OSP Weekly 03/01/2023
----- Division of Research -----
The Division of Research is pleased to accept applications for the 2023 Faculty Opportunity Awards (FOA) Program. Applications are invited March 1, 2023 through April 2, 2023 11:59 pm PT.

The 2023 Faculty Opportunity Awards Program (FOA) is intended to help identify core interdisciplinary research teams at UNLV and increase innovative, multiple investigator research and scholarly/creative projects that are funded by extramural agencies, private foundations, or industry. This “seed funding” is designed to bolster the development of strong extramural funding proposals. Teams will involve multiple UNLV colleges/schools and can include external collaborators. FOAs will support team development for long term, sustainable research program development rather than targeting a single project. Up to $180,000 is available to support these efforts in this round of awards, thanks to the generous funding provided by the UNLV Research Foundation and the UNLV Foundation. Applications are submitted online through the 2023 FOA Portal.
Application packet requirements and FAQ's can be found in the Call for Proposals and online.
Eligibility
The 2023 program is for interdisciplinary teams who want to develop projects yielding research, scholarship, and/or creative activities and target specified funding proposals.

The team must consist of a minimum of two collaborators consisting of a Principal Investigator (PI) and Co-Principal Investigator(s) (Co-PI), representing different colleges or schools. The PI will be designated as taking the lead for receiving notices and submitting reports. The PI must meet the requirements for Principal Investigator (PI) eligibility (including faculty-in-residence). There may be an unlimited number of collaborators, but full-time faculty are expected as the core of the teams. Note: Faculty who have received a FOA award previously are eligible to participate on a team but may not serve as the PI. View historic FOA awardees at Past Awards.

Award Information
Up to $35,000 maximum amount of funding per award is available to identify research teams, develop the proposal idea, identify funding source(s), and apply for grant(s) within the 24-month project performance period. Project funding is intended for an inclusive range of disciplines at UNLV and projects representing diverse disciplines (e.g., sciences, humanities, arts, education) and approaches to research/scholarship/creative activities are strongly encouraged.

Interdisciplinary research, defined broadly, includes the “...integration of data, methods, tools, concepts, theories, and/or perspectives from multiple disciplines or bodies of knowledge in order to answer a question, to solve a problem, or to address a topic or theme that is too broad or complex to be dealt with by one discipline” (Klein, 2021). A more comprehensive term to reflect emerging discourse around inter-, multi-, and trans- disciplinary work might be cross-disciplinary as an umbrella term. Regardless of the term usage, UNLV is working to foster research and scholarship that crosses boundaries, integrates approaches and concepts, and generates innovation that cannot be reduced to the dominant methods, theories, or research traditions of a single discipline or domain. Interdisciplinary work is collaborative by nature, but not all collaborative scholarship and research is interdisciplinary, even when team members are from different disciplines.

Performance Period
July 1, 2023 – June 30, 2025 (24 months). No extensions will be approved.

Online Submission Portal
Submit a fully complete application packet in the 2023 FOA Portal by the Sunday, April 2, 2023, 11:59 pm deadline. No late submissions will be considered. The Principal Investigator will receive an automatic notification when the application packet has been received.

Application Details
The intent of the FOA award is to provide resources for team building and to plan for specified federal, philanthropic, and industry funding proposals by the end of the 24-month FOA award.

The primary research deliverable from this award is the submission of two or more grant proposals for research funding from external sources, including corporate sponsored research, within the 24-month project performance period. The proposal should help to catalyze a funded research program for new and existing faculty, and stimulate development of new research funding opportunities. Ideally, the team would describe a grant making/funding trajectory that is appropriate for the nature of the work and the state of the team. Other planned outcomes, such as manuscripts or creative works, should be included as secondary deliverables if appropriate.


Althea Sheets, Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activities Development Manager, Office of Sponsored Programs, [email protected], 702-895-1880