SIUE Cougar Statute in front of the Morris University Center

Funding

Internal Funding News & Announcements Pre-Award Post-Award Research Enabled

Internal Funding

Seed Grants for Transitional and Exploratory Projects (STEP)

Purpose

Seed grants for Transitional and Exploratory Projects (STEP) provides seed funding on a competitive basis to SIUE faculty and staff to support research and creative activities. Seed funding is intended to encourage faculty to initiate new research directions or new research projects. Seed grant funding is not intended to sustain or supplement current research programs but rather to:

help junior faculty undertake pilot projects that will aid in establishing their careers as independent investigators and enable them to successfully apply for extramural funding.
help established faculty perform transitional and exploratory research, particularly on novel or pioneering ideas, to determine project feasibility, and to develop preliminary data to support extramural applications.

Junior faculty in the pre-mid-term review stage of their career may submit proposals to revise dissertation material. However, applicants must make a strong argument for how the STEP project may propel the applicant’s career in a significant and lasting research direction.

Faculty members beyond the early stages of their careers must demonstrate how the STEP project represents a significant transition in their research as opposed to previous activity. Successful proposals by established faculty will outline specific differences between the STEP project and previous scholarly activities, including publications and conference presentations, so an educated lay reader is able to discern the new direction of the proposed project.

Definition of Research and Creative Activities

Research and creative activities are broadly defined as all creative, critical, scholarly, and/or empirical activity that expands, clarifies, reorganizes or develops knowledge or artistic perception. This definition includes the theorization, demonstration, implementation, and application of research.

Eligibility

All full-time continuing members of the faculty, including research faculty (see below for center research faculty), may apply to the STEP program. The terminal degree must be completed by the time of submittal.

All qualified candidates are encouraged to apply, including minorities, women, persons with disabilities, and protected veterans. Faculty with disabilities desiring accommodations in the application process should contact the Office of Equal Opportunity and Access at (618) 650-2333.

All applicants, including PIs and Co-PIs, must have submitted completed final reports and fulfilled the terms and conditions, including submission of an external grant proposal, of projects previously funded by the SIUE Graduate School at least 5 business days before this program deadline in order to be eligible for this program. This requirement applies to all PIs and Co-PIs of the previous internal award.

The Center Director will/must ensure submission of the required proposal if a research faculty member who was awarded leaves SIUE prior to submitting the required proposal.

Ineligible Activities Include:

Faculty Development – activities such as learning a new technique, language, methodology or completing a thesis or dissertation;
Institutional Research – studies related directly to the operation of the University that are not generalizable and have little application beyond SIUE;
Public Service and Consulting; and
Departmental Curriculum Development, such as the preparation of curriculum materials, curriculum modifications, and student interest surveys. Curriculum Development that includes empirical studies of the effectiveness of new program formats, or techniques and content that are generalizable and have application beyond SIUE may be considered research for this grant program.

Timeline/Dates:

Workshop will be held annually in the Fall. To register, please complete the form in Kuali Build. While the workshop is not required, it is highly recommended.
Third Friday in January: Applicants submit their full proposal in Kuali Build no later than 4:30pm. The STEP Application form in Kuali Build is accessible via The Graduate School’s Forms page.
Your proposal will then route to your Chair, Dean and Unit Research Committee for review, rank, and approval. Your application will then route to ORP for review by the R&D Committee.
Award notifications will go out in April.

Awards

Pending availability of funds, funding is for one fiscal year (July 1^st – June 30^th) and is awarded by budget line item. All line items must be allowable costs. Awards will not exceed $16,000; typical awards will range from $5,000 to $10,000.

**Investigators may request summer salary up to $9,000 or one month of summer salary, whichever amount is the lesser of the two. Commitment overload is not permitted during the term of the grant.**

** Technical overloads may be permitted if the investigator is teaching during the portion of the summer when not committed to the STEP project. 100% time/effort commitment is required while receiving summer salary from the STEP program. **

Annette and Henry Baich Award

An additional $1,000 will be awarded to the best STEP application out of the pool of eligible proposals. Details will be provided in the electronic application materials. For further information about eligibility, please visit the Annette and Henry Baich Award website.

Funding

Internal Funding

Seed Grants for Transitional and Exploratory Projects (STEP)

Purpose

Eligibility

Timeline/Dates:

Program Materials/Handouts:

Awardee Resources:

Previous Awardees