Link to the 2009-2010 research committee's final committee report


2010-2011 HMC Internal Call for Proposals

second call email Jan. 2010
email reminder Dec. 2009
draft of email call from the DOF office
draft of email call from the Research committee
ppt and pdf from Oct. 29's fac. meeting


On behalf of the Dean of Faculty, the research committee invites proposals for internal HMC funding for student research awards for summer 2010 and the academic year 2010-2011.

As of 01/30/2010, available sources include funds to support
  • 6 students    by The Rose Hills Foundation
  • 2 students    by The Baker Foundation
Current funding levels are such that no Beckman Endowment awards will be made this year.


Important Dates

19 February 2010  -  Proposal submissions for Rose Hills and Baker due
  • To submit, please email proposals to dodds@cs.hmc.edu
  • A confirmation email will be sent in reply.
  • Questions? Concerns? Feel free to drop me an email at that address.
26 February 2010  -  Recommendations for awards made to the DOF.


Anticipated Funding Amounts

We anticipate making 8 awards (6 Rose Hills and 2 Baker) at $6000 each, as follows:
  • $5000 for each student stipend ($4550 "take-home"; $450 fringe)
  • $1000 for equipment or other resources in a faculty discretionary account
    Note that this discretionary account may not be used for travel.



General eligibility

Projects must involve at least one HMC faculty member who is a full-time regular appointee. Faculty previously funded must submit a final report for prior projects before being considered for future ones. Final reports are a one-page summary of the work accomplished and participants involved. They may be emailed to the research committee chair, dodds@cs.hmc.edu, in 2009-10.

Projects eligible for funding are typically on-campus and include
  • research projects with students proposed by HMC faculty
  • student-generated projects with HMC faculty advisors
  • cross-institutional research projects with an HMC faculty mentor as principal investigator
Projects inappropriate for this call include
  • expenditures associated with academic departments
  • proposals supporting research conferences
  • stipends for graduate students (although recently graduated students are eligible)
  • course development support
Special restrictions on Rose Hills awards
In order to apply for a Rose Hills award, the faculty advisor and submittere needs to identify a Rose-Hills eligible student who has agreed - or expressed strong interest - in undertaking the project.

To help us keep the list of Rose-Hills eligible students confidential, please email the chair of the Research Committee (in 2009-2010, dodds@cs.hmc.edu) to obtain a copy of the list. Please do not make that list publicly available.

Because Rose Hills eligibility is in part GPA-based, students can gain or lose eligibility between the time of a proposal and the time of the project. For Rose Hills funds to be used, participating students need to be Rose Hills eligible at the time of the project. Changes in status that do arise are handled on a case-by-case basis.

Award conditions that help research at HMC more broadly
At the completion of the research project, the advising faculty member will submit a final report to the research committee. Moreover, investigators may be asked to present their work to the community at large in the form of a public lecture or discussion, for example, at a summer Stauffer Talk. Participation in the end-of-summer research celebration is also expected.

Acknowledgment of the internal funding entity, such as the Baker Foundation or The Rose Hills Foundation, should be made in any publication or presentation resulting from sponsored research.


Proposal Evaluation

Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:
  • the quality of the project, broadly construed, and the depth of integration of the student(s) within that overarching project.
    Is the project well-scoped?


  • the significance and feasibility of the proposed student work:
    Will this student's work make a difference?


  • the thought given to the project's human context, that is, the community of other students involved and/or faculty interactions with the student:
    Will this student be well-supported personally?


  • the potential impact of the project in HMC's efforts toward "coupling research with education" beyond the experience of the hired student:
    Will the project reach others?


  • whether outside funding has been sought or considered for the project:
    What might the future bring?


  • whether and how HMC's strategic vision is served by the project. A list of HMC's strategic goals appears at this link.
Here are copies of the research committee's evaluation rubric:

Because proposal reviwers come from a variety of backgrounds, it is important that proposers write their proposals in a manner intelligible and informative to all HMC faculty members.


Details and proposal preparation

Please prepare a single-spaced document that includes the following items:
  • The name of the faculty advisor proposing the project

  • A title for the project

  • Student-weeks of research support sought.
    The default is 10 weeks at a student stipend of $5000
    Of that $5000, $4550 is "take-home" and $450 is fringe.
    Fewer weeks may be requested; the student stipend will be prorated.

  • The name(s) of student(s) for whom research funding is sought. [optional]
    • This is not required for Baker funds, but is required for consideration for Rose Hills funds.
    • If you would like a list of Rose-Hills-eligible students, please drop me an email at dodds@cs.hmc.edu
    • Note that this restriction on Rose Hills funds means that proposals including Rose-Hills-eligible students are more likely to be funded.

  • A proposal body of up to three pages describing, as applicable:
    • the overarching project and where it will take place
    • the specific activity the student(s) will undertake - and its relation to the overall project
    • the project's human context: other students involved and the advisor's role
    • the significance and feasibility of the project

  • An HMC-impact statement of up to one page that describes, as applicable:
    • the coupling of this project and student learning beyond the students to be hired, e.g., overlap with HMC course curricula, other projects, or, in general, other students
    • external sources of funding that currently support this project or that the faculty advisor is considering for the future
    • the HMC strategic goals furthered by this project. This link points to a list of HMC's strategic goals.

No abstract is needed, as three pages is brief enough! No CV nor budget is needed: the latter is fixed at $5000 for student stipends and $1000 for supporting equipment and resources in a faculty discretionary account.


Proposal submission

Please email proposals to the chair of the research committee (in 2009-2010, dodds@cs.hmc.edu) by 2/19/2010. Questions and concerns are welcome, too!


Parting thoughts

Although this year's funding situation is less than ideal in its support of faculty activites without students, we hope that Beckman funds to support such endeavors will be available in 2011-2012.

Even without Beckman funds, however, the research committee looks forward to the faculty-advised student research efforts that the summer of 2010 and academic year of 2010-2011 will bring.

Respectfully,

The 2009-2010 research committee:
  • Tony Bright
  • Chang Tan
  • Zach Dodds
  • David Coons
  • Ran Libeskind-Hadas