Internal Funding Sources
On this page you can find out about funding opportunities offered through the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development (VPR/ED). If funds are awarded through a competitive process, announcements will appear on the VPR/ED home page. Generally, requests for proposals (RFPs) will remain available online past the application deadlines. You may use an old RFP as a general guide in planning your application for the next award cycle, but please be sure to check the VPR/ED site for updates and new RFPs, as deadlines and some requirements will change from year to year. Also, some opportunities may not be offered every year.
- VPR/ED Resources
- Bailey Research Career Development Award
- Grow Iowa Values Fund, State of Iowa
- Publications Subvention Grants Program
- Related Opportunities
VPR/ED Resources
Through its annual budget, the Office of the Vice President for Research and Economic Development (VPR/ED) offers some financial assistance to the research community. Contingent on the level of funding available,the VPR/ED may have funding for the types of support listed below.
For information about VPR/ED funds currently available, contact Chitra Rajan , phone 294-9096.
- Cost-Sharing Funds
The VPR/ED may contribute graduate research assistantships to meet the mandatory cost-sharing requirements of certain extramural research and training grant proposals.
The university (i.e., the departments, deans' offices, centers/institutes, and/or VPR/ED office) will collectively provide cost-share support only when it is required. Institutional support will be considered for large (greater than $5 million), multi-investigator, multi-institutional grant proposals.
Requests for institutional cost share support should be submitted to the VPR/ED office . Requests should be accompanied with the following information: 1) estimated budget (for all years combined and the budget per year); 2) the IDC revenues that Iowa State would be expected to receive (for all years combined and the amount of IDC revenues per year); 3) the required amount of cost-share; 4) the names of the PIs; 5) the salaried home(s) of the PIs, and the percentage of the PI's salary paid by each unit, if a PI is paid by multiple units; and 6) a copy of the solicitation (RFP, RFQ/BAA).
The VPR/ED office will coordinate all contributions from the departments, colleges, centers/institutes, PI incentives, and/or VPR/ED office, as appropriate. This will, in most cases, be less than the targeted amount of cost share. The PI will be notified of the contributions and will then have to find the remaining amount of cost-share through in-kind contributions or other sources. The VPR/ED and deans' offices would be willing to provide guidance and suggestions for how the in-kind contributions can be met.
The PI will notify the VPR/ED once the remaining amount of cost-share resources has been finalized. The VPR/ED office will notify OSPA that the cost-share requirement has been met and agreed upon.
If the proposal is awarded at a significantly lower amount than what was proposed, the cost-share contributions will be revised accordingly.
Cost-Sharing that Involves Buildings or Land
In rare circumstances, buildings or land may be used as cost share. All proposals that include
buildings or land as a part of the cost share must be approved by all parties to whom the buildings or
land are assigned and Warren Madden, Vice President for Business and Finance.
Institutional Letters of Support
PIs will notify the VPR/ED office regarding requests for
letters of institutional support. PIs will provide a draft letter that includes the uniqueness of the
proposed work, the strengths at ISU that make it well suited to house the work on this campus, and any
other pertinent information that would be useful. The letter will be edited and the VPR/ED office will
have the letter signed by either the Provost or the Vice President for Research and Economic
Development, as appropriate. Please allow for at least 3 to 5 days to get the letter
prepared and signed, and do not contact the Provost directly.
Faculty and other personnel with approved PI status at Iowa State may apply.
- Grantsmanship Support
The VPR/ED office offers many workshops and seminars on proposal writing [insert new url here]. In some cases, the VPR/ED office may provide funds to help faculty attend other workshops and seminars. In addition, the VPR/ED office may consider requests for funds for individual grant consulting, visits to funding agencies and visits by federal agency program directors. Contributions for other grantsmanship activities depend on the scope of the activity and opportunities for subsequent funding.
Faculty and other personnel with approved PI status at Iowa State may apply. Documentation should be provided of the benefit that will likely accrue to the PI and the university as a result of the proposed grantsmanship activities. Indicate any cost-sharing commitments from other Iowa State units.
- Matching Funds for Equipment Proposals
Please see the section above on "Cost-Sharing."
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Start-Up Funds
- The Office of the Provost will take the lead in retention efforts.
- The Office of the VPR/ED will take the lead in planning faculty start-up packages. Support for start-up packages will consist of two components:
- A "formula-based" amount that the VPR/ED office will be willing to commit at the start of the academic year.
- A "strategic component"--an additional amount of start up funds that the VPR/ED office is willing to consider if the position is deemed to be "strategic".
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The "Formula-Based" Component
The formula-based component will commit a certain amount (not percentage) of funds for each position on the College's list of prospective hires for the coming year. This amount may vary from $0 to $50,000, and will depend on the following factors:
- Is externally funded research an expectation for tenure? The VPR/ED office will not provide formula-based start up funds for positions where there are no expectations for sponsored research.
- Will the candidate be likely to obtain grants with full overhead rates? To estimate this, the Colleges will be asked to list the funding agencies that a faculty member in that field is most likely to obtain sponsored funding from.
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The "Strategic" Component
A college may request additional start-up funds for a candidate if they can establish that the hire would be strategic. Some guidelines that may be considered are the following:
- The candidate is being hired in an area that the President/Provost/VPR/ED considers to be strategic.
- The candidate will be a key participant in one of the centers/institutes that report to the VPR/ED, and the center/institute director endorses the candidate.
- The candidate is a senior hire and will come to ISU with research funds.
- The candidate brings critical expertise for existing or proposed interdisciplinary programs.
- The candidate is a woman (and women are under-represented in that field) or from an under-represented group.
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Accountability
The VPR/ED office will work with the colleges in reviewing annual data on grant and research activity to ascertain return on investment (i.e., pace of winning grants, etc.).
Bailey Research Career Development Award
This award is to foster research that is innovative and, not only increases knowledge, but has practical applications. Any full-time tenured associate professors and professors at Iowa State may apply for this award. The award is made competitively and the amount of the award may vary from year to year.
Application Information
Past
Recipients
Grow Iowa Values Fund (GIVF)
These funds are to support the development of Iowa State University innovations with commercial potential and to help more Iowa State technologies reach the marketplace as the foundation for new Iowa companies and/or the growth of existing Iowa companies. The funding is intended to support a wide range of stages in technology development, from the initial research concept (prior to intellectual property disclosure), to proof of concept, to licensing and commercialization. All proposals should have a clear commercial benefit or potential for the State of Iowa and must show a clear connection to Iowa industry(s). Interdisciplinary proposals are encouraged. Extensions to previously funded GIVF projects are also encouraged.
Publications Subvention Grants Program
Funds are available from an endowment fund to help assure publication, in the appropriate medium, of meritorious scholarly writings and other worthy original works of the Iowa State University faculty and staff and selected others.
