Sciences and Mathematics

Typical Timeline

Call for proposals: Early February 
Deadline: Late March/Early April 
Award notifications: Late April 

Scope

RIMS Awards will fund the following budget items:

• Purchase of equipment or supplies related to a specific research project.
• Stipends for students to participate in research projects during the academic year or summer.
• Pay for page charges and other publication costs.
• Expenses associated with data collection on a specific project.
• Student travel expenses related to a research project conducted with the faculty member.
• Supplies or other costs involved in designing a high-impact experience for students.
• Supplies or other costs involved in designing and studying an area of concern in a course, pedagogical approach, curriculum design, etc. related to student success.  
• Creating bridges with area schools and community organizations.
• Collaborations between academic affairs, student affairs, and/or undergraduate services (e.g., student organizations, residence life, service learning, tutoring).
• Interdisciplinary research projects. 

Exclusions:

• RIMS does not fund release time (AWA) to pursue a scholarly project.
• RIMS does not fund summer salary for the faculty.
• Support for faculty travel for non-data collection purposes (e.g., conference participation, poster presentation, etc.) is not eligible. (Faculty are encouraged to contact the department chair for available faculty development funds.)
• Cost for hosting guest speakers.
• RIMS does not fund the following: local travel (within 50 miles of WCU), purchase of equipment that does not directly support a specific research project, department seminars, and materials or supplies used for classroom instruction.
• Proposal duplication is not allowed. 

Example of Past RFP

• Sample RIMS RFP
• Sample RIMS Budget Sheet 

*** Applicants are responsible for following the most recent RFP when submitting proposals as guidelines and submissions processes may have changed. The CSM Dean’s Office is not responsible for proposals submitted using outdated processes or for proposals which do not follow the most current guidelines. 

Select Funded Proposals

AY 2022-2023

• L. Brumley, "Leveraging Federal Data to Meet Student Dissertation Needs." $3,995.
• K. Kolasinski, "Controlling the Surface Chemistry of Porous Silicon for Biomedical Applications." $4,000.
• S. McQueen, "Let’s Talk About It: Cultivating Dialogue and Expression in the Classroom." $2,850.
• S. Pfeil, "Is NMM, an important probe of G-Quadruplex DNA, a dimer in solution?" $3,997.

Typical Timeline

Call for proposals: Early September
Deadline: Mid October
Award notifications: Late October

Scope

The following is a list of activities that are eligible for funding. This list is meant to spark your thinking; it is not meant to be exhaustive or limiting:

       i.      Faculty professional development funds to design a high-impact learning experience for students. 

      ii.      Faculty professional development funds to study/analyze an area of concern in a course, pedagogical approach, curriculum design, etc. related to student success. 

     iii.      Stipends for students to participate in research projects or internships during the academic year or summer. 

      iv.      Funds for equipment, supplies, or other materials* for a research or creative project that involves students and/or community partners.  

        v.      Creating bridges with community organizations, including K-12 schools and community colleges. 

       vi.      Collaborations between academic affairs, student affairs, and/or undergraduate services (e.g., student organizations, residence life, service learning, tutoring). 

*These items may also be eligible for tech fee funds, so priority will be given to proposals for items not typically covered by tech fee funding. Tech fee applications are accepted through the CSM Dean’s Office every spring.

Select Funded Proposals

AY 2022-2023

• L. Brumley & S. Grassetti, “Applied Community-based Clinical Experiences through Service Learning in Schools (Project ACCESS).” $3,999.
• L. Cui, "Closing the Gender Gap in Computer Science." $4,000.
• M. Fork, "Place-based research on environmental change: A Goose Creek research internship to increase research access, STEM identity, and career readiness." $4,000.
• P. Loedel, "European Union Simulation Program." $3,987.

Typical Timeline

Call for proposals: Spring semester 
Deadline: Spring semester 
Award notifications: Summer

Scope

The following is a list of activities that are eligible for funding. This list is meant to spark your thinking; it is not meant to be exhaustive or limiting:

·         Faculty professional development funds to design a high-impact learning experience for students. 

·         Faculty professional development funds to study/analyze an area of concern in a course, pedagogical approach, curriculum design, etc. related to student success. 

·         Stipends for students to participate in research projects or internships during the academic year or summer. 

·         Funds for equipment, supplies, or other materials* for a research or creative project that involves students and/or community partners.  

·         Creating bridges with community organizations, including K-12 schools and community colleges. 

·         Collaborations between academic affairs, student affairs, and/or undergraduate services (e.g., student organizations, residence life, service learning, tutoring). 

Priority will be given to projects or activities that serve WCU students, especially underrepresented students of color and other historically underserved populations, including potentially underserved populations like transfer students, non-traditional students, international students, veterans, etc.

Example of Past Application 

• Sample Tech Fee Application

*** Applicants are responsible for following the most recent RFP when submitting proposals as guidelines and submissions processes may have changed. The CSM Dean’s Office is not responsible for proposals submitted using outdated processes or for proposals which do not follow the most current guidelines.

Typical Timeline

Call for proposals: Mid August
Deadline: Late September
Award notifications: Mid October

Example of Past RFP

• Sample RAWA RFP
• Sample RAWA Scoring Rubric

*** Applicants are responsible for following the most recent RFP when submitting proposals as guidelines and submissions processes may have changed. The CSM Dean’s Office is not responsible for proposals submitted using outdated processes or for proposals which do not follow the most current guidelines.

Select Funded Proposals

AY 2022-2023

• S. Buskirk, “A Comprehensive Investigation into the Development of Alcohol Tolerance by Bacterial Pathogens.”
• Y. Kim, “Development of Porpoise Detection System based on Deep Learning Artificial Intelligence (AI).”
• T. Kwiatkowski, “Electronic Cigarette-Derived Phthalates Impact on Male Gonadal Tissues”
• S. McQueen, “Us Too: Republican Women’s Groups and the Struggle to Support Women Candidates.”

Typical Timeline

Call for proposals: Mid August
Deadline: Late September
Award notifications: Mid October

Typical Fall Timeline

Call for proposals: Early October
Deadline: Early November
Award notifications: Late November

Typical Spring Timeline

Call for proposals: Early March
Deadline: Early April
Award notifications: Late April

Scope

Current majors and graduate students in the College of the Sciences and Mathematics are invited to apply for funding for the following purposes:

• To buy materials, supplies, books, or small equipment for a specific student research project
• Photocopying necessary for a specific student research project
• The cost of data collection or data analysis for a student research project (e.g., educational software or data analysis program)
• Publication costs for publication in a professional journal
• Travel related to a special research project (e.g., to a library, archive, museum or to inter­view/work with a noted scholar or expert)
• Travel to a workshop or seminar which will provide special knowledge or skills for a research project
• Travel to present a paper or project at an upcoming profes­sional conference in the current or next semester (assuming the student will not have graduated before the travel). Presentation must be accepted at time of proposal submission and documentation of acceptance must be provided with the application (e.g., email notification that abstract was accepted).
• Reimbursement for travel already completed in the current or just-previous term (providing that evidence of the presentation and receipts for expenses are included and that the student has not yet graduated at the time of award).

Exclusions:

• Students must be registered for classes when they apply and not yet graduated when they receive the award; students who have graduated may not apply.
• Students may not apply for more than one award per semester.
• Students who receive a CSM Research Award cannot apply for the next round of awards (i.e., a student who gets an award in Spring 2020 cannot apply again [for a new project] until SPRING 2021). All reporting requirements for previous awards must be completed for a new application to be considered.
• The fund supports students working on individu­alized, long-term research projects of at least one semester in duration, under the careful supervi­sion of a faculty member. Ordinary term paper, laboratory and other course related assignments or costs associated with required internships are not eligible for support. Course projects required for an entire class and designed by the professor are not eligible for support.
• If two or more students are traveling to the same conference and have the same professor as a mentor for their research, they are considered to be a group and may apply for only one award for the group (rather than separately as individuals). If the students have completed different research projects under the same mentor, each project should be fully described in the application.
• Students who are presenting at an upcoming conference in the current or immediately subsequent semester (as described above) are eligible for funding provided a copy of the abstract acceptance letter/email is included with the grant proposal. Proposals without evidence of acceptance will not be considered.
• Student's past travel to present at a conference in the current or just-previous semester (as described above) may be reimbursed, provided evidence of presentation (e.g., copy of abstract in the program) and receipts for all items in the budget are included with the grant proposal. Proposals without evidence of presentation and receipts will not be considered.
• Conference attendance without presentation is not eligible for funding.
• Students whose faculty advisor for a particular project is currently serving on the awards committee may not apply.
• Duplication with any other internal or external submitted proposals is not allowed.
• Other restrictions may apply. See RFP for details.

Example of Past RFP

• Sample USRA RFP
• Sample GSRA RFP

*** Applicants are responsible for following the most recent RFP when submitting proposals as guidelines and submissions processes may have changed. The CSM Dean’s Office is not responsible for proposals submitted using outdated processes or for proposals which do not follow the most current guidelines.

Select Funded Proposals

USRA

Fall 2021

• E. Harris, “Intergenerational transmission of gendered play practices.” $500.
• S. Smith and J. Miller, “GSSI Academy RADAN workshop for archaeological research.” $500.
• D. Wagner, “Drag Reduction in the Snailfish Tail Curl.” $500.

GSRA

Fall 2021

• R. Boniface, “A Two Generation Approach For Trauma (2G4T).” $500.
• C. O’Connor, “The Effect of Folic Acid Inhibition on Neural Tube Closure.” $500.
• D. Stahl, “Heart Rate Variability as a Biomarker for Therapeutic Alliance Formation.” $500.