Proposal Submission Incentive Program

2023-2024

The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) is announcing a pilot program to enhance the research culture and advance the goal of doubling our research expenditures. This is a one-time program with strict deadlines.

Category 1: Short term proposal success

Incentives for:

A) Principal Investigators (PIs) currently working on a proposal who submit on or before December 31, 2023, and receive a new, significant federal grant (e.g., 3-year NSF, NIH, DoE, DoD) by August 31, 2024.

B) PIs in the early stages of formulating a proposal who completes and submits a proposal on or before May 1, 2024, and receives a new, significant federal grant (e.g., 3-year NSF, NIH, DoE, DoD) before October 31, 2024.

Incentives (up to $10,000) would include (Incentives for 1A will be higher than 1B):

  • additional summer salary or
  • additional summer student support or
  • additional unrestricted research funds
Category 2: Multiple funded projects

Incentives for:

A) PIs with at least two more years of active grant support on the date of submission (not including a no-cost-extension) who are applying for an additional federal grant (e.g., 3-year NSF, NIH, DoE, DoD) by May 1, 2024.

Incentives (up to $5,000) would include:

  • research support to generate preliminary data or
  • travel support to meet with collaborators and for conference attendance or
  • additional summer student support or
  • travel support to meet and discuss with a program officer or
  • support to hire external grant-writer or paid reviewer

Incentive Program Details

  1. The program is effective on October 17, 2023. PI must be a full-time, tenure-track or tenured faculty member at the time of submission and at the time of incentive award.
  2. Proposals from lead PIs or sole PIs from CAS are only eligible. CAS Co-PIs or for proposals with a sole PI from another institution or unit are ineligible.
  3. The program applies to full proposals, not pre-proposals, letters of intent or non-competitive renewals.
  4. The program excludes fellowships to support trainees for which faculty are the PIs.
  5. Proposals budgeting more than $50,000 in direct costs per year and appropriate indirect costs are eligible.
  6. Proposals must budget for academic year graduate student support (stipend and tuition). Any request for an exception to this requirement must be submitted in writing and is subject to approval by the Dean’s office.
  7. PI’s summer salary support cannot exceed more than 3 months in a year.
  8. Incentives must be spent within 12-months after payment. Any unspent money will be returned to the Dean’s office.
  9. Faculty in arts and humanities and social sciences sectors who are not applying for grants from federal agencies (NSF, DoE, NIH, DoD, DARPA, etc.) may request a relaxation of the $50,000 direct cost threshold. Requests must be submitted in writing and are subject to approval by the Dean’s office.
  10. Since this is an incentive program, there are no reporting requirements

Participation

Email to Murthy Ganapathy, sg82@buffalo.edu, associate dean for research.