Graduate Study and Educational Research Fund Application Guidelines

1. Funding will be available for one year from the date of the award. Any unused funds at the end of one year will be returned to the pool of available funds in the Endowment Account. If the awardee wishes to extend the period of time for the completion of the funded research, the applicant must submit a request in writing to the RGS Committee in the care of the Associate Dean for Research & Graduate Study.
2. Graduate students who embark on thesis or dissertation research beginning AFTER the most prior deadline for proposal submission may request reimbursement for their research project costs. In such cases, applicants must clearly indicate the dates of the research; if completed projects are approved for funding post hoc, appropriate receipts must be submitted within one month of the award notification.
3. No funds will be awarded for a stipend or remuneration to the researcher.
4. Requests for funds to support travel will be reviewed individually. The research design must support the request for travel. The award cannot be used to fund travel to disseminate findings from the research. When applicable, the applicant must provide a clear explanation of why travel is necessary for data collection instead of via video conferencing, phone call, or similar mediums.
5. Only expenses directly related to the performance of the research itself or preparing reports of the results will be eligible to be funded through this award. All funding requires receipts for reimbursement.
6. Equipment purchased through the fund is the property of The Patton College of Education and must be returned to the office of the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies at the completion of the research.
7. Currently, software purchases are not supported as part of the funding application. Ohio University has purchased subscriptions to a number of licensed research software, including, but not limited to NVIVO, SAS, and SPSS. The Patton College of Education has also purchased limited licenses for MAXQDA available in the computer lab.
8. Funding is allowed for only one project at a time. If a student or faculty member has received a previous award, they must complete the work of that research project, and submit a final report of its outcomes, before requesting support for another funding round.
9. Any compensation for participants must be appropriate for the context of research. If applicable, any compensation to participants must not exceed $20 and should not be based on the quality of participation (i.e., not to be construed as purchasing participation of a certain type and/or quality). In the event that participants are state employees, participation must take place outside of their work hours.
10. All decisions concerning what budget items may be funded will be made on a case-by-case basis by the Research and Graduate Studies Committee, based on the budget justification provided in the application.

Proposals must be submitted through the online application form, uploading the 4 required elements noted below. Appendices are required and do not count toward the maximum. The application includes:

1. A completed cover sheet form.
2. An uploaded proposal. This should: (i) be single-spaced, (ii) have 1-inch margins, (iii) have page numbers at the bottom, and (iv) be uploaded as a single PDF file that is a maximum of 5 pages (Reference count, but Appendices do not count toward page limit). All proposals must include the following sections in this order:
   1. Abstract
       
   2. Project Narrative, including:
      1. Objectives and/or Purposes of Research
      • research problem or question
      • research goals & objectives (the scope should be realistic & attainable)
      1. Perspectives and/or Theoretical Framework
      • clear and coherent synthesis of relevant literature (include important citations)
      • clear theoretical rationale concerning the research
      • relevance of the literature review to the proposed research problem
         
      1. Methods and/or Techniques
      • mode of inquiry
      • data source(s) and sampling/participant selection plan
      • instrumentation and/or data collection procedures
      • time frame for the project
      • specific methods of analysis to be used
      • issues of validity and/or credibility
         
      1. Educational and/or Scientific Significance
      • statement of the impact expected from the results of the project (i.e., how this research will advance knowledge in the field of study or how this research will impact practice)
      1. References
      • list of citations included in the Project Narrative (not a bibliography)
         
3. Appendices
   1. Appendix A: Project Calendar and Dissemination Plans
      i. A project calendar outlining the key landmarks of the study including when the applicant expects data collection to begin/end, data analysis, and submission to dissertation committee/journals/conferences (this last piece may occur
      Graduate and Educational Research Fund Guidelines & Instructions 4
      beyond the 12-month period)
      ii. Applicants should specify to which specific conferences and/or journals you will expect to submit to and present your work.
   2. Appendix B: Budget and Budget Justification (follow format required)
   3. Appendix C: Graduate Student Applicants only: A letter of recommendation from the faculty advisor who is working with you on this project.
   4. Appendix C: PCOE Faculty Only: A brief description of how this study will support external funding application(s), including the intended source(s), due date(s), and timeline for when you will be applying for these external funds.
   5. Appendix D: Evidence of IRB approval or evidence that you have submitted an IRB application for this project.
   6. Appendix E: You can upload additional appendices, such as letters of support/approval from research sites.

The proposal will be evaluated based on how clearly, completely, and coherently it addresses the guidelines above. The applicant should note that otherwise acceptable applications have been denied funding because the application did not adhere to the guidelines or was not presented in a clear and coherent manner.

Certain materials must be included in an Appendix.

1. If the research involves human subjects or data collected from human subjects, the letter of approval from the IRB must be submitted. Or evidence of IRB submission, approved if IRB is required prior to expending any funds.
2. If the applicant’s budget shows need greater than $1,000, the budget must show how the requested $1,000 in this grant will be spent.
3. For students: A letter of recommendation from a faculty member in the applicant's department must accompany the proposal. Appropriate faculty includes the student's advisor or another faculty member who is aware of the research project. The letter should speak to the merits of the proposal and ability of the applicant to complete the research effectively. Specifically, the letter should indicate the faculty member's awareness of the proposal, the faculty member's willingness to support the applicant's research, and the significance of the research.
4. For PCOE Faculty: A brief description of how this study will support external funding application(s), including the intended source(s), due date(s), and timeline for when you will be applying for these external funds.
5. Other materials, as appropriate, may be appended to the proposal.

Faculty Specific Guidelines:

1. Proposals must be submitted prior to the start of any research work for which funding is sought.
2. The Graduate Study and Educational Research Fund has limited resources. The size of the grants awarded to faculty will be limited to $2,500 per year.
3. Faculty holding other accounts to support research (e.g. start-up) must spend those funds prior to eligibility for this grant.
4. Funds to faculty will be disbursed, as approved in the budget, through use of an Ohio University account. Student wages should be paid through the Ohio University workforce system; purchases for equipment should be made through Bobcat Buy or appropriate use of a p-card; travel reimbursement should be processed according to Ohio University policy
5. Payment to participants (Human Subjects) must be made in compliance with Ohio University policy
6. Software costs are not allowable costs.
7. Page fees or other costs associated with publishing a manuscript are not allowable costs.

Graduate Students: Non-Thesis and Non-Dissertation Specific Guidelines:

1. The RGSC has limited resources. Therefore, each award is limited to $1,000 maximum.
2. Proposals for non-thesis and non-dissertation projects must be submitted prior to the start of any research work for which funding is sought.
3. Funding is allowed for only one project at a time; applicants are limited to one award per year total from this fund, regardless of the category.
    

Graduate Students: Thesis and Dissertation-Specific Guidelines:

1. The Graduate Study and Educational Research Fund has limited resources. Therefore, the size of the grants awarded to students will be limited to $1,000.
2. Funding will be available for the duration of the research project or for one year, whichever comes first. If a student wishes to extend the period of time for the completion of the funded research, he or she must submit a request in writing to the RGSC.
3. Funding is allowed for only one project at a time; applicants are limited to one award per year total from this fund, regardless of the category.
4. Requests for funds to support travel will be carefully reviewed on a case-by-case basis. The review will focus on the connection between the budget justification and the request for funded travel. Travel related to conducting the research will be covered by the fund; travel for disseminating results of the research will not be covered by the fund. Students are encouraged to seek support through the Student Travel Award program in The Patton College of Education in order to get partial support for travel associated with conference presentations or other dissemination efforts.
5. Students are urged to submit proposals prior to the start of any research work for the thesis or dissertation; if the proposal is not received prior to starting the research, reimbursement through this fund is not automatic. Therefore, in order to have full benefit of consideration for the fund, students are urged to submit proposals where proposal and IRB approvals are forthcoming to accommodate timing issues.
6. Costs for copying, printing, editing, or typing a dissertation or thesis will not be reimbursed.

General Guidelines for Graduate Students:

• Students are encouraged to submit a proposal in the cycle most appropriate for the timeline of their research. The RGSC prefers that applications for funding be submitted prior to research being conducted. Graduate students who embark on thesis or dissertation research beginning AFTER the most prior deadline for proposal submission may request reimbursement for their research project costs. In such cases, applicants must clearly indicate the dates of the research; if completed projects are approved for funding post hoc, appropriate receipts must be submitted within one month of the award notification.
• Students are advantaged when they have knowledge ahead of time regarding whether or not their research expenses will be approved for reimbursement.
• Awards come in the form of reimbursements of expenditures made by the researcher. All funding reimbursements require receipts.

Complete the budget in the format used for the sample budget below. Submit with your budget a budget justification of no more than one page. The justification should delineate exactly how monies will be expended. Also, include Other Sources in your budget justification. The budget will be evaluated based on feasibility and appropriateness relative to the proposed research project. Appropriate budget categories are:
 

• Salaries – for research support, such as transcription services or data entry
• Benefits – required benefits to be paid on research support (if applicable)
• Supplies – expendable items used to conduct the research including printing, participant incentives, etc.
• Travel – costs for transportation related directly to data gathering (must use current federal mileage rates)
• Communication – postage and printing of documents (must use current postage rates)
• Equipment – due to limited funds, requests for equipment should be made only after it is determined that the needed equipment is unavailable on campus through a loan or share arrangements. Note: Any equipment purchased by the Research Endowment Fund will become the property of The Patton College of Education.
   

General Guidelines for Budget and Budget Justification:

• Request for supplies and equipment (such as digital recording devices and software packages) should include a clear justification for need. Students and faculty are expected to use existing PCOE and department resources rather than purchase redundant items for their research. For example, supplies and computer software may be available through the PCOE Center for Technology and Online Programs, and, if so, should be used through that resource. Justification for such items MUST address the unavailability of Ohio University resources. However, software not approved by Ohio University OIT will not be allowable purchases.
• The Patton College STANDARD RATE FOR TRANSCRIPTIONS is $1.00/ minute ($60/hour) of recorded work.
  • Other recommendations would be to use audio recording programs that do transcriptions for you as the conversation goes. For example, Microsoft Teams has a transcription function.
• In the Patton College, any compensation for participants must be appropriate for the context of research. If applicable, any compensation to participants must not exceed $20 and should not be based on the quality of participation (i.e., not to be construed as purchasing participation of a certain type and/or quality). In the event that participants are state employees, participation must take place outside of their work hours. Researchers who provide compensation / monetary incentives (including gift cards) to Human Subjects must adhere to Ohio University policy about gift cards and/or cash advances. The following language must be included in the informed consent process when providing compensation (including gift cards) to human subjects:
  • If you receive more than $600 of research incentive income from Ohio University, you are responsible for claiming this income according to IRS rules.
  • The PI must retain a list of names of people who receive gift cards or monetary compensation.

Sample Budget Justification

Salary – Hire Jane Doe to conduct transcription. She will transcribe 8, one- hour interviews. Eight hours of recorded work at the standard rate of $1/minute ($60/hour) of recorded work is $480.
Supplies – I will print 100 color fliers @ $.25 each; these will be used to distribute to my network and potential interview participants (snowball technique). For the survey component of my project, I will mail 200 surveys; they cost $1 each to print.
Equipment – Purchase digital device to record interviews. For my convenience I want to use and keep my own recording device, so I will purchase this from my personal funds. Travel – Five trips to conduct interviews in Columbus, OH (75 miles each way; 150 miles each round trip. The first four interviews will be conducted on a Saturday (all same day). But the remaining four will be conducted in the evening (1 per trip). (The federal reimbursement rate for automobile travel as “date” is $.57/mile. Current rates 
Communication – I will be mailing 200 surveys, and each will contain a self-addressed stamped envelope. The current first-class postage rate is $.49/stamp.