Purpose: 

The purpose of the NJIT LRI Faculty Seed Grant (LRI FSG) initiative is to promote academic research that is aligned with the mission and research agenda of LRI by providing seed funding to obtain preliminary results or establish hypotheses for developing future grant proposals for submission to external funding agencies. The LRI Research Scope and Agenda can be found here.

Review Process and Criterion:

All Proposals will be reviewed by the Executive Committee of Leir Research Institute. Review criterion primarily includes the scientific merit of the proposal, potential of external funding, and the fit to the mission and research agenda of LRI. Collaborative proposals that take a data-driven approach are especially encouraged. Additional criterion includes significance of project goals, emerging trends towards developing critical mass in key areas, justification of internal funding, expected outcomes, and faculty expertise. Funding is arranged through LRI and the Offices of Research. 

Other Requirements: The proposal will describe the specific external funding opportunities with URL information, to which the faculty receive the LRI FSG awards are expected to submit a full proposal within six months from the end date of the award. All grantees will be required to participate in LRI Showcases and Conference, and the NJIT Faculty Research Showcase.

Eligibility and Type of Awards:

NJIT full-time faculty with specific research initiative to enhance the critical mass in key and emerging areas may apply to LRI FSG program for internal funding up to $10,000 ($7500 limit for single investigators). Grants are contingent on submitted project budgets and determined on a case-by-case basis. Any grant funds unexpended or uncommitted at the end of the Grant Period must be promptly returned to the LRI.

Projects funded by FSG are not eligible to receive another FSG, as the intent of internal seed funding is to facilitate initial research towards obtaining external funds to pursue research.

Allowable Expenses include Project supplies and small equipment, travel to conferences and/or funding agencies, submission fees for conferences or journals, travel expenses for funding agency people to visit NJIT, student hourly wages. Faculty summer salary, AY release and any stipend are not permitted in the budget. 

Semi-annual Status Report and Final Report:

All grantees will be required to submit one semi-annual status report and one final report. The semi-annual report should include discussion on milestones and deliverables and updates on expenditures. It is due within 7 months of the start date of the grant period. A template of the semi-annual status report can be found here. 

The final report must be submitted within 2 months of the end of the Grant Period. Final reports should:

• Outline anticipated outcomes from original grant proposal.
• Provide summary of actual outcomes and their implications. 
• Discuss differences between anticipated and actual outcomes.
• Discuss the plan to submit a full proposal to external funding opportunities. If grantees cannot find such opportunities based on actual outcomes, a detailed explanation should be provided.
• Attach an updated file indicating how grant funds were spent. 

Timeline:

• Publication of the call for applications: December 15
• FSG Proposal Due in LRI: March 1
• Institutional Review and Announcement of Awards: April 1
• Grant Period: July 1 – June 30 (no extension will be available)
• Semi-annual Status Report Due: January 31
• Final Report Due: August 31

Submission Guidelines:

The submission shall be made by an email to Dr. Michael Ehrlich (ehrlich@njit.edu) entitled “LRI Seed Grant Proposal”. A receipt will be sent within 72 hours.

The required LRI FSG Proposal Format is described below. The main proposal (sections 2-7 in the required FSG proposal format below) is limited to 3 pages with single spaced 12-point font size. The page limit does not include the cover sheet, budget and budget justification (maximum one page) and list of references (maximum one page). In addition up to 2 pages of biographical sketch and 1 page of current and pending support in NSF format are required for PI and each investigator. Please see the proposal format guidelines below.

The main proposal should have the following sections:

1. Cover Sheet:

• Title of the Project
• Principal and Co-Principal Investigators
• Department
• College
• Date Submitted
• PI and Co-PI (if multiple investigators) Signatures

2. Abstract (Maximum 250 words; Non-IP for public dissemination):

      (Please summarize briefly on):

       a. Project Goal(s)

       b. Significance

       c. Expected Outcomes

       d. Justification of Internal Funding

3. Specific Objectives

4. Methods and Procedures

5. Evaluation and Deliverables

6. Future Plans

• (Describe the specific external funding opportunities with URL information, to which the faculty receive the LRI FSG awards will submit a full proposal within six months from the end date of the award. Also describe how the project funding with the deliverables will help in future proposal submissions, enhancing the research synergy, and obtaining external funds)

7. Justification of Internal Funding

• (Describe what other funds are available and why additional internal funding is needed)

8. Budget and Budget Justification (maximum 1 page)

9. References (maximum 1 page)

10.  Appendix (for PI and each Co-PI/Investigator):

      a. PI Biographical Sketch (NSF/NIH or Federal Agency Format; maximum 2 pages per investigator)

      b. Other Grant Support (maximum 1 page per investigator; summarize specific project goal(s) for each grant and any overlap with this proposal)

Any inquiry about the seed grants should be directed to Dr. Michael Ehrlich (ehrlich@njit.edu) with email entitled “LRI Seed Grant Inquiries”.