Cornerstone Programs

Request for Proposals (RFP)
Social Science Program Enhancement Grants
Arts & Humanities Program Enhancement Grants
Updated 8/24/07

The Office of the Vice President for Research, the Council on Research & Creativity (CRC) and the FSU Research Foundation (FSURF) are soliciting proposals from FSU faculty under current competitive Cornerstone Programs: Social Science Program Enhancement Grants (SSPEG) and Arts & Humanities Program Enhancement Grants (AHPEG). See AHPEG Program Overview and SSPEG Program Overview for general information about each program.

Deadlines and Target Dates for SSPEG and AHPEG programs

Letters of Intent Form and List of Reviewers Form Due	10/26/07
Proposals Due	1/4/08
External Review Period	mid-January thru mid-March 2008
Internal FSU Review Period	mid-March thru 4/1/08
Awards Announcement Made	on/about April 1, 2008

At a minimum, the software you will need is: Internet access, MS Word, MS Excel, Adobe Acrobat (read, write/edit and save capabilities will require that you have more than the ‘free’ Acrobat reader). Please be mindful that program coordinators and proposal reviewers will not be able to read all types of software, so please limit your uploaded documents to MS Word (.doc), MS Excel (.xls), or Acrobat (.pdf). WordPerfect (.wp) or Lotus (.wk) formats are also acceptable but not preferred. Do not use .mdi or any photo program to save your documents.

Funds Available

In fiscal year 2007-2008 we will fund approximately $200,000 in Cornerstone projects.

SSPEG: To enhance the creativity of FSU researchers in the social sciences and to encourage external funding initiatives, we invite SSPEG proposals for up to $100,000 in funding for up to two years..

AHPEG: To enhance the creativity of FSU researchers and artists and to encourage external funding initiatives or the completion of creative activity projects, we invite AHPEG proposals to share up to $100,000 in funding for one year. Any additional year funding will require resubmission of a new proposal in the next competition round in a subsequent year. AHPEG proposals seeking the largest portion of the available funding may be required to demonstrate the following additional factors:

• Cost sharing
• Future possibilities for leverage
• Multi-disciplinary collaboration within FSU
• 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

Initial Process

We recognize that considerable effort is required to prepare a competitive proposal for consideration under the Cornerstone program. Therefore, we will solicit a Letter of Intent (LOI) Form for SSPEGs and AHPEGs and a list of 5 potential reviewers from outside FSU, but inside the United States, whom the applicant has determined, through communication with the potential reviewers, are willing and available to engage as potential reviewers. The LOIs will be used to determine the research fields from which SSPEG and AHPEG full proposals are anticipated. The list of 5 unbiased, recruited colleagues from outside FSU, but within the United States, to serve as potential reviewers will help us as we plan the review process. Do not list, as potential reviewers, any current or past collaborators, co-authors or others who may represent a conflict of interest with your planned research, nor anyone located outside the United States. See Required Forms section below for forms to complete the LOI and the List of 5 Potential Reviewers.

Eligibility, Determination of and Limitation of

Participation is open to all FSU faculty who are eligible to apply for external support. Exceptions to the eligibility policy should be submitted by email to the Vice President for Research with supporting rationale provided by the department chair, dean or equivalent official prior to the proposal deadline. It is the applicant's responsibility to plan, direct and execute the proposed project. Each application must indicate a single Principal Investigator (PI) as the primary contact person. To be eligible for funding, the deadlines shown herein must be satisfied.

Hiatus

PIs who have been awarded previous Cornerstone COE, PEG, SSPEG, or AHPEG funding may submit a new proposal only after a two-year hiatus following completion of the final year of the award's term.

NOTE: Only one proposal per PI may be submitted to only one program (SSPEG or AHPEG). The applicant must consider which program will best support his/her research plan and then clearly indicate which program to which they are applying.

Brief Overview of SSPEG Content (for detail, see full proposal table later in this announcement):

SSPEG Letter of Intent: (including brief abstract) No pre-proposal is needed No Sponsored Research Transmittal Form is needed at the LOI stage Names and complete contact information for 5 expert, unbiased, recruited reviewers outside FSU but within the United States

SSPEG Final Proposal (in this order): Sponsored Research Transmittal (DSR) Form Proposal text (up to five pages), plus budget information and appropriate appendix pages

Brief Overview of AHPEG Content (for detail, see final proposal table later in this announcement):

AHPEG Letter of Intent: (including brief abstract) No pre-proposal is needed No Sponsored Research Transmittal Form is needed at the LOI stage Names and complete contact information for 5 expert, unbiased, recruited reviewers outside FSU but within the United States

AHPEG Final Proposal (in this order): Sponsored Research Transmittal (DSR) Form Proposal text (up to five pages), plus budget information and appropriate appendix pages Publication list with appropriate CV information that includes page numbers for all referenced published articles and books

REQUIRED FORMS Note: length of form is restricted. Be guided by limitation details in Full Proposal Instruction section below.

Letter of Intent (LOI)   PDF   Word Doc
5 names of reviewers   PDF   Word Doc
Cornerstone DSR Form 1 Proposal Transmittal Form AHPEG   SSPEG
Animal Subjects Info, if applicable
Human Subjects Info, if applicable
Hazardous Waste Info, if applicable
Marine Lab Info
Support Document (formerly called Current & Pending Support form)   PDF   WordDoc
Curriculum vita   PDF   Word
Proposal Budget   PDF   Excel

FORMAT GUIDELINES

Letters of Intent and list of recruited reviewers: You must stay within the one page LOI form as designed. You must use a type size that is clear and readily legible, no smaller than 11 point, and the text must be single spaced and single-sided.

The list of potential reviewers form may increase in size as needed to accommodate detailed contact information.

These two documents are submitted via email only. See instructions below.

FULL PROPOSAL: You must stay within all forms as designed. You must use a type size that is clear and readily legible, no smaller than 11 point, and proposal text margins should be no smaller than 1/2" top, bottom and sides, text must be single spaced and single-sided. Proposal text has no specific layout as such. These documents are not submitted via email but rather through the CRC/CS On-Line Proposal Submission process. See instructions below.

LETTER OF INTENT INSTRUCTIONS

The Cornerstone competitions require that a Letter of Intent (LOI)   PDF   Word Doc form and 5 names of reviewers   PDF   Word Doc be submitted electronically via email to Jan Townsend at jtownsend@fsu.edu by the October 26 deadline. The LOIs will provide preliminary information regarding the research fields from which full proposals are anticipated.

Inclusion of the list of 5 potential reviewers will allow this office to randomly select up to three of the five reviewers representative of the pertinent disciplines. Do not suggest current or past collaborators, co-authors, or others who may represent a conflict of interest with your planned research, or anyone located outside the United States.

If, after submitting a Letter of Intent Form, your intentions change and you decide not to compete in this program, send an email to that effect to jtownsend@fsu.edu

FULL PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS:

It is expected that any Letter of Intent automatically will be followed by a full proposal unless otherwise indicated by the PI; there will be no formal invitation to submit a full proposal. The deadline to electronically submit full proposals is January 4, 2008 at 4:30 pm.

Full Proposal packet will contain the following:

Proposal Item	Limitations	Comments
1. Sponsored Research Transmittal (Cornerstone DSR) Form	This is a required form and is not to be shortened or lengthened, except to add more co-PIs than the original form allows	If human or animal subjects or hazardous materials are involved in your project, the appropriate boxes must be completed. NOTE: Institutional Review Board (IRB) or Animal Care & Use Committee (ACUC) or hazardous materials approval must be obtained before release of any Cornerstone funding.
2. Table of Contents (TOC)	Limit: One Page	Indicate page number for each section Include a TOC at the beginning of your proposal text document. *
See Suggestions and Possible Approaches at the end of this RFP to respond to the proposal sections 3-6.
3. The Proposal	Limits: 5 pages of text	The proposal should detail the one year plan (for SSPEG only, need detail for two years) including a design of activities to be undertaken (year by year if applying for a SSPEG), providing a clear description of methods and procedures and plans for properly documenting the data. See Overview links for more detail regarding suggested content. References may be placed in the proposal text section. *   ** In your proposal text, lay out the budget expenditures as Year 1 (and Year 2 if applying for a SSPEG). The budget form itself will be a summary of the two year plan.
* NOTE: Please include the table of contents (TOC) at the beginning of your proposal text document. Include any appendix information at the end of your proposal text document. Then upload your proposal text document. While you may add the TOC and any appendecies or approval forms to the proposal text document for uploading purposes, the proposal text per se remains limited to five pages of text; i.e., you might have an upload in the proposal text section of 10 pages (1 TOC, 5 proposal text pages and 4 appendices pages = 10). **NOTE: If you have accumulated any human or animal subject approvals, or DNA, RNA, or hazardous materials approvals, those documents must follow the proposal text when you are assembling your electronic proposal for uploading purposes.
4. Budget PDF   Excel	Do not shorten or lengthen this document.	There are no indirect costs associated with Cornerstone awards. Guidelines for allowable expenditures under the Cornerstone program are, for science and engineering and social science units, those normally allowed under federal contract and grant programs, and for arts and humanities units those advanced as examples in the AHPEG Program Overview. Unusual expenditure requests may be submitted, with justification, if the PI believes they are essential to the success of the project. See The Proposal notes above relative to your budget plan.
5. Biographical Sketches Vita PDF   Word	A biographical sketch, no longer than 2 pages, is required for EACH investigator.	List the following in this order: undergraduate, graduate and postdoc training (institution, major, degree & year); all academic/professional appointments beginning with the current one; up to 5 publications most closely related to the project and 5 other significant publications whether or not related to the project (all must include names of authors in proper order, article and journal title, book title, vol. number, page numbers, publication year); up to 5 synergistic activities or examples that demonstrate the broad impact of investigator's professional and scholarly activities on related research.
6. Support Document PDF   WordDoc (formerly Current & Pending Support)		All PI's support from all sources must be listed. Must show each PI's time commitment for all current and pending support, even if there is no salary requirement involved. Use additional sheets if needed. Concurrent submission to other organizations will not prejudice Cornerstone review.

How to Electronically Submit Your Cornerstone Proposal:

You Must Use:

1. the CRC/CS Online System and
2. the OMNI System. However, regarding OMNI, DO NOT ATTEMPT to submit your proposal through OMNI Grants Module unless you have completed the detailed, formal training. If you have not had this training, this office will submit your proposal through OMNI for you.
3. Authority to submit through OMNI for you is only accomplished if you send a hard copy of the Sponsored Research Transmittal (Cornerstone DSR) Form, fully signed by PI, CO-PIs (if any), department chair, director (if any) and dean, to Jan Townsend’s office (see last page of this RFP).
4. IF – and only IF – you have completed OMNI Grants Module training may you submit a proposal into OMNI yourself.
5. If you do submit a proposal into OMNI for this program, you must email jtownsend@fsu.edu with the Proposal ID Number so that she can locate the proposal and further process it.

What is OMNI?

The FSU OMNI (On-Line Management of Networked Information) system is designed to handle the university's financial and human resources needs. Included in that system is a Grants Module wherein faculty, with previous full training, may submit proposal information.

While OMNI requires that proposals be electronically submitted through its system in order to link to all other appropriate proposal management modules, and ultimately perhaps generate a funded award, the OMNI system does not have the capability of providing review/evaluation links for proposal reviewers.

To accomplish this, the CRC and Cornerstone programs utilize an additional on-line proposal submission process which provides

• an electronic method for submitting your Cornerstone proposal to the program administrator (Jan Townsend),
• an electronic method for the administrator to assign those proposals to reviewers, and
• an electronic method whereby those reviewers can submit their evaluation score and comments regarding the proposal back to the Cornerstone administrator.

This office, acting as in the role of an agency (similar to NSF, NEH or NIH) will require that you submit your proposal through the CRC/CS On-Line Proposal Submission process. You do not need special training to use the CRC/CS On-Line system. It is only through this process that your proposal will be accessible to reviewers so that evaluations can be recorded and funding recommendations made, and perhaps awarded.

To begin the process, you will need to completely read the instructions in this announcement. Prepare and save the various proposal elements in your computer. See Proposal Contents section above for specific forms required for Cornerstone.

Once you have done this, then go to https://submissions.research.fsu.edu and follow the simple instructions.

1. If you have completed a PROFILE for the CRC/CS Online process in the past, DO NOT make a new PROFILE. Go right to #3. If not, first make a PROFILE so our database will know who you are.
2. Start the Submit a New Proposal process by answering all the questions and uploading all the required elements.
3. You will have an opportunity to submit/store/save your proposal and update/edit it until the posted deadline for the program.
4. You will receive an email confirmation of your proposal submission, even in its initial form, providing you with a login name and passcode so that you can revisit your proposal in the CRC/CS system until you are satisfied that it is final, or the deadline is reached, whichever comes first!

You should note that proposals received after the deadline will not be processed and incomplete proposals will not be accepted, so please revisit your proposal to make certain it is complete before the deadline.

SELECTION CRITERIA and PROCESS

Initially proposals will be evaluated by a merit review process consisting of electronic reviews completed by some of the suggested outside reviewers provided by the PI. Once the reviews (comments and scores) are received, a sub-committee designated by the Vice President for Research will recommend a priority order of projects to be funded, considering both the external reviews and FSU's current research interests and direction.

Proposals will be evaluated by the reviewers on the basis of:

• the scholarly and, where appropriate, the artistic merits of the proposed activity;
• the effect the proposal will have on advancing knowledge and understanding in the field represented by the proposed work;
• where appropriate, the potential and cultural significance of new and original works of art;
• where appropriate, the cultural enrichment impact of the project and performance capabilities of the PI;
• the vision and productivity of the project leader;
• the overall integration, coherence, and credibility of the efforts among disciplines and researchers who would carry out the proposed plan; and
• the relationship of the work to existing or planned institutional research and creative programs and capacities. It is recognized that external reviewers will not necessarily have this particular knowledge, but this bulleted item WILL be considered by the internal FSU committee.

Evaluations will also consider the following factors:

• the proposal's quality and the PI's qualifications and capabilities (and those of the rest of the team, if appropriate);
• plans for long-term artistic, scientific and/or financial sustainability of the proposal based on increased external funding;
• appropriateness of the budget, staffing, and duration of the project;
• appropriateness of instrumentation purchases, if any, for the work proposed;
• utilization of graduate assistants whenever possible or appropriate; and
• availability of other existing support to leverage external funds.

The internal FSU vetting of proposals will utilize the same bulleted points above with deliberate consideration of the university's current research strengths, interests and direction.

Cornerstone Required Reports

Within 30 days of the close of the award period, an awarded PI will be asked to electronically report the results of this funding, plans for the next phase of research and the submissions of external proposals resulting from this award. This report is required. You will be sent an email reminder with directions to the website for filing the report and the required login information to do so.

THE PROPOSAL SECTION-SUGGESTIONS AND POSSIBLE APPROACHES

The following general suggestions are made to enhance the chances of a successful evaluation by external reviewers, all of whom have previously evaluated major proposals.

• Executive Summary (purpose is to convey an overview of the proposal) - should state the main purpose of the research or creative activity, provide an overview of the hypothesis and approach, and describe how this work will move the field of knowledge or performance forward. It is particularly important that this section be written in lay language.
• Specific Aims (purpose is to sell your idea) - propose several aims, but not a dozen. Briefly describe the problem to be addressed, what is known and what is not, or, describe the performance objective, what has been previously achieved and what merits new creative activity. Describe the niche your funded work will fill in the field.
• Background and Significance (purpose is to convince your reviewers that you understand the research or creative needs in the larger context) - set out the conceptual framework for the work; describe what other work is underway by others, how your work differs, and why that is important; provide the rationale and justification of the work.
• Organizational and Managerial Activities (purpose is to show how your plan will achieve success in today's competitive R&D environment, if applicable to your research) - explain how you plan to make use of any proposed multidisciplinary teams for internal management, how you plan to implement external advisory groups or visiting committees for broad strategic advice, and how to conduct a broad outreach to interact formally with peer communities using methods such as hosting seminar series and topical workshops.
• Preliminary Studies (purpose is to show your reviewers that you (and, if appropriate, your team) have experience doing research and creative activity and can be good stewards of these support funds) - set out previous work and help determine the feasibility of the proposed work, its practical significance and the ability of each team member to carry out the work. List the salient experience of each member and demonstrate the linkages among the work. Specify the commitment of each participant and show how the funding creates opportunities that would not exist otherwise. Identify previous work related to the goals of the proposed work.
• Experimental Design and Methods (purpose is to convince the reviewers you have thought through the action plan and know how to answer the questions posed in the Specific Aims section above and how to deal with potential problems) - set out the design, a detailed action plan and implementation timetable linked to the specific aims; include and discuss an implementation timetable.
• Items Specific to the Cornerstone Program
  • Significance - describe the scientific significance of the work and why such work merits Cornerstone funding.
    • How does this achieve the goals of the Cornerstone program?
    • What impact will the work have on FSU? on the state or nation?
    • Are there any key multidisciplinary linkages important to the work?
    • What budget items will the Cornerstone funding be used for? Where will other funding be sought, specifically?
  • Sustainability (purpose is to demonstrate the care with which the long-term financial viability of the program has been thought through) - what specific plan, timing and likelihood of achieving additional funding do you have to sustain this activity after Cornerstone funding is spent. A well thought out discussion on these issues with a plan of action would have a better impact than extravagant claims of benefits.

WHERE TO SEND YOUR FULL PROPOSAL: See FULL PROPOSAL INSTRUCTIONS above.

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Jan Townsend is your conduit for CRC proposal submission. Here is her contact info:
Jan Townsend, Coordinator, Research Programs & Services --- CRC and Cornerstone
Office of the Vice President for Research, Florida State University
109 Westcott Building, Tallahassee, FL 32306-1330 Direct Line: 850.644.8636
jtownsend@fsu.edu