Office of
Research and Creative Scholarship

Faculty Research Grants (FRG)

The Faculty Research Grant Handbook is now available: Download Handbook.

Index

  1. The Purpose and Scope of the FRG
  2. New Faculty Members
  3. Application Process
  4. Application Forms
  5. Sample Abstracts
  6. Intellectual Property
  7. Managing Grants & Utilizing Funds

The Purpose and Scope of the Faculty Research Grant (FRG)

Andrews University, through the Office of Research and Creative Scholarship, competitively awards Faculty Research Grants (FRG) on a yearly basis to qualified university faculty. University faculty members from all disciplines are encouraged to apply.  Applications are evaluated based on academic merit, and in accordance with the following funding objectives:

  • To assist new (and newly active) faculty in developing and establishing an active research program at Andrews University.
  • To assist faculty who are active in research to develop their research program with the goal of successfully applying for funding from external sources.
  • To assist senior faculty members in mentoring junior faculty.
  • To assist faculty who are active in supporting student research and student scholarship development.

Faculty members may apply for Faculty Research Grants of up to $5,000 to support research/creative scholarship projects at Andrews University. We encourage collaborative applications that include multiple faculty members. If two full-time faculty members submit a joint application, the maximum support is $5000 per faculty member, or $10,000 total for the application. Adjunct, part-time, and emeritus faculty members are welcome as co-PIs on the grant application, but will not affect the allowed funding limit, which is based only on the full-time faculty PIs.

Faculty Research Grant support can cover expenses associated with the faculty member’s scholarly growth activities, such as the following:

  • Student labor (undergraduate and graduate). Student labor may be used to support research activities for students you are mentoring as well as for support of functions, such as secretarial work, literature searching, etc.
  • Travel for research purposes. This includes travel for work with off-campus research collaborators and field-based research, but excludes travel for conference participation.
  • Miscellaneous supplies and small equipment, under $2500 (the purchase of computers excluded).
  • For Junior faculty only (within six years of first tenure-track appointment): Allowance for hiring a contract teacher to cover one of your regularly scheduled classes (up to $2400), yielding a one-course teaching release for research. If you choose this option, justification must be included explaining how the additional release time will be used to further your research program. Your grant will be charged an additional 22% benefits rate on top of the actual contract amount.

Eligibility

Start-up funding for faculty members to begin (or re-start) their research is typically given for two years.

In order to be eligible for additional grant funding in the third and subsequent years, the following research benchmarks are expected:

  • Third year: Previous research results demonstrated through presentations at appropriate disciplinary conferences.
  • Fourth year: Research results demonstrated through refereed publications.
  • Fifth year: Active preparations for external grant submission.
  • Sixth (and subsequent) years: External grant application submitted, and if rejected, improvements are in process for application resubmission.

Waivers of the above benchmarks for funding may be granted for faculty members who are primarily using FRG funds to either (a) mentor junior Andrews faculty, or (b) support student research.

Faculty receiving external grants that include significant overhead funds will be eligible to apply for Faculty Research Grants. However, any funding awarded to these faculty members will be appropriated out of the external grant overhead funds.

Further Information

For a more detailed description of the application process, you may access this slideshow, which was used for New Faculty Orientation in February 2024.

New Faculty Members

New faculty members who are hired after the February 28 FRG proposal submission deadline are not required to wait an entire year before having the opportunity to receive research funding. For these new faculty (and only these new faculty), the Office of Research and Creative Scholarship will consider Faculty Research Grant proposals submitted by September 30 of the first year of employment. Please contact the Dean of Research at research@andrews.edu for more information and for assistance in completing the FRG Application process. View the slides for the most recent faculty orientation slideshow.

The Faculty Research Grant Application Process

Pre-Review of Faculty Research Grant Proposals: In order to enhance the quality of research proposals and provide development and growth for faculty in conceptualizing and planning effective programs in scholarly productivity/research, the Office of Research and Creative Scholarship provides opportunity for a pre-submission review process. The Faculty Research Review Committee will evaluate applications received by the January 31 pre-submission deadline for clarity and completeness, and make recommendations for improvement prior to the final application deadline.  Although this pre-review process is optional, it is highly encouraged for all faculty members, and especially for those who have not previously submitted a FRG proposal.

Review Process: All Faculty Research Grant applications and renewals must be submitted by the February 28 deadline. The Faculty Research Review Committee will evaluate all applications, and recommend funding allocations, which will be reported to the faculty applicants by March 31. Funds will be available for use during the fiscal year starting May 1 and going through the following April 30.

FRG Extension

FRG funds can be carried over to a new year. The FRG Renewal Form should be used to request the carrying over of current funds for one year. Unspent balances from internal research grants can be carried over to the next fiscal provided that a Grant Renewal Form that provides appropriate justification is submitted in a timely manner; otherwise, all unspent grant balances revert to the Office of Research and Creative Scholarship after the April 30 grant termination date, and will be used as additional funding for the awarding of future Faculty Research Grants.

FRG Renewal

Renewal of a current FRG may be requested for a maximum amount of a new funding of $3,000 plus any remaining funding from the current grant, up to a total of $5000. This additional funding may be requested for a maximum of two years, after which a full grant application would need to be submitted for further funding. Please use the Renewal Form for this request.

Faculty Research Grant Application Forms

• Faculty Research Grant Application Form – for new applications

• Faculty Research Grant Renewal Form – for renewals and request for funding extensions of previous year’s award.

• Faculty Research Grant Final Report Form –  to report on the progress and outcomes. 

All completed applications are to be submitted electronically to the Office of Research and Creative Scholarship, at research@andrews.edu.
 

Application Timeline

Activity Timeline

Pre-proposal submission (Recommended)

January 31

Peer-review response to Pre-proposal        

February  15

Proposal submission

February 28

Awards notification

March 31

Fund available for use

May 1

Sample Abstracts

Abstracts of recent and currently funded Faculty Research Grants can be found here: Faculty Research Grants.

Intellectual Property and Faculty Research Grants

Under most circumstances (for exceptions, see Working Policy, section 2:383), faculty members who are involved in research and creative scholarship retain the intellectual property rights for their creations. This includes work that is supported by internal Faculty Research Grants. However, faculty members who wish to receive continuing support from internal Faculty Research Grants must report income generated by royalties or sales of products in the “External Funding” section of the Faculty Research Grant application. Faculty members may apply for funding for expenses that are in excess of that which can be covered by royalty or sales income. Research and creative scholarship that reasonably can be funded out of royalty or sales income is not eligible for Faculty Research Grant funding beyond an initial start-up period. 

Managing Grants & Utilizing Funds

Funds are available for use during the fiscal year starting May 1 and going through the following April 30. For research involving human subjects, funds may be spent only after gaining written IRB approval.

Faculty members are encouraged to manage their faculty grants in conjuction with the Office of Research and Creative Scholarship. Expense reports, check requests, one-time payment, credit card statement, wage requests, or contracts that are being charged to a Faculty Research Grant or external grant must be signed by the Office of Research and Creative Scholarship. For more information and guidelines for managing faculty grants please consult the Policy and Procedure Handbook for Researchers.