Syracuse University’s Office of Research allocated $245,000 for research projects as part of the university’s new internal grant program.

The internal grant program awarded money based on three categories: seed programs, which allocate up to $1,000; small scale programs, which provide up to $15,000; and bridge programs, which provide up to $30,000, but has to be matched dollar-to-dollar, said Gina Lee-Glauser, vice president for research.

The initiative originally planned to grant $150,000 toward these research proposals, but throughout the process, this was expanded to $245,000, she added.

Each research proposal was randomly assigned to three reviewers who proceeded to ask a series of four questions in order to score the proposals and rank them. The first aspect considered was the feasibility of the work plan, second was its potential to achieve outcomes, third was the proposal’s potential to foster collaboration and finally the potential for follow up activities.

Lee-Glauser said based on these questions, the proposals were ranked and then her team met to discuss the cutoffs.

“We received an overwhelming response for the first time since I have joined Syracuse University in 2001,” Lee-Glauser said.

She added that she is excited to see what is to come of this new research and said she hopes it leads to further publications, more collaboration and more opportunities.

Jeffrey Stanton, interim dean of the School of Information Studies, said internal grant programs seed the process of generating new ideas that can grow into something bigger. He added that outside funders generally expect the preliminary or pilot work to have already been accomplished at the time when the researcher applies for funds.

“From my perspective, creating new knowledge is one of the core functions of a university and I am extremely proud of the creative scholarly work that our faculty and students accomplish,” Stanton said.

Much of the excitement surrounding these research projects stems from their emphasis on collaboration between colleges.

“We have 22 collaborations happening right now and it’s happening because of this” Lee-Glauser said.

She added that she hopes this will lead to even more collaborations in the future.

Five iSchool faculty members received grant awards and two of these were collaborative with other schools and colleges, Stanton said.

Mark Glauser, associate dean for research and doctoral programs, also highlighted collaboration with other schools and colleges.

Glauser said three research proposals were funded through the College of Engineering and Computer Science and one that was jointly funded through the College of Visual and Performing Arts.

“This is very interesting because the areas that were funded are part of a focus area for us in rehabilitation and regenerative engineering” Glauser said.

Stanton had a similar view regarding the university’s attitude toward research. He said attitudes about research “vary to some degree depending upon whom you ask.”

The Office of the Vice President for Research will soon be posting the names of grant recipients and the titles of their projects on its website.

Published on December 1, 2015 at 9:43 pm

Contact Nina: nsleeds@syr.edu