Q. What is the common award amount?
A. These grants are typically small, generally under $5,000. This allows us to fund several faculty members per year.
Q. When will funds be available?
A. Proposals will be reviewed in January and awarded by March. Funds will normally be available for 1 year.
Q. My grant proposal for an ongoing project was not funded. I plan to submit a revised application. Can I apply for an Opportunity Grant to keep the project going in the interim?
A. These grants are not bridging funds for grants to keep a project going, though they can be used to help get additional results to strengthen a resubmission. In that case, the applicant must submit the reviews from the original submission along with the proposal.
Q. What costs will an Opportunity Grant NOT fund?
A. Faculty salary, student tuition, and overhead are not supported by this internal grant.
Q. I want to apply for an Opportunity Grant to write a book. Do I need to include additional information besides the project description and budget justification?
A. You should include a publication plan. If it is a paper book, you should include a book contract and explain why you need ACES funds in addition to an advance you may have received. If you do not have a publisher yet, then you should outline your plan to get a publisher. If it is an electronic book, you should outline a dissemination plan.
Q. As a new faculty member, can I apply for an Opportunity Grant to stretch my start-up funds?
A. No, though you may apply for funding for unusual costs that start-up funds do not cover, for example, partial support for a postdoc to help with teaching duties after the birth of a child.
Q. Can I apply for an Opportunity Grant to attend a professional meeting?
A. Yes, if there is no other source of funds. Before submitting a proposal for an Opportunity Grant, you should inquire about funding from your department and school/college and the meeting organizers.
Q. Does current CV mean a CV like I submit with my faculty activity report?
A. No. A 2–4 page biographical sketch for an NSF or NIH proposal is preferable. However, all current sources and amounts of funding should be listed, including start-up funds and amounts available for your lab from multi-investigator grants.
Q. How will I be notified about the status my proposal?
A. All applicants will be notified of the decisions made by the Opportunity Grant Faculty Oversight Committee. If your proposal is selected you will receive a Letter of Award, followed by an Internal Agreement. After you submit your signed Internal Agreement, your funds will be transferred into a sub-account assigned to your Opportunity Grant.