholarly Activity Funding 2021.

Budget Specifics/Criteria

  • Allowable costs include: Student stipends, travel, materials, supplies, small equipment.
  • Budget Limitations
    • Track I (Graduate Student) – $500 – $5,000 per proposal.
    • Track II (Undergraduate Student) – $500 – $2,500 per proposal.
    • Small equipment requests will be considered, but must be well justified. Equipment for shared use will be given more positive consideration.
    • No indirect costs are allowed.
  • A budget and budget justification should include all budgeted categories and must be included in the Full Proposal Document.
  • If other sources of funds have been or are to be committed to this effort, you should include the amount, source(s), and justification (include one budget/budget justification page).

SRI STUDENT FUNDING REVIEW CRITERIA

Proposals will be screened for compliance with stated eligibility criteria, stated budget criteria and adherence to Track and topic area. Non-compliant applications will be returned without review.

Proposals will be reviewed by a panel with representation of the broad research areas of the college including natural, physical, social, and behavioral sciences, and humanities.

Merit review guidelines are as follows:

  1. Does the proposal narrative address project goals, objectives, anticipated outcomes?
  2. Are the goals clearly stated and achievable within the timeline and budget?
  3. Are the approaches clearly described?
  4. What is the potential impact of the proposed project – To the student? To the faculty advisors program? I.e. result in thesis/dissertation completion, quality peer-reviewed publication or competitive funding
  5. If the project is a continuation or if it builds on previously collected data, is sufficient information/data presented to judge the merit of the proposal?
  6. Is the budget well justified, allowable, and reasonable?
  7. If applicable: What has been the impact of COVID-19 on the student's research timeline or direction? Is this well justified?