Description

The primary aim of the SoSS Proposal Mentoring Grant is to help faculty submit competitive proposals for external funding. Funds will be provided to compensate an external scholar in the faculty member’s subdiscipline who has been successful in securing such funding and who will assist the Rice mentee develop and submit a competitive proposal. Additional benefits include connecting the faculty member with established scholars in their subdiscipline and familiarizing those scholars with the faculty mentor’s work. The grant is intended to supplement mentoring from senior faculty in the faculty member’s home department.

Eligibility

• Must be a full-time Rice tenured/tenure track faculty member who has not received this award.
• Faculty may only receive this award one time, and junior faculty will be given top priority.

Application Deadline

Applications are considered on a rolling basis until the allotted funds expire.

Award Information

Estimated Number of Awards: Contingent on available funding.
Anticipated Funding Amount per Award: Up to $2,000.

Funding

SoSS will match the faculty member department’s contribution up to $2,000. Departments will not be expected to contribute more than $2,000, making the total budget $4,000. Once awarded, funds will be disbursed once the mentee confirms the selected mentor’s acceptance of the invitation. Funds will support the following activities:

• Mentee travel to mentor’s institution (within the USA only).
• Mentor travel to Rice University (within the USA only).
• Mentor honoraria.

Requirements of Mentee

• Mentee commits to:
  • Develop and submit an external grant proposal based on an existing well-formulated research idea.
  • Submit a proposal within 12 months from the date the SoSS Mentoring Grant is made.
  • Revise and resubmit the proposal if it is declined and the funding agency permits revisions.
  • Provide SoSS with a report of outcomes and activities at the end of the award.

Requirements of Mentor

• The mentor commits to:
  • Having a track record of securing external funding from the same agency the mentee is pursuing.
  • Is committed to mentoring through meetings and reviewing proposal drafts.
  • Helps mentee select the funding mechanism and help the mentee set and meet milestones culminating with timely submission of a proposal to agency.
  • Reviews mentee’s drafts of proposal and provides constructive feedback.
  • Please note that the mentor may not be the mentee’s former advisor or a current or former collaborator.

Requirements of Department

• Department commits to:
  • Providing support in the form of matching funds as described above. Departments and grantees may combine departmental funds and grantee research funds to reach the full matching amount.

Evaluation Criteria

Evaluation of applications will include expertise, experience, and commitment of the mentor; mentee’s plan for allotting time to develop a proposal, the probability it will be submitted; and support from the department.

Application Procedure

Submit a completed online SoSS Proposal Mentoring Grant application (at the bottom of this page) along with the associated components. Required proposal components are listed below. Incomplete applications will not be considered for funding.

1. A brief department chair’s letter describing support for the mentee’s application, the probability that a proposal will be completed, and the proposed amount of matching funds.
2. Mentee’s Justification to include:
   1. A brief description of how the mentoring will increase the success of the proposal.
   2. Timeline and milestones for activities and proposal submission.
   3. Names of possible mentors who have served as the PI on a grant awarded from the mentee’s targeted agency/program (include names, email, and faculty website).
3. A budget with a list of each proposed activity and associated cost. The typical mentor honoraria are between $1,000 and $2,000. Larger requests must include a budget justification. If the total needed is more than $4,000, it is permissible for faculty to use their research accounts to supplement the Mentoring Grant.
4. Research Overview (existing well-formulated idea; no more than 3 pages total) to include:
   1. Summary of the proposed research.
   2. Details of funding mechanism including targeted agency/mechanism, duration and amount of grant, deadline, and website address to the solicitation.
   3. The weekly time commitment to write the proposal.
   4. If the proposal was previously declined by a funding sponsor (i.e. resubmission), please provide information as to why it was declined by the sponsor. Please include the name of the sponsor and web link to the request for proposal (RFP).
5. Mentee’s most recent Curriculum Vitae (CV)

Questions:

Please contact Chris Rodriguez.