The Office or Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP), Pursuit, and the Office of Undergraduate Research recently awarded a total of 30 internal research grants to faculty who applied by the January 27th deadline. Approximately 80% of all internal grant applicants received either full or partial funding for FY 2015 research projects.
Internal grants are a great way to finance research and engage students in short term projects. There are times, however, when internal grants won’t fully fund longer term scholarly projects, so external funding may be a better option. For example, internal grants fund projects for a maximum of one year. Because of the parameters set by endowments that fund them, Math-Science and Cullen internal grants are not able to fund computer hardware, student researchers or travel. When faculty needs to fund research for multiple years or needs more money than might be available through an internal grant, external grants might be a better alternative.
Although it is very competitive, external funding should be considered by faculty seeking future research funding. Now is the time to enlist the help of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP) to search for external funding since grant decisions and awards can take months for granting agencies to process. Contact Mark Billingsley at Ext. 2885 or jmb13a@acu.edu to schedule a one-on-one grant search or to gain other assistance with the grant process.