VPDoR $50,000 Propel Grant - 2024 Spring Cycle
The Stanford Research Development Office (RDO) is a unit of VPDoR that aims to strengthen collaborative or strategic research, scholarship, and creative activities by helping to set PIs up for sponsored research funding success through proposal-opportunity alignment, early preparation, and proposal development support.
RDO invites applications from Stanford faculty for Propel Grants and, with a budget of up to $500,000 annually, anticipates granting up to 10 awards per year.
DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION IS 11:59 PM ON APRIL 2, 2024
Propel Grants Purpose and Scale
The Propel Grants support collaborative research teams in the final stages of developing proposals for large, complex external funding opportunities. The funded activities should enhance the competitiveness of the external proposal, increasing its likelihood of success.
The external proposal idea should be significant in scale for the discipline, either in terms of scope, budget, or team size, and applicants must explain how it goes “beyond the usual” norms in their field. The external funding opportunity budget should be substantially higher than the Propel Grant request.
For example, projects with a STEM focus that target a center-type grant, such as NSF Science and Technology Centers, DOE Energy Frontier Research Centers, NIH P50, NIH U54, or similar align well with the Propel Grants. Projects in the arts, humanities, and social sciences that target large, collaborative funding opportunities, such as NEH Collaborative Research Grants, NEA Grants for Arts Projects, and some Mellon grants would be appropriate. This list is not exhaustive.
Propel Grants require collaborative teams to have an established foundation for their project, with preliminary work complete (including initial pilot data collection, if applicable) and plans to apply for external funding within the next twelve months. Propel Grants do not fund team formation, earlier stages of the idea, or concept development.
Eligibility
Faculty with PI eligibility (members of the University's Academic Council or UML faculty) may apply.
Applications from the School of Medicine must include co-investigators from one or more Stanford schools to be eligible for funding.
Priorities
Priority is given to teams with Stanford as the lead institution for the external funding opportunity. Applications are particularly encouraged for, but not limited to, projects that do one or more of the following:
- Demonstrate faculty partnerships across two or more schools at Stanford.
- Include team members from diverse backgrounds, including those underrepresented in the academy (e.g., ethnic, cultural, or socioeconomic backgrounds, research expertise, career stage, institution/sector, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, etc.).
- Engage disciplines or fields that have limited internal grant program support.
- Strengthen collaboration between Stanford and SLAC.
VPDoR is committed to creating an environment that values and embraces diversity; applications from individuals from minoritized communities are particularly encouraged. RDO will award a portfolio of Propel Grants that represent the diversity and breadth of scholarly areas at Stanford.
Grant Supported Activities
Activities should be part of the final stretch of a grant application, not early-stage data collection. Examples include, but are not limited to:
- Conducting additional, desirable research experiments (not initial, essential preliminary data)
- Accessing archives.
- Performing additional data analysis.
- Consulting with experts or hiring research assistants.
- Bringing new collaborators together to demonstrate existing relationships in the proposal.
- Implementing a triangulation protocol.
- Producing questionnaires and surveys.
- Travel for site visits.
- Other elements to enhance chances of external funding success.
Up to $5,000 of the Propel Grant can be budgeted for proposal development/beautification:
- Conducting an expert review of your proposal draft.
- Hiring a graphic designer or scientific illustrator.
Note that all applicable university fees apply. Propel funds may be used to cover these expenses (e.g., Fees for Visiting Student Researchers, shared facility hourly rates, dedicated computing resources on Sherlock, Oak monthly storage, etc.).
Timeline
|
Application Due |
Grant Starts |
End-of-Grant Report Due |
Spring Cycle |
April 2, 2024 |
May 20, 2024 |
June 18, 2025 |
Autumn Cycle |
October 9, 2024 |
December 2, 2024 |
January 14, 2026 |
Exceptions to the deadlines above may be requested under certain circumstances. Please see the FAQs for more information.
Award
Applicants may request up to $50,000 in direct costs for up to 12 months. Applications with smaller budgets are welcome and appreciated. Higher budgets may be considered under special circumstances. Please see the FAQs for additional information.
Note that all applications will be reviewed for whether the amount requested is reasonable and essential. Applicants are advised to limit their requests to the amount required to complete the Propel Grant activities.
Application Format
Each proposal should be uploaded as a single PDF via the application form and is limited to 7 pages as outlined below.
Colleagues from different academic disciplines will review your application. It is highly recommended to write your application in a way that is easily understood by a wide academic audience. Provide sufficient detail for peer reviewers to assess feasibility.
Font size must be 11 pt or larger with 1-inch margins on all sides.
- Research idea for the external proposal (up to two pages, including any figures, excluding references)
- Define the significance of the proposed research project for external funding, the need you aim to address, or the problem you anticipate your research will help solve.
- Specify how the external proposal goes “beyond the usual” in scale for your discipline and routine work.
- Propel Grant activities (up to two pages, including any figures).
- Provide the context of the current stage of the research project or any preparations made.
- Describe the activities the Propel Grant funds will support, along with the timeline, milestones, and intended outcomes.
- Explain how the proposed activities will enhance the competitiveness of the proposal to an external funding agency.
- Team composition (up to one page).
- List the members’ names, titles, and departments (or institutions if external to Stanford), indicating which are confirmed or proposed.
- Describe the collaboration status and readiness level, emphasizing any prior work in preparation for the external proposal.
- If applicable, describe aspects of diversity within the team.
- External funding plan (up to one page). Describe the plan to apply for external funding within the next 12 months, identifying at least one potential external grant. Proposing an alternative funding opportunity or backup plan is encouraged.
- Include the following details on the targeted external grant(s).
- External sponsor name.
- Program name or identifier.
- External sponsor deadline.
- The expected budget request for the targeted external opportunity.
- URL to the funding solicitation if available.
- Explain why the targeted external grant award amount warrants the Propel Grant.
- Include the following details on the targeted external grant(s).
- Budget* and justification (up to one page).
- Include a detailed table or breakdown of estimated expenses of the Propel activities.
- Provide a rationale for the requested funds, indicating any existing support and addressing potential overlaps.
- For budgets exceeding $50,000, include a narrative demonstrating the additional need that aligns with the project's scale and complexity.
*Proposed budgets do not need institutional representative review for this internally funded program; however, we encourage applicants to work with their department administrator/financial analyst on budget development.
Review Process and Criteria
RDO staff will first screen applications for compliance and programmatic fit. Following that, at least two faculty reviewers will assess the proposed plan and its potential impact on future external funding in a competitive review process.
Reviewers should be confident that your team has a high level of readiness already, and will be better positioned to apply for external funding opportunities upon completion of the proposed Propel Grant activities.
The application will be reviewed for the following criteria:
- Significance
- The research idea will be compelling to external sponsors.
- The proposed project goes "beyond the usual" for the discipline in terms of scope, budget, or team size.
- Readiness
- The team demonstrates a collaborative partnership.
- The proposed project for external funding has an established foundation with existing preliminary data.
- Proposed Activities
- The proposed Propel Grant activities are likely to enhance the competitiveness of a proposal to an external funding agency and increase the likelihood of success in securing external funding. Learn more about what makes a successful grant application on the RDO website.
- Appropriate Budget
- The budget is reasonable and reflects essential activities that address the stated needs.
- The amount requested justifies the investment from the Propel Grant.
- Feasibility
- The application conveys an achievable research design/approach for the Propel Grant activities.
- The Propel Grant activities can be implemented within the proposed timeline and budget.
- The team is cohesive and possesses sufficient expertise to conduct the research successfully.
- Potential for External Funding
- The team will be ready to submit a well-aligned proposal to an external funding agency by the end of the Propel Grant period and, if appropriate, a backup plan is described.
Award Reporting Requirements
Grant recipients will be expected to (1) submit a brief end-of-grant report at the end of the grant period describing what was accomplished and/or lessons learned, and (2) complete a survey one year after the award period describing the impact and outcomes of the Propel Grant activities.
In addition, teams should notify RDO if the Propel Grants contributed to a noteworthy outcome, or if any external funds were received, for up to two years after receiving the Propel award.