OREGON STATE UNIVERSITY
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The purpose of the 2023 Research Advancement Seed (RAS) funds is to support early to mid-career faculty to accelerate their research by thoughtfully building partnerships and pursing large transdisciplinary extramural funding. The infusion of RAS funds is intended to support eligible faculty as they develop their research leadership, accelerate or scale-up their research activity, and broaden their research impacts. Faculty recipients are expected to work across disciplines and/or colleges and with external partners to produce viable products such as white papers, research agendas, preliminary datasets, and submit-ready proposals by the end of the award period. Outcomes should advance transdisciplinary science and address critical societal needs.
Download the full request for proposals here. Applications will be submitted via InfoReady after the portal opens on April 17.
Seed funding applications for the current RAA cohort will open in spring 2024.
Research Advancement Academy (RAA) Fellows and Valley Biohealth Fellows are eligible for 2023 RAS funds. Fellows must be in good standing with the RAA program, which includes demonstration of progress toward RAA goals and engaged participation in academy sessions and processes. All fellows must have communicated with and negotiated the terms of matching funds (if applicable) with college leadership, including the Associate Dean for Research in the college(s) of one’s faculty appointment and the unit head to which the applicant reports (if applicable). In future years the Office for Research Advancement (ORA) anticipates making seed funds available to the broader campus community.
Applicants are encouraged to ask for the amount they need (up to $50,000) to make significant progress toward their research leadership goals in one year. The below tracks are general guidelines to help applicants estimate the appropriate amount based on their planned work.
Track A1 – Team Building. This track is designed for RAA Fellows seeking to build a transdisciplinary team, conduct front-end analytical work and/or stakeholder and partner engagement to better understand the problem space in which they are working from both scientific and societal points of view. Team building may include hosting gatherings, travel to connect with stakeholders and partners, facilitated meetings to develop shared vision, development of a research agenda or white paper that better defines a critical societal or scientific challenge and/or identifies gaps in knowledge that would benefit from a transdisciplinary approach. This track may include activities related to securing future funding such as meeting with agency or foundation program officers and exploring new funding options. Team building budgets are anticipated at ~$20,000. Depending on scope of work and justification they may be more or less.
Track A2 – Proposal Development. This track is available to RAA Fellows who already have made significant progress developing a core team and in clarifying the problem from both scientific and societal points of view. Team building may alternatively be incorporated early in the timeline of an A2 proposal. It is expected in this track to either (1) submit a proposal with a total budget larger than $1M or (2) significantly progress toward submitting a large proposal in the $1M/year or more category. The A2 scope of work should result in evidence of a diverse and functioning team, completion of minimum viable products such as a white paper, early results, new tested methods, and/or a submit ready proposal. Budgets can be up to $50,000 with satisfactory justification. If a large-scale proposal is already secured or close to submission, track A2 funds can be used to improve and resubmit, and/or reconfigure the proposal for a different source of funds (if allowable), or to develop spin-off and scale-up proposals that add value to ongoing work and build the applicants leadership in the domain.
Track B – Valley Proposal Development. Valley Biohealth Fellows must submit in this category with a budget up to $50,000. In addition to requirements in Track A1 and A2 described above, Track B proposals must situate their year one RAS plans in the context of a three-year trajectory with plans to submit for Momentum funds (up to 100K) in Spring 2024 and possible scale-up funds (up to 150K) in Spring 2025.
| Track | Seed Funding Type | Research Office Request | College/Unit Match | Total Project Cost Maximum |
| A1 | Team Building | ~$10,000 | 1:1 | ~$20,000 |
| A2 | Proposal Development | $25,000 | 1:1 | $50,000 |
| B | Valley Proposal Development | $50,000 | n/a | $50,000 |
April 7, 2023, 1:00-4:00 pm, Kerr 3rd Floor, Session 10(a), Pitch Development Time (Open House/Office Hours)
April 14, 2023, 1:00-4:00 pm, Kerr 3rd Floor, Session 10(b), Pitch Development Time (Open House/Office Hours)
April 17, 2023 – InfoReady application open for submissions
April 25, 2023, 5:00 p.m. - application package due
April 28, 2023, 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., MU Horizon Room, Public Pitch Session, (applicants must be present to deliver a pitch presentation, illness related accommodations will be made if necessary)
May 15, 2023 - Awards announced
June 1, 2023 – Seed fund project start date
Each application package (presentation, narrative, budget and justification) will be approved by the appropriate college ADR and Unit Lead. Proposals will then be reviewed by ORA to ensure the applicant is in good standing and application materials are complete and of high quality. Each remaining application will be reviewed by at least two members of the Valley Biohealth or RAA Advisory Committees. Reviewers will be selected to minimize conflicts of interests and optimize capacity to provide actionable feedback to applicants. Reviewers will complete a rubric providing both quantitative scores and qualitative explanations in the following categories.
Applicant clearly describes the possible and intended short-term, mid-term and long-term impacts of success including how short-term success (during the RAS period) will be measured and assessed.
Plan provides a compelling rationale and proposes to make meaningful progress in a critical area of that both advances transdisciplinary science and meets societal needs.
Plan includes appropriate development or cultivation of a transdisciplinary team matched to the scope of work and topic of research.
Partners and team members are adequately and equitably compensated for their development role.
Applicant demonstrates a readiness to complete the proposed scope of work and has adequately justified expenditures.
Scope of work is well-reasoned and situated within longer-term goals for developing research leadership.
The Pitch includes three required elements.
Oral Presentation: Applicants will provide a 3-minute oral presentation to an audience of their faculty peers, program advisors, and university leadership. This presentation should focus primarily on why the applicant wants to lead in the domain and provide a compelling narrative that describes the impacts possible with success over the next 5-10 years. It should answer the question how will the world (and specific populations/stakeholders) benefit. It should inform the audience about the partners and stakeholders who are/will be involved and why they are motivated to engage. While some technical information about what your research will entail may be appropriate, the pitch presentation should avoid technical language or jargon.
Optional additions to oral presentation: Applicants may include a maximum of two power point slides (submitted no later than April 27). Visuals are encouraged only if they are designed to add value and enhance understanding of the planned presentation. Visuals should not be used to provide text, technical or graphical supplements to the information provided orally. Visuals should not use jargon and should not require disciplinary or technical context to interpret. Audio, video, or props may be used; however, applicants are required to provide all equipment needed to effectively use these. Applicants may invite collaborators to attend and have a role in the oral presentation. Please consider possible and distracting logistical implications of including these options in a 3-minute presentation.
The narrative plan and scope of work can be up to 3,000 words (about five pages) with up to two figures (concise tables, timelines, photos, graphs, etc.). Figures should have minimal text and should not be used to work around the word limit. Narratives should consider the rubric above and address the following.
A brief summary of the oral presentation that clearly and concisely articulates why progress in the domain is important and how success will advance transdisciplinary science and societal outcomes. Define a critical societal or scientific challenge that will be addressed and identify gaps in knowledge that would benefit from your proposed transdisciplinary approach.
Description of the populations, stakeholders, rights holders who stand to benefit from the solutions you are working toward and how representatives from those communities will be integrated into your work.
Describe the team (both individuals already committed or individuals/roles you will pursue during the RAS period) and what collaborative processes will ensure equity, inclusion and relevance across disciplines and interest groups. Note: Track A1 proposals are not required to identify specific individuals or organizations, they may instead indicate the types of organizations/individuals who will be invited, and what incentives and processes will be used to ensure engagement.
Clearly describe specific activities supported by the RAS funds and why are those activities critical to the outcomes proposed within the scope of one year.
Describe key tangible outcomes relevant to the disciplines and external partners/stakeholders involved and describe key metrics and a general timeline for deliverables of short-term success (within one year) .
Characterize previous key research projects/programs and partnerships to indicate readiness for success with your proposed scope of work. Describe how your plan will leverage your previous work to move your research towards transdisciplinary processes and outcomes.
Situate the scope of work within a longer-term trajectory. Valley Fellows are required to address this in terms of general plans for S100K in momentum funds in year two and $150K scale-up funds in year three. RAA Fellows can determine their own timescale for situating their work.
Required: Completed Excel Budget Form and Budget Justification
Strongly Encouraged: one-page logic model, conceptual model or theory of change diagram.
Strongly Encouraged: evidence of support and intended partnership from collaborators across disciplines and outside of OSU [note: the ORA team is working on an electronic verification of collaborator support through which collaborators could verify that they have reviewed your draft narrative; intend to collaborate as indicated; and the planned compensation and incentives are equitable].
Budgets will vary among projects and should reflect realistic costs that might be incurred implementing the scope of work planned for team building and/or proposal development. Applicants should ask for what they need, rather than developing budgets around the maximum allowable request.
Pre-submission consultation with your home college(s) and unit is required. College-based staff can support budget development and the Excel Budget Form will need to be completed and uploaded in the Infoready platform as part of your pitch package.
Allowable costs: Costs must represent new investments or allocation of effort and time to research development and cannot offset ongoing college or unit costs. Allowable costs include, but are not necessarily limited to: PI summer or academic-year effort; honoraria to external collaborators; research support staff; materials, subscriptions, equipment use associated with producing preliminary results; facilitation, travel, workshop costs, hosting, etc.
10% of the Total Project Costs (including match and sponsor costs) must be allocated to grant support from an external grant support contractor. For example, if the total project budget is $50,000, then $5000 of the budget should be allocated to External Grant Support. These funds will be held by the Research Office, and allocated on your behalf to procures services from an external firm during the RAS award period appropriate for the proposed scope (including services for funding opportunity prospect research, project management for a large proposal, or proposal draft review).
Costs for capital equipment, subawards, and indirect costs are not allowable in the project budget. The Budget Justification must clearly state how each cost will advance new efforts to develop a transdisciplinary team, generate viable products and early results, and produce and/or submit a large transdisciplinary proposal.
Match: The RAA Tracks A1 and A2 require matching funds from the home college(s) and/or unit(s). This 1:1 match may come from units other than the tenure home (if appropriate) and may be split between units in cases of joint appointments. For example, for $50,000 in Total Project Cost, $25,000 in funds will come from the Research Office and $25,000 from the PI’s College or unit.
College/unit-level match must provide access to resources that the PI did not previously have access to in support of transdisciplinary team and large proposal development. Match is intended to ensure partnership and reduce barriers to a large proposal submission.
Existing PI/Senior Personnel academic-year research effort (salary and fringe) is not allowable as match.
Course buyouts valued according to department policy may be included as match but are subject to unit approval and may not be accessible to all units.
Other forms of match, such as access to facilities or graphic design services, may also be included. Please detail the basis for estimating the value of these costs in the Budget Justification.
Other external grants secured by the PI or co-PIs are not allowable as match.
The amounts for each budget line item requested must be documented and justified in the required Budget Justification. For Track A1 and A2 match must be described separately from the Research Office request and also disaggregated in a table that summarizes the source of the matching funds:
| Unit authorizing Matching Funds | Name and title of authorizing official for Matching Funds | Index for Matching Funds source | Amount |
| $ | |||
| $ | |||
| $ | |||
| $ | |||
| Total | $ |
The RAS program will use a new OSU submission platform called InfoReady. When submissions open (April 17) you will receive a link to the application and log in using your ONID account details. After the proposal is submitted (April 25) via InfoReady, Department/Unit heads and/or Associate Deans for Research will be asked to approve the proposed match via InfoReady and they will receive an email with directions on the review and approval process.
For budget questions or assistance with the InfoReady system, contact research.development@oregonstate.edu.