Office of Research
DISSERTATION RESEARCH AWARD
CALL FOR PROPOSALS
PURPOSE
Awards are made competitively to doctoral students to pursue dissertation research. Support is not
available from the Office of Research for master's thesis research or alternative exit projects. Proposals
must focus on dissertation research that requires funding in excess of what can be supported through
normal academic program operating budgets. Successful applicants must submit a clear and wellorganized application that provides evidence of the proposed research problem’s significance and use
of appropriate research methods. The maximum possible Dissertation Research Award (DRA) is
$5,000. From among these awardees, those who have submitted through the university an external
grant proposal in response to an established research funding opportunity and subjected to a
competitive review process within the preceding year will also be eligible for an additional $500, if
unfunded, or an additional $5,000, if funded.
ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS (The two requirements below must be met prior to submitting an application.)
A doctoral student may receive only one DRA during her or his tenure at Cleveland State University.
An award is made with the understanding that:
1.
2.
The student must be a full-time graduate student enrolled in one of the University's doctoral programs at
the time of application, and the student must remain enrolled as a full-time student each semester during
the period in which funds are to be expended; and
The student must have a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.25 and must have successfully
completed more than 34 semester credit hours of graduate work at the time of application.
PRIOR TO AWARDING FUNDS (The deadline for the three requirements below is November 30 of the application
year)
1.
2.
The student must have successfully completed the appropriate comprehensive examination(s) for
advancement to candidacy for the doctoral degree; and
The student must have on file with the Graduate College Office a Dissertation Proposal
Approval form, with the required signatures.
TERMS OF AWARD
Acceptance of an award signifies the intent of the doctoral student to complete his or her doctoral
degree at Cleveland State University. The awarded funds must be expended within the 12 months
following the date the funds are awarded. Before work can begin on projects that involve the study of
humans or animals, awardees must obtain approval from the Institutional Review Board or the
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.
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The University Research Council exercises no direction or supervision over the details of the activities
to be performed, but it does require adherence to the original objectives and purposes of the proposal
and submission of a final report. No later than 30 days after the end date of the award, the awardee
must submit a final report as a PDF j.yard@csuohio.edu and d.j.simon@csuohio.edu. The report
should present in detail the accomplishments of the project including a summary of findings as well as
all dissemination activities, such as articles, presentations, etc. Finally, the awardee needs to assess the
extent to which the outcomes and expectations indicated in the proposal were met.
Any publication (dissertation, report, journal article, etc.) resulting from a DRA must carry an
acknowledgment that the project was carried out with support from the Cleveland State University
Dissertation Research Award Program. All equipment purchased under the DRA becomes the sole
property of the University and, for property control purposes, is assigned to the department in which
the awardee holds his or her appointment. All awards are administered through the Office of Research.
Award funds must be expended for the purposes described in the proposal and in accordance with
applicable University regulations and procedures. All award funds remaining unspent one year after
the funds are awarded will revert back to the Office of Research for redistribution. A one-time no-cost
extension of no longer than six months may be approved only in exceptional cases, and must be
requested at least one month in advance of the deadline.
PROPOSAL PREPARATION GUIDELINES
Submission Deadlines
a) March 11, 2016 - submission to Doctoral Program Director: Using the five-page proposal
application that is posted on the Office of Research website under Internal Funding Programs, a
doctoral student seeking funding under this program must submit a proposal to his or her doctoral
program director on or before March 11, 2016. A student is encouraged to consult his or her
Graduate Program Director prior to proposal preparation to determine whether the student
meets eligibility/nomination requirements. The selection criteria for nominations are to be
determined by the appropriate graduate committee. At the time of submission to the Office of
Research, each proposal must include a letter of support signed by the faculty research advisor (See
the Required Endorsements section of these guidelines).
b) March 25, 2016 - submission to the Office of Research: The proposal, with the required
signatures and nomination letter of support from the faculty research advisor, must be sent via email as a single PDF attachment to j.yard@csuohio.edu AND d.j.simon@csuohio.edu no later than
5:00 p.m. on March 25, 2016.
Award decisions, and notification of the outcome of the review, are expected by April 30. Awarded
funds will be available beginning June 1 and will be awarded upon documentation of meeting the three
criteria under “Prior to Awarding Funds” listed above.
Proposal Format
The format given in the attached proposal form must be observed rigorously; non-compliance with the
format will result in the disqualification of a proposal. The proposal must be typewritten or wordprocessed, and the text must be within the printed margins of the proposal form. The proposal form
provided must be used unless the applicant has obtained prior permission from the Office of Research
to submit a proposal in an alternative format. The proposal must include a current copy of the student's
curriculum vitae (please include the submission date on the vitae). With faculty reviewers from
many different fields across the University, the proposal should be written in plain English that
is clear and unambiguous so that the proposal is understandable to readers completely outside the
discipline. Nonetheless, the intellectual underpinnings of the research should be clear.
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Required Endorsements
The following signatures on the application cover page are required in order for a proposal to be
eligible for consideration:
1) Student Investigator--certifying agreement to the terms contained within these guidelines;
2) Doctoral Program Director--verifying that the student has met (or is on track to meet)
departmental/college comprehensive examination requirement(s) and endorsement of the
nomination by the relevant graduate faculty committee;
3) Department Chair--verifying that the student is making satisfactory progress toward the
completion of degree requirements, and that the support requested is not available through the
regular departmental operating budget; and
In addition, a letter of support from the student’s faculty research advisor must be part of the single
PDF attachment. The letter of support must describe the significance of the potential funding,
potential benefits to CSU, and probability for successful completion of the research. The letter should
also comment on the credentials of the student relative to the standards of his or her discipline.
Budget
Allowable expenses include: supply items related to the proposed research project; survey costs;
computer time, where necessary, at locations other than Cleveland State University; purchase of library
and testing materials; tuition expenses for attending a workshop or short course at another institution
when required to gain skills integral to the research effort; travel related to the collection of data; and
travel expenses related to the presentation of dissertation research (including poster presentation) by
the student investigator at a national meeting. Travel related to the presentation of dissertation
research is limited to the continental US, and such expenses are limited to a maximum of $1,200. Up to
50% of the total budget may be allocated for student summer salary. If salary is requested, include the
appropriate fringe benefit rates; see here for current rates. If additional funds are awarded for the
submission of an external grant proposal within the preceding year (up to $500, if unfunded, or up to
$5,000, if funded), these funds may be used to supplement the doctoral stipend.
Non-allowable expenses include: word processing and reproduction costs for a dissertation; graphics,
photographs or photocopying to be included in a dissertation; stipend or salary for the student’s
academic advisor; salary for data input/keypunch operator; salary for a statistical consultant; travel to
attend (but not present at) professional meetings; laptop; iPad (or any other tablet); ipod; iphone (or
any other cell phone); and graduate tuition.
The Colleges will be responsible for monitoring the account for adherence to Cleveland State
University’s accounting policies and practices. Over-expenditure of the account(s) will be charged
back to the College(s).
If questions arise concerning the acceptability of anticipated costs for support, they should be directed
to Joy Yard, 687-9364, j.yard@csuohio.edu, or Dan Simon, 687-5171, d.j.simon@csuohio.edu.
Selection Criteria
The purpose of the DRA is to make selective investments in doctoral students that will advance
significant scholarship. The DRA Evaluation Form that will be used by the University Research
Council is provided below.
Notification of Award
Applicants will be notified via email of funding decisions no later than May 1.
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Do not put your name on this sheet. Use additional sheets if necessary.
DRA Evaluation Form
Proposal Title: __________________________________________________ Proposal No.: ______________
The DRA criteria address the four key components below. With faculty reviewers from many different fields
across the University, the proposal should be written in plain English that is clear and unambiguous so
that the proposal is understandable to readers completely outside the discipline.
Criteria
Points
1. Quality of Research Objectives, Significance of Research, and Applied Methods and Procedures
(up to 6 points)
Comments:
_____
2. Credentials of the doctoral student and evidence of research recognition (GPA, published journal
papers, refereed conference articles, awards, grants received, etc.) (up to 6 points)
Comments:
_____
3. Budget justification. Travel expenses related to the presentation of dissertation research are limited
to a maximum of $1,200.00. The application includes a brief justification for each expense, and a
clear description how each budget item is essential and why resources are not available through other
sources. (up to 4 points)
Comments:
4. Letter of support from Research Advisor. The letter of support must describe the significance of
the potential funding, potential benefits to CSU, and probability for successful completion of the
research. The letter of support should also comment on the credentials of the student relative to the
standards of his or her discipline. (up to 4 points)
Comments:
Total (max 20 points)
Additional comments:
_____
_____
_____