2012-13 College of Education
Multidisciplinary Grant Program
Program Policies and Proposal Submission Requirements
The primary purpose of the COE Multidisciplinary Grant Program is to provide
multidisciplinary teams of faculty members with “seed” funding as they plan and conduct
new multidisciplinary research programs likely to attract external support. It is expected that
each multidisciplinary team that receives a COE Multidisciplinary Grant will plan and prepare
high quality grant proposals that will be submitted to the FSU Council on Research and
Creativity and to external funding sources, with the ultimate goal being that the team will
receive external funding to support the continuation of their proposed research.
The COE Multidisciplinary Grant Program is modeled upon the Multidisciplinary Support
Program of the FSU Council on Research and Creativity (CRC) and incorporates many of
features of that program, as well as much of the wording used to describe that program.
Eligibility
 In order to be considered as a Multidisciplinary Grant proposal, a proposed research
project must involve at least one College of Education faculty member (as described
below) and at least one tenured or tenure-earning faculty member at Florida State
University whose primary academic home is other than in the College of Education.
 Each COE Multidisciplinary Grant proposal must be submitted by a single tenured or
tenure-earning faculty member (a) whose primary academic home is in the College of
Education and (b) who is not currently serving as a Principal Investigator or Co-Principal
Investigator on a CRC grant or an externally funded grant. This individual will serve as the
Principal Investigator for the proposed project and will be primarily responsible for
planning, directing and executing the project.
o Note: Additional College of Education faculty, regardless of whether they are
currently serving as Principal Investigators or Co-Principal Investigators on any
grants, can be included as members of the multidisciplinary team, but cannot
serve as the Principal Investigator on the proposed project.
 Each eligible COE faculty member may submit no more than one proposal to the COE
Multidisciplinary Grant Program each year. However, a faculty member submitting a
proposal to this program may also submit a proposal to the COE Planning Grant Program.
 Faculty members who serve on the Proposal Review Committee will not be eligible to
submit a proposal during the academic year they serve on the committee.
 Faculty members who receive COE grant funds as part of the 2012-13 COE Grant Program
2012-13 COE MDG Guide
1
will not be eligible to apply for COE grant funds as part of the 2013-14 grant program,
but will be eligible to apply as part of the 2014-15 program.
 Applicants will not be awarded more than one COE grant during an academic year. That is,
a faculty member will not be eligible to receive a COE Multidisciplinary Grant and a COE
Planning Grant in the same year.
Award Amounts and Acceptable Uses
 Awards will be $4000 per funded proposal. The use of these funds will be determined by
the Principal Investigator for the proposed project (i.e., the eligible COE faculty member
who submitted the proposal), in accordance with the guidelines listed below:
o Award dollars will only be used to hire graduate research assistants. Tuition
waivers will have to be covered by other funding sources.
o Award dollars will not be used to pay faculty salary, travel expenses,
equipment or materials purchases, or any other types of expenses.
o Award dollars will be available at the beginning of the spring 2013 semester
and must be expended by no later than the end of the fall 2013 semester.
Important Dates
•
Deadline to Apply: Thursday, October 18, 2012, 11:59 PM. This deadline is FIRM, no
exceptions! Proposals must be submitted via the COE Office of Research website.
Proposals that are not submitted in the proper form via the website by this deadline
will not be reviewed by the Review Committee and will not be eligible for funding.
•
Early November, 2012: Each faculty member who submits an eligible proposal will
receive notification as to whether the proposal was funded, as well as the
anonymous comments of each reviewer. This information will also be shared with
the Dean of the College of Education and the faculty member’s department chair.
•
Award Period: January 1, 2013 - December 31, 2013
Required Proposal Items
Each Planning Grant proposal must include the following three items:
1. A copy of the vita of the Principal Investigator and the vita of each of the other faculty
members listed in the proposal.
2. A proposal abstract
 This document should provide a brief summary (250 words maximum) of the
proposed project, including a listing of potential external funding sources.
3. The proposal text
 This document should consist of each of the numbered sections listed below. The
number and title of each section should be clearly listed.
2012-13 COE MDG Guide
2




Be sure to number and title each section exactly as listed below. Proposals that are
incorrectly numbered or titled will not be eligible for funding.
The numbering of the sections and the descriptions of what should appear in each
section closely correspond to that which is required for CRC Multidisciplinary Support
(MDS) proposals. However, as noted below, some of the information that you will
need to include when you submit a CRC MDS proposal is not required as part of your
COE Multidisciplinary Grant proposal. In those cases, your COE Multidisciplinary
Grant proposal should only include the number and title of the section; do not
include any other information in that section.
Each section should immediately follow the previous one, with a double space
between sections. Do not put each section on a separate document page!
The length of your proposal text should be no more than six single-spaced pages
(CRC guidelines specify eight pages; a smaller number is listed here because, as noted,
several items the CRC requires are not required in your COE proposal).
Required Sections of Your Proposal Text
1. Other faculty: List the full names, primary department affiliations and research
interests of the other faculty who will be working on the proposed program of
research.
2. Description of proposed program of research: Describe your proposed program of
research clearly and concisely, in manner that is understandable to reviewers in
other disciplines. It is suggested that you briefly describe (a) the problem/issue that
will be examined, (b) the current state of the research that has been conducted in
this field, (c) the goals of the purposed research, (d) the research methods that will
be employed, and (e) the expected outcomes of the project, with an emphasis on
how those outcomes are likely to contribute to knowledge and/or scholarship in this
area.
3. State of the research: Guidelines for section three of the CRC Multidisciplinary
Support Program call for this information. Assuming you have covered it in section
2(b), you might simply indicate that fact in this section of your proposal.
4. New multidisciplinary research alliance: Briefly describe how the proposed research
program will result in the establishment of a new multidisciplinary research alliance
at FSU.
5. Relationship to the PI's other currently funded research (if any): Given that COE
Multidisciplinary Grant proposals can only be submitted by faculty who currently do
not have research funding, leave this section blank.
6. Proposed schedule of activities: List the various activities that will be undertaken as
part of the proposed program of research, including the time period during which
each activity will occur. (NOTE: the CRC expects that successful external grant
proposals will be generated within one year after the awarding of a CRC
Multidisciplinary Support grant).
7. Available external sources of support: Other than the section number and title, leave
this section blank. (Note: Much of the information the CRC requires in this section
2012-13 COE MDG Guide
3
overlaps with that which will appear in section 10).
8. Permission statement: Indicate, in one sentence, that in the event your proposal is
funded, you agree to have it serve as an example of a successful proposal.
9. Approval documents: Other than the section number and title, leave this section
blank.
10. Likely Sources of External Funding: List several external funding sources (agencies
and/or foundations) that are likely to support the continuation of your proposed
research, including, when possible, specific programs, amount of money available in
those programs, and other pertinent details. Also discuss how this multidisciplinary
grant will enhance your prospects of obtaining external funding; and describe your
plans for submitting proposals to these agencies and/or foundations.
11. References: List, in proper bibliographic form (e.g., APA format), the complete
reference information for each source cited in the body of your proposal.
Requirements for Grant Recipients
 Within one year after receiving a COE Multidisciplinary Grant, Principal Investigators
will be expected to submit at least one external grant proposal to support the
continuation/expansion of the research activities of their multidisciplinary research
team.
 To further enhance the effort to receive external support for their research, Principal
Investigators who receive a COE Multidisciplinary Grant will be expected to submit an
updated version of their multidisciplinary proposal to the CRC by the next deadline
for doing so (i.e., by November 15, 2012).
 By the end of January 2014, each Principal Investigator who receives a COE
Multidisciplinary Grant will be required to submit a brief report describing the results
of the funding, including a description of (a) the activities that were undertaken as
part of the proposed project, (b) grant proposals (internal and external) that were
submitted, and whether they were funded, and (c) plans for the next steps in the
proposed research program, including plans for future submissions of proposals for
external funding.
Research Compliance Notes:
• Research activities requiring compliance review and approvals (human or animal
subjects, DNA, RNA, hazardous materials or marine lab facilities for example) will
require the completion and submission of forms to the appropriate FSU department
or group, seeking and receiving approval for such research, BEFORE such research is
attempted and BEFORE any funds can be released to the PI, if awarded. See human
subjects website, site for animal research information, site for Environmental
Health & Safety or SRS forms page for other compliance requirements which may
apply to your research or performance plan.
• You may pre-apply for human subjects or animal use approval prior to funding
notifications. If you are funded, this will prevent delays in getting your funds.
2012-13 COE MDG Guide
4
Proposal Review Policies and Procedures
•
Proposals will be reviewed and rated by a Proposal Review Committee consisting of the
COE Associate Dean for Research and one faculty member from each department.
o At the beginning of the fall semester, each department will select one tenured
or tenure-earning faculty member to serve on the Review Committee.
o Each member of the Review Committee will work independently. Each
member will review and rate each proposal, including those submitted by
faculty members in their own department, using the NIH rating scale currently
used by the CRC (see attachment).
o Review committee members will be required to submit their reviews and
ratings by the end of October. This information will be collected and tallied by
the COE Associate Dean for Research.
o The anonymous comments and ratings of each reviewer will be shared with
each faculty member who submits a proposal, as well as with the Dean of the
College of Education and the faculty member’s department chair.
Criteria for Judging Proposals
 The criteria for judging COE Multidisciplinary Grant Proposals are listed on the next page
and can also be found on the COE Office of Research website.
2012-13 COE MDG Guide
5
2012-13 College of Education
Multidisciplinary Grant Program
Criteria for Judging Multidisciplinary Grant Proposals
Initial Screening criteria (Note: If any of these criteria are not met, the proposal will not be
reviewed by the Review Committee and will not be eligible for funding)
1. Is the faculty member eligible to apply for a COE Multidisciplinary grant?
2. Does the proposal include a copy of the vita of the Principal Investigator and the vita of
each of the other faculty members listed in the proposal?
3. Does the proposal abstract provide a brief summary (250 words maximum) of the
proposed project, including a listing of potential external funding sources?
4. Is the proposal text properly formatted and numbered, and does it include all of the
required sections?
Substantive criteria (Note: These are the criteria the Review Committee will employ to
judge your proposal)
1. Is the proposal written in clear, concise language that allows faculty from other
disciplines to understand the proposed research program?
2. Does the proposed research program address an important issue?
3. Does the current state of the research in this field point to the need for the proposed
research program?
4. Are the goals of the proposed research worthwhile?
5. Is the research methodology appropriate?
6. Are the expected outcomes of the project worthwhile? In particular, will the expected
outcomes contribute in a significant way to knowledge and/or scholarship in this area?
7. Is it likely that the expected outcomes of the proposed project will be attained?
8. Does the proposal clearly describe how the proposed research program will result in the
establishment of a new multidisciplinary research alliance at FSU?
9. Is the proposed schedule of project activities realistic?
10. Does the proposal identify specific likely sources of external funding to support the
continuation of the proposed research?
11. Does the proposal describe a realistic plan of action for obtaining that funding?
12. Does it seem likely that external funding will be obtained?
Important Note:
Given that the ultimate goal of the COE Multidisciplinary Grant Program is that faculty
members who receive a Multidisciplinary Grant will receive external funding to support the
continuation of their proposed research, the last three criteria on the above list (items 10 12) will be of particular importance in rating each proposal.
2012-13 COE MDG Guide
6