RSF: SCIENCE XCELERATE
The goal of the RSF: SCIENCE XCELERATE program is to encourage new cross-disciplinary research projects involving Faculty of Science researchers. We are interested in accelerating new research ideas that connect researchers from different areas of the Faculty of Science, or connect science researchers with new collaborators outside of the Faculty of Science.
The Office of Research and Innovation Services established the Research Stimulus Fund (RSF) to build upon research strengths, promote future research collaborations, and enhance graduate training and experiential learning.
In 2020, the Faculty of Science has decided to use a portion of our RSF allocation to support a new funding opportunity called RSF: SCIENCE XCELERATE.RSF funding is provided to each Faculty based on the three-year average of Tri-Council funding dollars as calculated and reported by the Tri-agency Institutional Programs Secretariat.
Support from the RSF: SCIENCE XCELERATE program can be used for personnel costs (such as research assistantship for a graduate student or partial support for a postdoctoral salary), or infrastructure costs (such as equipment that will allow the cross-disciplinary research project to take place), or other costs that facilitate cross-disciplinary research that will lead to additional research support and investment in Science.
We are especially interested in funding projects that are likely to lead to ongoing collaborations, and projects that will leverage support in future funding competitions from outside the university. We hope to fund two or three projects with a budget of approximately $25,000 per project. We would expect that the timeline for the proposed projects to be one or two years.
Eligibility:
- Applications should be submitted by two or more faculty members who will lead the cross-disciplinary collaboration.
- This opportunity is for new collaborations; the lead applicants should not have worked closely together in the past.
- At least one of the lead applicants should be within the Faculty of Science, but applications can include lead applicants outside of the Faculty of Science.
- Collaborations with new industry partners, government partners, and other agencies are encouraged, providing that it is a new collaboration and that the research crosses two or more disciplines.
Application process:
A single PDF file containing all components of the application are due to Laura McLean (lmclean@uwindsor.ca) in the Dean’s office, no later than Friday December 11 at 12 noon.
Applications will be reviewed by a committee chaired by the Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Research, and decisions will be made before the end of the year, and funds made available soon thereafter.
Applications should include a 2-page proposal and up-to-date CVs for the two or more lead applicants (either UWindsor eCV format or Tri-Council CCV format is acceptable).
The 2-page application should use the following subheadings: • Project title. • Names of two or more individuals leading the project. • Description of the idea for the new cross-disciplinary project. • Proposed outcomes of the project. This should include specific grant applications and other funding that are expected to arise as a result of the new project, and any publications or patents or other outcomes that are expected to arise from the project, as well as any other anticipated outcomes. • Proposed budget.
Eligible items include graduate student salaries, support towards postdoctoral salaries, infrastructure costs, communication and collaboration costs, etc.
The budget can be flexible, but a good target is a total budget of $25,000 or less. • Individual or team record of Tri-Council funding support.
It is important to highlight Tri-Council support held by applicants during the last three years, given that this support is connected to the Research Stimulus Fund.
Any questions about RSF: SCIENCE ACCELERATE can be directed to Dan Mennill, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research for the Faculty of Science at scienceADGSR@uwindsor.ca
Deadline for submitting applications is December 11.
(The RSF: SCIENCE XCELERATE logo was designed by Aya El-Hashemi of the USci Network’s Science Meets Art (SMArt) program.)
New Faculty Publication Support Fund
The Faculty of Science is now offering a fund to help pre-tenured faculty members cover the costs of getting published in high-profile scientific journals.
Goal: The goal of this program is to support new pre-tenure faculty members to establish vigorous, recognized research programs by supplementing publication costs of high-impact journal articles, such as open access fees or costs associated with journal cover publication. The program will help elevate the research profiles of new faculty and contribute to their research success.
Explanation: Publication costs for open access or fees associated with having original artwork published on journal covers are substantial, running into the thousands of dollars. This high cost is challenging for most new faculty to support with start-up or initial grant funds. However, with these high costs comes a potentially high value in raising the profile of both the research and the researcher. Open access articles are highly accessible, increasing the ‘reach’ of an article and potentially the number of citations. Journal covers attract great attention from journal readers and can be used to promote research and researchers to great effect on social media.
Plan: Peer-reviewed journal articles supported by the New Faculty Publication Support Fund will be promoted by the Faculty of Science on social media, Daily News, and other media opportunities. To receive support, PIs must agree to this promotion by providing a one-paragraph description of their work in lay language and a tweetable quote, and by participating in interviews if applicable.
Amount and Timeline: The Faculty of Science will provide a maximum of $1000 to new faculty to support publication costs of a peer-reviewed journal article in the first 4 years of the tenure-track appointment.
Eligibility and availability: Any PI who is full-time tenure-track University of Windsor faculty within their first 4 years of employment is eligible to receive this support. A PI is eligible for a maximum of one award.
Eligible expense: Funds must be spent on open access fees or costs associated with publication of a journal cover including the costs associated with the creation of original artwork through the Science Meets Art (SMArt) program in the USCi Network.
Application: A PI must apply by writing to Dan Mennill, Associate Dean of Graduate Studies and Research at scienceADGSR@uwindsor.ca.
Applications must include:
- details about the publication for which support is requested (article title, authors, journal name)
- a one-paragraph description of the work in lay language
a tweetable blurb that can be used to promote the work (280 characters max) - information about what the funds will be used for (open access or journal cover costs).