ORED 2021 Research Opportunity Seed Fund

  • For FY 2021, all of the awards will be associated with collaboration with FIU Preeminent and Emerging Preeminent Programs
  • All proposals must be submitted to ORED at or before 5 p.m. (local time) Monday, February 15, 2021

The ORED Research Opportunity Seed Fund targets multidisciplinary, faculty-initiated research projects with high potential for future external funding.

This year the Call for Research Opportunity Seed Fund proposals focuses on new projects and/or new collaborative partnerships involving one or more of FIU’s Preeminent Programs or Emerging Preeminent Programs (see list below with Director contact information)

Projects should be innovative, have a strong potential for garnering future funding from external sources, or have an outstanding commercial potential. Awards will not support on-going projects nor supplement current research. The funding will support new projects and/or new collaborative partnerships that advance novel and highly significant research. Faculty that have received startup funds within the past 4 years cannot submit proposals as Principal Investigators (PIs), but can be collaborators in proposals.

To be competitive, proposals must be multi-disciplinary by involving faculty from at least two departments/units/colleges that collaborate with, or are part of, an FIU Preeminent or Emerging Preeminent Program (see Review Criteria in Appendix 1 below). Single-investigator proposals are not eligible.

Proposals involving hypothesis-driven research should clearly and explicitly state the hypothesis.

Proposals may be submitted by any FIU faculty member (PI) eligible to submit a proposal to an external funding agency as PI. Those eligible include tenure and non-tenure track faculty but not postdoctoral fellows, although postdoctoral fellows can be members of the research team.  Eligible PIs do not have to be a member of a Preeminent or Emerging Preeminent Program, but the research must be within or in collaboration with Preeminent or Emerging Preeminent Program(s).

Submission Process

A two-step review process will be implemented for the 2021 Research Opportunity Seed Fund:

  • Faculty interested in applying to the Research Opportunity Seed Fund must contact the Director of the Preeminent or Emerging Preeminent Program that best aligns with the proposed research. The Preeminent and Emerging Preeminent Program Director must identify only one (1) proposal for submission to ORED. Therefore, Preeminent/Emerging Preeminent program directors are advised to set-up their own internal process to select the proposal that will be submitted to ORED.
  • Proposals selected by the Preeminent and Emerging Preeminent Programs will be submitted to ORED and will undergo a uniform and centrally coordinated scientific review by an experienced faculty panel. ORED’s submission deadline is 5 p.m. (local time) Monday, February 15, 2021. Late proposals will not be accepted.

Each Preeminent and Emerging Preeminent Program may submit one (1) proposal as the primary applicant. To be competitive, proposals must be multi/interdisciplinary and must involve faculty from at least two departments/units/colleges. Proposals that involve faculty that are not currently associated with a Preeminent or Emerging Preeminent Program will receive special consideration, as will be proposals that involve multiple Preeminent or Emerging Preeminent Programs.

List of Preeminent and Emerging Preeminent Programs

Preeminent Programs


Click here for list of programs and directors

Preeminent Programs Program Director
Center for Children & Families William Pelham ( william.pelham@fiu.edu)
Extreme Events Institute Richard Olson ( Richard.Olson@fiu.edu)
Global Forensic & Justice Center Kevin Lothridge ( klothrid@fiu.edu)
Institute for Resilient & Sustainable Coastal Infrastructure Atorod Azizinamini ( aazizina@fiu.edu)
Institute of Environment Todd Crowl ( todd.crowl@fiu.edu)
STEM Transformation Institute Laird Kramer ( laird.kramer@fiu.edu)


Emerging Preeminent Programs


Click here for list of programs and directors

Emerging Preeminent Programs Program Director
Brain, Behavior and the Environment Program Tomas Guilarte (tomas.guilarte@fiu.edu)
Cybersecurity@FIU Brian Fonseca (Brian.Fonseca@fiu.edu)
Health Inequities & Disparities Program Mario De La Rosa (Mario.delaRosa@fiu.edu)
Latin American & Caribbean Center Luis Guillermo Solis Rivera (luis.solis@fiu.edu)
Translational Molecular Discoveries Yukching Tse Dinh (yukching.tsedinh@fiu.edu)
Wolfsonian Public Humanities Lab (WPHL) Rebecca Friedman (Rebecca.Friedman@fiu.edu)


Please note:

  1. Preeminent and Emerging Preeminent Programs may submit only one (1) application each; but its members may participate in an unlimited number of collaborations with other programs.
  2. There are no restrictions on the number of proposals on which faculty can serve as Co-PI or Co-I.
  3. The method and schedule by which each Preeminent and Emerging Preeminent Program selects its proposal for submission to ORED is at the discretion of the Program Director.
  4. The deadline for submission of proposals to ORED is 5 p.m. (local time), February 15, 2021. Proposals prepared in the requisite format must be submitted to Maureen Pelham (mpelham@fiu.edu).
  5. All Research Opportunity Seed Fund awards will be administered over a maximum of 18 months and no extensions of time and budget will be granted.
  6. Awardees are expected to submit a grant application to an external funder as a result of this internal award.
  7. PIs who received 2020 Research Opportunity Seed Fund awards are not eligible to submit another Research Opportunity Seed Fund proposal as the PI for two years after completion of the first award.

 

Full Proposal Guidelines for Submission to ORED

Faculty interested in submitting proposals to the 2021 Research Opportunity Seed Fund should contact the Director of the Preeminent or Emerging Preeminent Program for information on their program’s internal selection procedures and deadline.

Each Program’s selected proposal must be submitted to ORED at or before 5 p.m. Monday, February 15, 2021. Proposals must be uploaded in PDF format only as ONE file (name file:  2021_OppFund_PI last name).  PLEASE DO NOT UPLOAD DRAFTS, SCANNED FILES OR MULTIPLE VERSIONS OF THE PROPOSAL.  Proposals must be directed to Maureen Pelham (mpelham@fiu.edu).

Proposals are to consist of the following materials in this sequence (submitted as ONE pdf file, NO SCANNED COPIES):

  1. Cover Page. Please ensure that the cover page provides requested information in this format (also shown in Appendix 2 below). Please do not submit a cover letter.
  2. Abstract. Explain the rationale and impact for the work to be accomplished in terms that can be understood by an “intelligent non-expert.”
  3. Project Description. Up to a MAXIMUM of five (5) pages of text describing the project (sections a-f, see below). If the project description section is longer than 5 pages (single-spaced; font size no smaller than 11 point; minimum 0.5 inch margins; tables and figure legends can be in 10 point), only the first 5 pages will be reviewed. The project description should be written such that it can be understood by an interdisciplinary review panel with broad research and grant funding experience. PIs must keep in mind that their proposals are not being evaluated by a discipline-specific review group, but rather by an interdisciplinary one. The Project Description must include the following sections, the lengths of which are at your discretion, but the total of sections a – f may not exceed five pages.
    1. Specific Aims/Objectives
    2. Background and Significance
    3. Preliminary Data (if applicable)
    4. Innovation/Potential Impact of Research
    5. Approach/Research Design/Expected Outcomes, Challenges, Alternative Strategies
    6. Timeline of Proposed Work
  4. Plans for continued support and/or commercial potential (1-2 pages).
    1. Describe plans to obtain continuing external support for the project by specifically listing the sources of external support (specific programs and/or RFP) that will be pursued following the seed money provided by the Research Opportunity Seed Fund; and/or,
    2. Describe, if applicable, the commercial potential, including a statement of potential market size and how the funding could increase the marketability of the technology. Commercial potential is not a requirement for funding and will not be a review criterion for proposals proposing specific aims or objectives not related to commercial potential. For proposals that include commercial potential in their specific aims, this topic will be a review criterion.
  5. References Cited. No page limit.
  6. Key Personnel. A list and affiliation of the individuals to be involved and detailed text describing their level of involvement and role in the proposed research (no page limit). Proposals may include collaborators from outside FIU.
  1. A detailed budget table and justification of expenses (no page limit).
    1. Budget Table. Budget table template is given below.
Budget Item Description Cost
A.     Personnel (faculty salary not allowed)
B.     Fringe
Total Personnel Salary plus fringe
C.    Materials and supplies
   
D.    Other items (List each item on a new row)
Total Project Cost  
  1. Budget Justification
  • Budgets should not exceed $30,000 for the entire project period; most awards will be for less.
  • A brief justification of the need for support from the 2021 Research Opportunity Seed Fund is required.
  • The budget may include all normally allowable costs of research with the exception of faculty salaries and F&A costs. The percent effort of each participating faculty member must be included in the budget justification. 2021 Research Opportunity Seed Fund awards are to be expended on campus and are not to be used for the purchase of standard pieces of equipment. Exceptions will be allowed in instances where specific techniques/equipment to be used in the research are not available on campus. There are no F&A Costs associated with the 2021 Research Opportunity Seed Fund awards.
  • Budgets may be for a period of up to 18 months.
  • A specific start date should be given (the earliest start date is July 1, 2021). If no start date is specified, ORED will assume a start date of July 1, 2021.
  1. Biosketch and Current and Pending Support (Maximum of 5 pages per person)
    1. A current biosketch of the Principal Investigator and each of the Co-PIs/Co-Investigators (NIH- or NSF-style biosketch suggested)
    2. Current and Pending Support: Required for Principal Investigator and each of the Co-PIs/Co-Investigators. Please include percent of time committed to each funded/pending project.
  2. Appendices, if necessary to support the proposal. These should be informative but brief; do not attach manuscripts or other lengthy documents.

Please keep in mind that proposals should be written in a manner appropriate for an interdisciplinary review panel.

Single spacing; font size no smaller than 11 point; minimum 0.5-inch margins; tables and figure legends can be in 10 point.

Proposals will be reviewed by a faculty review panel. The faculty review panels will make recommendations to the Vice President for Research and a decision will be finalized. Review criteria are posted in Appendix 1 below.

Faculty interested in applying for the 2021 Research Opportunity Seed Fund should contact the Director of their selected Preeminent or Emerging Preeminent Program for information on the Program’s internal selection procedures and deadline.  The deadline for RECEIPT of Preeminent/Emerging Preeminent selected proposals is 5 p.m. (local time) Monday, February 15, 2021.

Every effort will be made to notify Program Directors and Principal Investigators of their award status by May 10, 2021.

External funding success related to the 2021 Research Opportunity Seed Fund award will be tracked. Two reports will be requested from the proposal PI. The first will be at the end of the 18-month award period and the second three years after that. Non-compliant PIs/Programs may not be allowed to submit future requests for Research Opportunity Seed Funds.

Please contact Maureen Pelham at mpelham@fiu.edu or 305-348-0485.  Thank you.

2021 Research Opportunity Seed Fund proposals received by ORED will be reviewed by faculty panels as outlined in the original solicitation.

An overall priority score will be assigned to each proposal keeping in mind the following review criteria:

Significance and Innovation: Does this study address an important problem? Is the project original, multi/interdisciplinary and innovative? Does the project develop or employ novel concepts, approaches, methodologies, tools, or technologies? What will be the impact of these studies on the methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions that drive this area of research? Do the proposed outcomes represent a new paradigm for concepts in this area of research? How does the project represent a new direction of investigation for the faculty involved, or is it a new collaborative partnership? If relevant, does the project have commercial potential? (Please note commercial potential is not required.) How does the proposed project address FIU’s strategic goals?

 

Approach: In what ways does the application represent a new conceptual/multidisciplinary approach to the identified problem? Are the conceptual framework, design, methods, and analyses adequately developed, well integrated, well-reasoned, and appropriate to the aims of the project? Does the applicant acknowledge potential problem areas and consider alternative tactics? Is the proposed timeline reasonable?

 

Likelihood of obtaining external support: Do the investigators present reasonable plans to garner extramural support from specific funding agencies? How well-aligned is the research project with priorities of these funding agencies.

 

Investigators: Are the investigators appropriately trained and well-suited to carry out this work? Is the work proposed appropriate to the experience level of the principal investigator and other researchers? Does the investigative team bring complementary and integrated expertise to the project? Is there evidence of the ability of the team of investigators to work together? In what ways does the Preeminent or Emerging Preeminent Program enhance the proposed work?

 

Research Environment/Facilities: Does the proposed study benefit from unique features of the scientific environment or employ useful collaborative arrangements? Do the key investigators have the additional resources (e.g., equipment) to successfully accomplish their goals?

 

Budget: Is the requested budget appropriate for the scope of work?

 

Definition of Multi-/Interdisciplinary:

(Wikipedia) “Multidisciplinarity is a non-integrative mixture of disciplines in that each discipline retains its methodologies and assumptions without change or development from other disciplines within the multidisciplinary relationship.

Multidisciplinarity is distinctly different from Interdisciplinarity because of the relationship that the disciplines share. Within a multidisciplinary relationship, this cooperation “may be mutual and cumulative but not interactive” (Augsburg 2005: 56) while interdisciplinarity blends the practices and assumptions of each discipline involved. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multidisciplinarity.

“An interdisciplinary field is a field of study that crosses traditional boundaries between academic disciplines or schools of thought, as new needs and professions have emerged. Interdisciplinarity involves researchers, students, and teachers in the goals of connecting and integrating several academic schools of thought, professions, or technologies — along with their specific perspectives — in the pursuit of a common task.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interdisciplinarity

In the university setting, an ‘interdisciplinary’ project may create a new area of research/discipline (such as bioinformatics – the blend of biology and computational sciences – where both the biologists and computational scientists are stepping out of their traditional roles and developing new research), while a multidisciplinary project will have people from different disciplines working together to address different aspects of a project (e.g. an NSF IGERT proposal – curriculum is developed by the researchers as pertinent to the research fields, while assessment and evaluation are done by a separate group).

Title: ORED-ROSF2021: XXXXXXXXX

PI: (Name, Department, College and email)

Co-PIs: (Name, Department, College)

Other Faculty contributing effort: (Name, Department, College)

Preeminent/Emerging Preeminent Program (Extreme Events Institute; Cybersecurity@FIU, etc.)

Project Start Date: (default July 1st, 2021)

Total Budget Requested: (Max $30,000)

Please check all that are applicable:

  • Is the proposal multidisciplinary?
  • Is the PI a current member of a Preeminent or Emerging Preeminent Program?
  • Is this a new collaboration?
  • Does the proposal have potential for commercialization?

Need Assistance?

For more information on the Office of Research Development, please contact Maureen Pelham via email: maureen.pelham@fiu.edu or phone: 305-348-0485.