Research and Sponsored Programs

Research Innovation Program

Faculty are invited to submit research proposals focus on high impact and innovation in any area of STEM or biomedical science that has the potential to change the direction of a particular area of study. Awards of up to $50,000 will be used to generate preliminary data sufficient for submission of a R01 type grant proposal to a federal granting agency. Funds can support graduate student stipends, nonprofessional personnel, equipment, materials, supplies and animal costs.

Funds may support summer salary and fringe benefits (maximum summer support is for six weeks’ salary and fringe benefits), other support personnel, travel, equipment, and materials and supplies as necessary to organize, prepare and submit a proposal to an external agency. Funding is available mid April, with all expenditures to be completed 18 months after start date of mid April. Awardees will be expected to provide the Research Council with a presentation on the progress and results of their project.

Letters of intent that pass internal administrative and Research Council review will be sent to expert external reviewers for comment and evaluation. Proposals must make it clear that there are specific external sources of potential support for the activity.

Deadlines

Letter of Intent: 3rd Tuesday of October
Full Proposal: 3rd Thursday of January

ELIGIBILITY

See General Guidelines.

Faculty may not receive more than two of any major URFO awards as Principal Investigator over any seven-year period, and faculty may not receive any major URFO awards as Principal Invetigator in two consecutive years.

Although any tenure-track faculty may apply, the focus of this program is directed to established researchers and senior faculty.

SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS

See General Guidelines. Letters of Intent and Full Proposals must be submitted through InfoEd, see InfoEd Help Page for step-by-step instructions. We encourage you to start early and request help if needed from infoed@utoledo.edu. 

Letter of Intent (Required)
Applicants will create a proposal in InfoEd and upload a Letter of Intent (LOI) not to exceed four double-spaced pages:

1. A statement of the significance of the problem and its impact on the field of study
2. A statement describing the innovative aspects of the proposed studies
3. A section outlining the specific goals of the project and how they will be accomplished
4. A description of the studies to be completed, including preliminary results if any
5. Expected outcomes
6. Plans for seeking additional funding

FULL PROPOSALS (By Invitation Only)
The proposal requirements include:

• Abstract (single-spaced, 250 words maximum) describing the work in language understood by a broad audience
• Project Description, maximum 15 pages double-spaced, including:
  1)   A statement of the significance of the problem and its impact on the field of study
  2)   A statement describing the innovative aspects of the proposed studies
  3)   A section outlining the specific goals of the project and how they will be accompanied
  4)   A description of the studies to be completed, including preliminary results if any
  5)   Expected outcomes
  6)   Plans for seeking additional funding

Required but not counted in the 15-page limit:

• A cited literature reference list with full citations (maximum two single-spaced pages)
• An NIH-style biosketch (maximum five pages per investigator)
• A budget and budget justification (within the InfoEd system). 
• Final reports for any URFO awards for the past five years

Evaluation

LOIs will be reviewed by the Research Council, and applicants will be notified if invited to submit a full proposal.  Full proposals will sent to outside reviewers. Those invited to submit full proposals will be asked to provide names of potential external reviewers as well as names of those who should not be asked to review. 

Proposals will be evaluated on the following criteria:

• Significance of proposed research and likelihood that the topic is of interest to an external agency
• Investigator(s)
• Innovation
• Approach and methodology
• Research Environment
• Clarity of writing and organization of proposal

Award Notification

See General Guidelines.

Reporting Requirements

Report Deadline: 3 months after project end date | Submission Document: Final Report Form

Within three months of the conclusion of the award period, submit to URFO@UToledo.edu a written summary of accomplishments, a list of manuscripts, a list of agencies where grant applications have been sent and a list of scientific meetings or seminars where work supported
by this mechanism has been presented.