The Office of Research is pleased to announce the Innovation in Diversity and Inclusion Research, Scholarship, and Creative Activity program. Diversity and inclusion are key to enhancing innovation in research, scholarship and creative activity by allowing for different points of views to be part of creating new knowledge. The aim of this program is meant to support critical gaps in knowledge related to equity, diversity and inclusion or to benefit impacted communities.

Individual awards will be provided up to $15,000 for a one-year period with a total of $50,000 – $100,000 available for the program depending on quality of proposals. Successful awardees must present a plan for sustained funding or support beyond the end of the award and demonstrate how the seed funding will be used to attract external support.

Eligibility
Eligible topics include:

  • Original research and creative activity that is informed and serves the needs of diverse communities
  • Collaborations (new or existing) with organizations (e.g., other universities, health care, non-profits, community) that serve minority communities
  • Research and creative activity projects that focus on the training and career development of students from diverse population groups

All Chapman University faculty who are continuing full-time faculty during the 2020-2021 academic year are eligible.

Complete information on the program can be found at the Internal Funding section of the Research and Creativity Activity website for Chapman.

Application Process
The application should include the following:

  • Cover page with title, participant’s name(s) and 100-word summary. This is a succinct summary of the proposed work that is meant to be separate from the Main Proposal.
  • Main Proposal (4 pages maximum)
  • Background and Significance (1 page): Explain the importance of the proposed project goal(s) in advancing knowledge of diversity and inclusion, what benefits to society in advancing diversity and inclusion, how your (and/or your team’s) expertise is critical for addressing the issue (cite previous work, if applicable), and how that expertise will be integrated into the study.
  • Project Design (2 pages): Describe the proposed project (e.g., overview of design, program description, data collection, data analyses and/or methodologies). Activities may include pilot data collection, workshops, seminars or other activities to help accomplish the goals of the project. Include a project timeline that begins no earlier than January 1, 2021 and ends no later than December 31, 2021. If collaborators are included, please describe their proposed contributions to the project.
  • Future Funding and Sustainability Plan (1 page): Present a plan for sustaining the funding beyond the one-year period. This should include specific funding opportunities (solicitations) from grant agencies, foundations or other entities that provide financial assistance for research and creative activity in your area. In addition, a brief (one paragraph summary should be provided describing what will be proposed to the funding opportunity. Please include the planned submission of proposal(s) within the January 1, 2021 – December 31, 2021 time period. Please note that a good source of grant opportunities is the Pivot database that Chapman has a subscription. Please contact sps@chapman.edu if you have question on how to access.
  • Budget Summary and Justification (1 page max). Please see budget template.
  • Principal Investigator / Participants CVs (2-5 page maximum for each PI in NSF, NIH, NEH format). Links to Biosketch/Resume Guidelines:
  • NEH Resume Information
  • NIH Bio Information
  • NSF Bio Information
  • Appendices (references, other supporting materials) (OPTIONAL). (5 pages max)

Budget
Grants will be funded in the range of $5,000 – $15,000. Grant funding may be applied, for example, to the following expenses:

  • Student (ugrads and grads) working remotely are encouraged
  • Purchase of data sets or collections
  • Gathering of additional data and/or information
  • Supplies related to the project
  • Limited travel is allowed (consistent with University travel restrictions) and must be directly related to the project (conference travel is not allowed).

Evaluation of Proposals
Proposals will be reviewed by faculty with relevant expertise and no conflicts of interest. The faculty review will be used to make final decisions made by the Vice President for Research, the Provost, Faculty Fellow and Vice Provost for Academic Administration.

Proposal evaluation criteria are:

  1. Potential impact of project on diversity research or creative activity at Chapman and/or in the community
  2. Significance and originality of research and creative activity
  3. Credentials of Principal Investigator(s) in diversity research or creative activity to conduct the proposed project and sustain the effort after one year
  4. Potential for long term sustainability (after one year) of the activities through partnerships and/or external funding

Application Deadline
Applications must submitted as a single PDF to the Grant Portal no later than 5:00 PM, Friday, October 30, 2020.

Questions
Please contact Thomas Piechota (714-628-2897, Piechota@chapman.edu) for questions regarding the program.