PROPOSAL GUIDELINES
updated 2/7/08

Eligibility
Application Materials
Notes for Preparation of the Application
Review and Award Criteria
Award Terms
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Eligibility
To be eligible to apply you must be a tenure-track or tenured faculty member with an appointment of .5 or greater and in the second year or more of tenured/tenure track employment at the University of Oregon.

You are not eligible to apply if you are planning full 100% leave without pay (LWOP) in the year of the award (partial LWOP and sabbatical leave is acceptable).

You may submit a proposal in consecutive years. However, if you are awarded an Oregon Community Credit Union Research Fellowship, you may not apply the subsequent year. The rotating schedule of focus topics is as follows: Business and Law 2008, Connections with Communities and Society 2009, Natural and Physical Sciences 2010, Social Sciences 2011, and Humanities, Performing and Fine Arts 2012.

Application materials (return to top)

FORMATTING INSTRUCTIONS
All application materials must be formatted in 12 point font (times new roman or arial preferred), single line spacing is acceptable, and margins must be at minimum one inch on all sides.

Application components

A complete application packet will include the following:
1) Completed Application Form (with Dean’s office signature);
2) Abstract (100-word limit), must be on a separate page - not to be included with the proposal narrative (must follow formatting instructions, above);
3) Proposal narrative (4-page limit, must follow formatting instructions, above);
4) Bibliography/Citation list (2-page limit, must follow formatting instructions, above);
5) Current Curriculum Vitae (5-page limit, must follow formatting instructions, above).

Applications that meet the stated criteria are reviewed by faculty serving on the Oregon Community Credit Union Research Fellowship Committee. Please keep in mind that the committee includes faculty who may not have specialized knowledge of your field of study. Thus, the proposal should be written in plain, jargon-free language. The proposal should be addressed to individuals who will evaluate the project not only as an immediate contribution to the advancement of a particular field, but also as a contribution to your development as a scholar and interpreter of the specified field of knowledge. The proposal narrative is the primary source of information for the reviewers; applicants should spend considerable time refining the narrative and ensuring it addresses the components listed below.

There are two review pools in which applications can be considered. Applicants must signify on the application form into which category they believe their project should be included. See the section on Review and Award Criteria below for more information. Please note: the committee may choose to eliminate applications that do not conform to the guidelines.

Notes for Preparation of the Application (return to top)

FORMATTING INSTRUCTIONS
All application materials must be formatted in 12 point font (times new roman or arial preferred), single line spacing is acceptable, and margins must be at minimum one inch on all sides.

Application Form: The 2008 program welcomes applications in the area of law and business research and scholarship only.

100 word abstract (100 word limit): The abstract must be on a separate page. The abstract should summarize the proposal's discussion of the proposal narrative and provide an easy reference to the proposal; it is to be used during the selection meeting for committee members and staff.

Proposal narrative (4 page limit): The proposal narrative should contain the following four components and must adhere to the formatting and page length specifications listed above. It should be in narrative form, illustrated as required, and clearly focused.

1. Conception and definition of the project
Applicants should describe the specific project or research planned for the year long grant period, including an explanation of the basic ideas, problems, or questions to be explored; the relationship of the proposed project to immediate and long-range study or research objectives; and the relationship of the applicant's work to other scholarship or practice in the same general area. If you have received past support for this project, be sure to note how this project differs from the funded part of the project.

2. Significance of the project
Applicants should explain the significance of the proposed work and its anticipated contribution to the state of knowledge or practice in the field in question.

3. Plan of work and methodology
Applicants should outline the plan of work, the methodology being used, and a schedule for the proposed research. Address the following as applicable: What is the present state of the proposed work? What preliminary work or planning (reading, study, and research) has been done for the project? What are the stages to be completed, and what is planned for each stage? Where will the work be conducted? What kinds of analysis will be done? What products, or other outcomes can be expected? If the project is a book, provide an outline of the chapters and a description of what chapters will be worked on during the award period. If the project has received prior funding, what progress has been made since that time?

4. Possibility for future support
Because internal research awards frequently support critical stages of a research project, they have the potential to increase a faculty member's chances of securing external funding or other research support. Please explain in what way the proposed activity might lead to future external support. Indicate whether you have done a search for possible sources either independently or through the Office of Research and Faculty Development.

Bibliography/Citations (2 page limit): A list of references, citations or bibliography.

Curriculum Vitae (5 page limit): A current curriculum vitae must include the following four components.
1) applicant's education, including the title of any recent theses or dissertations;
2) academic honors or awards;
3) external grant/fellowship support;
4) employment history;
5) selected list of applicant's published work.

Review and Award Criteria (return to top)
The review panel will be constituted of faculty from the relevant academic areas and will number 3 to 7 depending on the number of applicants in any given year. The panel will review proposals based on the following criteria: conception of project; significance of project to the relevant research area and to the larger community; creative significance; and methodology/work plan. As conditions permit, we expect to grant one award in each of the following categories:

1) Law related: Examples of research areas include: legal rules, doctrines, jurisprudence, critical legal analysis and/or topical areas such as civil rights, environmental, or constitutional law.

2) Business related: Examples of research areas include general management of for-profit enterprises and operational, financial or organizational aspects of for-profit enterprises. Topical areas include: corporate financial policy, corporate governance, innovation and entrepreneurship, supply chain management, and decision sciences.

The committee reserves the right to award the third fellowship to a proposal in either of the above described categories. Additionally, the committee may, at its discretion, recommend an award for a project that, because of its very nature of interdisciplinarity, does not easily fit into the two categories listed above but meets the highest levels of expectations for a business or law research project. The Committee will submit the results of their deliberations to the Vice President for Research who will review, confirm the awards, and then inform all applicants of the decisions. The Office of Research and Faculty Development will work with the Office of Univeristy Advancement and the Oregon Community Credit Union on a public announcement and recognition event.

Award Terms (return to top)

Awardees of the program must agree to the following:
1) Allow their name and a photo to be publicized in internal and external public relations material related to the program;
2) Attend an event at the time they receive the award and again at the end of the year when the next set of recipients are named (as schedules permit);
3) Cite the support provided by Oregon Community Credit Union Research Fellowship on any publications related to work supported by the award.

Awardees may receive the fellowship award as stipend and/or research support. Stipend payments are subject to regular payroll deductions and tax. Other Payroll Expenses (OPE) or fringe benefits must be paid out of the total award, no additional payments will be made to defray these costs. Examples of costs that may be included as research support include supplies, services and travel. Equipment purchases must make up no more than one-third of the total award. These categories are exempt from all payroll taxes. Equipment purchases and travel arrangements must be made in accordance with UO and OUS travel regulations and policies. The Office of the Vice President for Research will work with department budget managers on the processing of the fellowship awards.

Application Form
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