Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Grant

Research, Scholarship, and Creativity (RSC) Grant

The deadline is March 15, 2025 by 5:00PM

Grant Description

Research, Scholarship, and Creativity Grants support faculty members at all stages of their career in their scholarship and creative work. These grants are designed to help applicants make significant progress towards the production of some tangible result (e.g., the publication of a peer-reviewed article, chapter, or book; or an exhibit of works of arts). Private, personal creativity projects will not be considered. These grants may support recipients’ compensation, travel, and other costs related to the proposed scholarly project. The project may be at any stage of development, but especially early-stage research and late-stage completion in which small awards are most effective. Depending on the type of project proposed, applicants can apply only for the stipend for projects that are nearing completion (i.e. writing phase) or for the stipend and project costs for projects that are at any other stage. If you are in the exploratory phase of a new project, please consider applying for one of the Scholarship Development grants. The annual deadline to apply for a Research, Scholarship, and Creativity grant is March 15 by 5:00PM.

Proposal Requirements

Proposals must be submitted via the Google Form application. Please adhere to the word limit and remember that grant reviewers may or may not have representatives in your field, thus your proposal should be written for a broad audience and avoid any jargon. The application form asks for the following information:

  1. Faculty Information
    1. Name, Email, Rank/Status, Department/Program
    2. Brief biography of faculty participant(s) and explanation of how this project fits into their career trajectory. (300 words)
    3. CV (upload file)
    4. Administrative Assistant name
  2. Project Information
    1. Project Title
    2. Project description: Briefly describe the proposed research/creative project, its relationship to existing scholarship in the field, its central questions, and its proposed contribution (500 words)
    3. Plan for the grant period: Provide a detailed description of what you plan to do during the grant period. If you will be working with a student, describe the nature of that collaboration (300 words)
    4. Outcomes: What are the anticipated outcomes for this project? Where do you anticipate publishing, presenting, exhibiting, or otherwise disseminating this project? (200 words)
    5. Feasibility: What is the time period for your proposed work (summer, summer and academic year, academic year only)? Please explain how the proposed project for the grant period is appropriate for the this time frame (200 words)
    6. Budget Rationale. Provide a justification for any project expenses for which you are requesting funds. If you are only requesting summer stipend, leave this question blank.
    7. Budget Spreadsheet. Fill out budget from this RSC_Budget_2025 and upload the file with your application.
  3. Budget Information (applicants will have to choose one of the options provided)
     i. Budget Option
     1. Stipend
     2. Stipend and project costs
     ii. Budget Rationale: Provide a justification for any project expenses for which you are requesting funds. (150 words)
     iii. Budget Spreadsheet: Create a grant budget using this RSC Budget Template and upload the file with your application.
  4. Additional Information
    1. Have you received an RSC grant before?
    2. If you answered "yes" above, please indicate when you received the award(s) and briefly summarize the project outcomes.
    3. Have you applied for or received funding from another source to support this project?
    4. If you replied "yes" to the previous questions, please describe the status of the funding and how it will affect/complement the RSC grant, if awarded.

Criteria for Selection

In assessing the applications, the committee looks for:
  • Evidence of exceptional merit
  • Compelling project proposal. For a project in the final stages, applicants should provide a clear sense of how close the project is close to completion and specify the final outcome.
  • Clearly articulated contribution to the field
  • Feasibility of the proposed project

Project Requirements

In preparing their applications, faculty should keep the following in mind:
  • Grants will be awarded for up to $1500 in project costs. Applicants can apply either for stipends and project costs or for stipends only.
  • Joint applications are accepted, but please know that the $600 stipend will be divided among the faculty members
  • Grant recipients must get IRB approval if their research involves human subjects and IACUC approval for animal research.
  • Award funding begins May 15.

Eligibility

  • A faculty member cannot receive both the Research, Scholarship, and Creativity grant and the Presidential Faculty/Student Collaboration grant in the same year.
  • Awards may be used as matching funds for outside support awarded to the faculty member.
  • Applicants who did not submit previous grant reports will not be eligible to apply.
  • Priority will be given to quality proposals submitted by candidates who have not been funded through a Research, Scholarship, and Creativity grant in the previous two years.

Budget Guidelines

  • Project costs may include:
    • Specialized training (e.g. how to use new instruments/equipment)
    • Outside guest experts that support scholarly development
    • Research materials and supplies 
    • Travel to further a line of inquiry (e.g. visit an archive, undertake an ethnographic project, use lab equipment not available at Gustavus)
    • Fees associated with collecting primary materials
    • Publishing fees
    • Student research assistant hours (pay rate is set by the College)
    • Research participant incentives
  • Project costs may not include:
    • Workshops, seminars, or meetings for which participants are given a stipend by an outside granting agency
    • Registration fees for workshops, seminars, online courses, and webinars that advance faculty member’s preparation for research (see Scholarship Development grants)
    • Registration or travel to faculty member’s professional conference (see Travel Fund)
    • Stipends to Gustavus Adolphus College staff or students other than research assistants listed in the grant proposal
    • Guest lecture honoraria (These should normally be supported through departments and programs)
    • Entertainment (i.e, food, gift cards, refreshments at an event, etc.)

Expectations of Grant Recipients

  • To receive the summer stipend for work completed outside of faculty contracts, faculty must complete a verification of work by September 15, 2025.
  • Spending should be completed and a final report of grant activity should be submitted by February 1, 2026; extensions must be requested in writing by January 15, 2026. Failure to submit the final report will disqualify recipient(s) from receiving other internal grant funding.
  • Grant recipients may be expected to write a note of appreciation and brief summary of their project to a donor who has contributed to the endowed funds that support this grant.
  • Grant recipients may be asked to serve as a reviewer for future grant cycles.