FSU Research Foundation
Arts & Humanities Program Enhancement Grant Competition
2007-2008 Program Overview
Posted 8/2007

AHPEGs are the arts and humanities equivalent of the original Program Enhancement Grant (PEG) and the current Social Science PEG (SSPEG) and are primarily designed to offer recognition of the qualitative and quantitative differences in funding available to the arts and humanities. Researchers in arts and humanities can apply to the SSPEG award program if she/he feels the project can be fully competitive with other SSPEG proposals expected to be primarily from the social and behavioral sciences, social work, policy science, business, criminology, law, nursing, communication, information studies and education. In many instances, research collaboration among arts, humanities, and social science faculty could be expected to strengthen an arts and humanities (AHPEG) research proposal.

AHPEGs are uniquely designed to facilitate and enhance the productivity of FSU researchers and artists through supporting the creation, production and dissemination of arts and humanities research and creative activity. AHPEG grants are designed to encourage projects that:

• can be brought to completion only with additional internal support;
• could lead to additional external funding*;
• develop significant connections across traditional academic disciplines on and off the campus; and
• will increase the national and international recognition and stature of FSU.

*where practical and implicit as part of the proposal, submission of at least one external proposal within one year of the acceptance of this award is an expectation of the award.

Participation is open to all FSU faculty in the arts and humanities communities who are eligible to apply for external support. Exceptions to the eligibility policy should be submitted by memo or email to the vice president for research with supporting rationale provided by the department chair, dean or equivalent official.

The Overall Goals of the Cornerstone AHPEG Program are:

• to advance the national and international recognition and stature of Florida State University in the areas of research and creative achievement in the arts and humanities
• where practical and implicit as part of the proposal, submission of at least one external proposal within one year, and
• to encourage the development of additional creative talents of both students and faculty at FSU.

Previous AHPEG proposals have ranged from $3,000 to $80,000 for a period of one year. This year up to $100,000 in available funding is proposed. Additional year funding will require resubmission of the proposal in the next competitive round in a subsequent year. Support might include, but would not be limited to:

• Faculty and/or student travel associated with the project;
• personnel costs of assistants, including any fringe benefits and tax considerations;
• traveling exhibits;
• faculty released time as noted below;
• acquisition of research materials and equipment (including books);
• rental of space for the project;
• printing subventions; and dissemination costs (including those of touring arts projects). Publication, per se, is not a requirement.

Generally speaking, the usual award size for AHPEG proposals have been in the range of $3,000 to $80,000. Proposals seeking awards larger than $15,000 will be required to demonstrate the following additional factors in the proposal text:

• Cost sharing
• Future possibilities for leverage
• Collaboration with other disciplines
• Innovative uses of proposed technology supported by multi-disciplinary collaborations
• Dissemination of artistic products and performance activities that will increase the national recognition of FSU

The first step in the AHPEG application process is the submission of a one page Letter of Intent (LOI)   PDF   Word Doc stating intent to apply and the nature of the proposed research or performing activity. This LOI and the 5 names of reviewers   PDF   Word Doc will assist selecting the types of external reviewers. LOIs do not require any other forms.

NOTE: Applicants are advised that requests solely for summer salary or sabbatical support through the AHPEG program will not be considered. However, summer salary or sabbatical support as part of a larger budget plan will be considered. Applicants requiring support solely for summer salary should not seek AHPEG funding, but rather consider applying to the Council on Research and Creativity (CRC) which offers a competitive funding program called COFRS providing some summer salary support. See the COFRS website.

There is no AHPEG pre-proposal process. But as noted above, the Letter of Intent form and list of 5 potential reviewers, due by October 26, are required. Full proposals from all LOI submitters are expected to be automatically forthcoming by January 4, 2008.

An AHPEG review group will be established for the purpose of reviewing AHPEG proposals. Applicants are required to submit the names and complete contact information for 5 experts in the field outside FSU, but inside the United States, with whom the PI has conversed about being a potential reviewer of this project and who have indicated to the PI that they are willing and available to review and evaluate the proposal, if selected, using an electronic review process, considering:

• the intellectual and artistic merits;
• the proposal's effect on advancing knowledge and understanding in the field;
• the potential and cultural significance of new and original works of art;
• the impact of the project on cultural enrichment, multicultural awareness, and intercultural tolerance; and
• the relationship of the work to existing or planned institutional research and creative programs and capacities.
• the proposal's quality and the PI's qualifications and capabilities (and the rest of the team, if appropriate);
• appropriateness of the proposed budget, duration, staffing, purchases, and capacity to utilize funds; and
• the availability of other existing support to leverage external funds in the future

To be considered for an award under the Arts & Humanities Program Enhancement Grant program, please review the specific and detailed Request for Proposal guidelines link on the Cornerstone program website. Also check out the list of previous awardees tab and their project titles at the same website. Examples of some proposals are available form a secure site.