The Spring deadline for submission of proposals is February 1st. The Fall deadline for submission of proposals is October 1st. If the deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, applications will be accepted the next working day.
Please note: The application procedure is through Dynamic Forms - See Application and Format section below for link.
The aims of the Missouri State University faculty grant program is to enhance research and creative activities and contributions to knowledge and appreciation. Faculty Research Grants will be awarded to support new research, creative or scholarly activities, or for high quality projects not likely to receive external funding.
If you have previously received a Faculty Research grant and have questions about your eligibility to submit a new grant application, please contact the Graduate College. This restriction applies to all authors of a multiple-authored proposal.
Grant requests must not exceed $7,500. Faculty grant proposals may request funding for personnel, equipment, travel, supplies, services, and various other costs. Personnel can include student help, graduate assistants, and services not found at Missouri State University. However, faculty supplemental pay is not provided in Faculty Research grants. Also, travel to meetings for presentations of research results and publication costs will not be funded. Travel to gather data or research for the project is allowable. The rationale for all budget requests must be provided and supported by appropriate justification.
PLEASE NOTE IMPORTANT CHANGE FOR GRADUATE ASSISTANT FUNDING: Faculty Research Grant proposals that include requests for graduate assistants must provide documentation that the difference between the maximum allowed for funding of the Faculty Research Grant ($7500) and the funding required for a graduate assistant will be provided by the academic unit or college. This includes costs for both the stipend and the tuition-fee waiver (TFW). Neither the Graduate College nor Research Administration will provide funding to cover a TFW associated with a Faculty Research Grant. Note that costs should include any projected increases if the expenditure will occur in the next academic year (reach out to the Graduate College regarding the projected amount).
Projects/investigators funded under these programs are subject to the Missouri State University policies/guidelines for integrity in research, financial interest disclosure, human subjects review, animal care and use procedures, biosafety, export control, intellectual property, and use of space. (See the Office of Research Administration website). Expenditures will not be allowed until proper approval is obtained.
All applications and attachments are required to be submitted through Dynamic Forms. All attachments must be in the form of a PDF (Word documents or JPG/PNG files must be converted to PDF). Application form can be accessed here: Application form.
Proposals are limited to space allotted in the Dynamic Forms Faculty Research Grant application. The vitae should be submitted in the form as an attachment and is limited to no more than 5 pages (12 point font, 1 inch margin) with emphasis on recent activity that support the proposal. References may also be uploaded as an attachment in the Dynamic Forms Faculty Research Grant application. All questions/fields are required and incomplete applications will not be reviewed by the Committee. If a question/field is "not applicable" please mark as "N/A". Please see FRG Application Dynamic Forms 2021 for screenshots and helpful hints on the Dynamic form.
Specific instructions for preparing proposals for consideration for Faculty Research Grants are available for download below.
The application deadlines for Faculty Research Grants is: February 1st, and October 1st of each year. The Spring deadline for submission of proposals is February 1st. The Fall deadline for submission of proposals is October 1st. If the deadline falls on a weekend or holiday, applications will be accepted the following working day.
As stated above: It is the responsibility of the applicant to track their submitted application through the process in Dynamic Forms. The applicant will receive email notifications at each stage that their application is approved and moved to the next step (applicant to Academic Unit Leader (Department Head/Director) is one step; Academic Unit Leader (Department Head/Director) to Dean is the second step). If at any point the application is denied, the process will stop and the applicant will be notified. Any applications not received through Dynamic Forms by the Graduate College by Midnight on the deadline date for distribution to the Faculty Grants Committee will not be considered. Proposals failing to comply with the guidelines will not be considered by the committee.
All funded projects must be completed within one (1) year of award.
Grant proposals are evaluated by the Faculty Grants Committee with this committee making funding recommendations to the Provost, and the Dean of the Graduate College. Grant applicants should be aware that gaining funding is a competitive process since more proposals are received and more dollars are requested than the funds available. Selection is based on the quality of the proposal. In addition, priority is given to new faculty, to faculty who have not received previous funding, and projects that include student involvement. These awards should act as seed funds to better position the investigator to apply for external grant funding. Applicants are encouraged to attend grant-writing workshops that are offered by the Office of Research Administration. Respect for the peer review process and a collegial attitude toward the work of the committee are integral parts of the success of the Missouri State University internal grant award system.
Expenditure of funds can begin as soon as grant accounts are established by Financial Services. All expenditures are approved by the Assistant to the Dean, in the Graduate College. Funds will not be used to reimburse an individual who has already spent or obligated money for a project prior to receiving written notification from the Graduate College of the grant award and budget accounting process. Please note that no expenditure of funds can be made unless proper institutional authorization has been received (i.e., IRB, Animal Care).
Please see the following Guidelines for Paying Research Participants for the Missouri State University policy on awards, gifts and prizes, as well as information on how to pay research participants from your Faculty Research Grant (FRG) funds. The maximum amount that can be given to each participant, in each FRG, is $100. The participant must either accept the payment or decline the payment. Incentive payments CANNOT be donated to a charity.
IMPORTANT TO NOTE: MSU employees (staff, faculty, non-student part-time, and graduate assistants) may receive an email advising that the amount given to them for being a participant is taxable income. Please note the following: (1) infrequent non-cash awards and gifts of nominal value given to employees are not reported as taxable compensation. Cash and/or gift certificates (includes gift cards) are always reported as taxable to the employee on Form W‐2 or 1042‐S, regardless of the value. Gifts may only exceed $100.00 if given as a campus-wide program or if appropriate approval is received; and (2) prizes, awards, and gifts given to non‐employees are generally considered reportable as taxable income if cumulative gifts in a calendar year equal or exceed $600.00. The University will file a Form 1099‐MISC or 1042‐S to report the gifts when the value of cash and the fair market value of non-cash awards to individuals total $600.00 or more in a calendar year. The Faculty member awarded the Faculty Research Grant is responsible to advise the participants of these guidelines as they are rules established by the IRS.
Grants which result in materials which may be patented or copyrighted or which otherwise have commercial value are subject to the University policies and procedures with regard to intellectual property.
A final, written report must be submitted to the Graduate College within 30 days of project completion. There is no specific format for the final report. A short overview explaining what was accomplished during the period of the grant is sufficient. Failure to submit such a report will disqualify applicants from obtaining future Faculty Grant funding.
Questions regarding Faculty Research Grants may be directed to the Graduate College.