Grants for Interdisciplinary Graduate Research
in Evolution, Ecology and Behavior
(2006/2007 Academic Year)
Purpose: The Graduate Program in Evolution, Ecology and Behavior (EEB) has a small fund of money that we wish to use to support evolutionary and ecological studies by graduate students at UB. The intent of the program is to promote interdisciplinary research in organismal evolutionary biology, ecology and behavior. Such work typically combines insights, methods, or concepts from two or more of the fields united within EEB and is conducted under the supervision of faculty from more than one academic department. Grants may provide seed money with which to conduct preliminary work leading to extramural funding or to top-up an established project by providing assistance to conduct critical work that otherwise would not be possible.
Application Deadlines: January 5, 2007.
Eligibility: All Masters and Ph.D. students in good standing currently enrolled in a degree granting program within the broad area of organismal evolutionary biology at UB are eligible to apply. Preference will be given to those students who participate in EEB activities-- i.e., students who have taken or are currently enrolled in EEB courses and whose research supervisory committee includes faculty members from at least two of the academic departments affiliated with EEB. Allowable Costs: Most grants will be $1,200 or less. However, in exceptional circumstances larger amounts may be awarded. The money may support the following direct costs: laboratory costs, supplies, research-related travel (not to present results at meetings), or other essential research needs. It may not be used for graduate salary, but may be used to hire undergraduate research assistants. In the case of salary for undergraduate assistants, the budget must include a 4% fringe benefit on the salary amount and the pay rate must meet Research Foundation minimum wage requirements. No indirect costs will be billed to this fund.
Grant Period: Funds must be expended by August 31, 2007.
Proposal Guidelines: The proposal should follow the outline given below. The text of the Project Description is limited to a maximum of 5 pages, double-spaced, excluding figures.
1. Title Page. Give project title, your name, academic department and degree program in which you are a candidate, and names of your advisory committee members.
2. Summary (not to exceed 250 words).
3. Project Description.
a. Goals. A concise statement of the problem to be investigated with this funding and its significance within your overall project and within evolutionary biology in general.
b. Plan of study. Outline the steps to be taken in the proposed research and how they will lead to accomplishing the project goals. This description should make it clear what impact the requested funding would have on your overall research project if granted.
c. Literature cited.
4. Budget.
a. NSF budget page listing costs.
b. Budget justification. Indicate how costs listed on the budget page relate to the plan of study.
5. Current Support: List all current and pending support for the proposed project or for any related projects on which you are working by title of proposal. Include the name of the sponsor, grant start and end dates, name of the Principal Investigator(s), and level of support granted (or sought, in the case of pending proposals).
Evaluation: Proposals will be evaluated principally on the basis of scientific merit: significance of the research, feasibility of the project, suitability of suggested methods, and your apparent qualification to conduct the work. Inevitably, the proposal’s merit will be clearest when the program description is well organized and clearly written. Secondarily, we will also consider the likely impact of funding. Among two projects of equal scientific merit, we will fund that project for which the requested funding will have the greatest effect, dollar-for-dollar, on the successful completion of the student’s graduate research program.