Stengl-Wyer Endowment Grants Program
tHE sPRING 2023 sTENGL-wYER eNDOWMENT gRANTS rEQUEST FOR Proposals is now accepting applications
>>> YOU MAY DOWNLOAD THE SPRING 2023 REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS HERE <<<
Spring 2023 Grants Program Information
OVERVIEW
Funded by the Stengl-Wyer Endowment, the 2023 Stengl-Wyer Endowment Grants Program (Grants Program) request for proposals seeks applications for initiatives in educational activities and research-driven enhancements to facilities and collections.
Educational activities initiative
The Grants Program will support educational activities such as 1) innovative models for support of graduate students to study the diversity of life and interactions between organisms and their natural environments, and 2) undergraduate summer research fellowships and streams within the Freshman Research Initiative. Educational activity programs may be proposed for up to three (3) years with a maximum total budget of $150,000. Awarded funds will be available for one year beyond the proposed period. No-cost extensions will not be considered, and remaining funds will be swept after the expiration of the award.
Research-directed enhancements to facilities and collections initiative
The Grants Program will support research-directed enhancements of the college’s biological field stations, the college’s natural sciences collections, including the Biodiversity Collection. Enhancement programs may be proposed for up to three (3) years with a maximum total budget of $150,000. Award funds will be available for one year beyond the proposed period. No-cost extensions will not be considered, and remaining funds will be swept after the expiration of the award.
ELIGIBILITY
- Tenure track faculty, non-tenure track faculty, and those with active Principal Investigator (PI) status in the College of Natural Sciences are eligible to apply.
- A PI previously awarded a grant for an Educational Activity or Research-directed Enhancement is not eligible to apply for a subsequent educational activity or research-driven enhancement grant during the period of performance of the awarded project or program.
- Non-awarded applicants from previous cycles may resubmit their proposals once for a total of two submissions.
APPLICATION COMPONENTS
All application sections should be formatted using 1-inch margins and no smaller than 11-point font. Recommended fonts are Arial, Georgia, Helvetica, and Times New Roman. The following sections are all required and must be submitted as a single pdf file by the application deadline:
- Lay Summary. In 200 words or less describe for a general audience the proposed project and its potential impact on the study of the diversity of life and interactions between organisms and their natural environments.
- Program Plan. Limit to three (3) pages including figures and excluding citations. Organize the proposal in the specified order using the section headings (Rationale and Vision, Participants) and the following instructions:
- Rationale and vision. Explain the innovative and transformative nature of the proposed program, and how it supports one or more of the Stengl-Wyer Endowment Grant Program initiatives.
- Participants. List PI, Co-PI(s), and others making significant contributions to the project and provide a clear explanation of each participant’s role in the project.
- Bibliography/References. No page limit. List sources in a section separate from the Program Plan.
- External Funding Leveraging. Limit to one (1) page. Describe your plan to leverage the funding requested from the Stengl-Wyer Endowment Grant Program with external funding sources. Include an anticipated timeline with milestones for development of external proposals, names of potential sponsoring agencies, and relevant deadlines for those agencies.
- Budget and Budget Justification. No page limit. Submit a detailed budget outlining expenditures in appropriate categories. Budgets for multi-year proposals should show costs for each year proposed. Clearly justify each major expense in the budget justification. Budgets may include tuition and stipends for graduate students. Budgets should not include faculty salary (e.g., summer salary) or indirect costs/facilities and administrative fees. Funding levels for maintenance and operations (M&O) for the field stations and the collections are determined separately, and should not be included in the proposed budget. Other resources that will be committed to the effort, such as support from academic units, should also be outlined. The size of the budget is taken into account in funding decisions. Small budget projects are welcome.
- Resubmissions & Results from Prior Stengl-Wyer Support. Limit to two (2) pages. Address the following as applicable to resubmission applications and/or applicants who have previously accepted funding through the Stengl-Wyer Endowment Grant Program.
- Resubmissions: For applications being resubmitted for consideration, please list the prior submission, including date and title, and summarize any changes made to address prior reviews or to otherwise improve or update the proposal.
- Results From Prior Support: For each previous Stengl-Wyer Endowment Program award, list the award title and briefly describe the results and products of research, educational activities, and/or research-driven enhancements. Include awards for which the applicant is a PI or Co-PI and that may be complete or ongoing. Products include submission of external proposals for continued support.
- Biosketches/CVs and Current and Pending Support. Submit biosketches/CVs and Current and Pending Support documents for all participating faculty and Co-PI(s).
APPLICATION SUBMISSION INSTRUCTIONS
Applications must be submitted through Competition Space, UT-Austin’s online submission interface. All required application components (listed in the Application Components section above) should be combined and uploaded as a single pdf. To apply:
- Click the “Apply Now” button at the top right of this page or go to https://utexas.infoready4.com/#competitionDetail/1892775
- Click the “Apply” button on the Competition Space page.
- This will take you to a login screen. Click “University of Texas login” to enter your UT EID and password.
- You will be taken to an online application form. Complete the application form, upload the required application components, and click “Submit Application” at the bottom of the page. You also have the option to save a draft application and return later to submit it.
REVIEW PROCESS and Criteria
A faculty committee will evaluate the submitted proposals to identify the programs that will have the greatest potential to advance the study of the diversity of life and interactions between organisms and their natural environments. The faculty committee will present their recommendations to the Stengl-Wyer Endowment Committee and the CNS Dean (or designate) for final approval based on available funding.
Applications will be reviewed using the following criteria, and unsuccessful applications will be provided a summary of review comments:
- Investigator(s):
- For educational activities, consider the PI’s training history and teaching accomplishments relevant to career rank.
- For research-directed enhancements, consider prior PI experience operating/directing a facility and/or collection relevant to career rank.
- Proposed Project:
- For educational activities, consider innovation, relevance, inclusion of diverse students, and inclusion of activities to enrich diversity.
- For research-directed enhancements, consider innovation, relevance, and how the project will improve usefulness of the field station or collection to researchers and/or students.
- Feasibility: Consider feasibility of the project given the budget, resources, research or educational environment, and project plan.
- Budget: Budget should be realistic in size and match the scope of the proposed project.
- External Funding Leverage: Consider the PI’s plan for leveraging Stengl-Wyer funding with external funding sources, including the availability of external funding sources and timeline for development of proposals to external sources.
POST-AWARD REQUIREMENTS
Awardees will be required to submit annual progress reports as well as a final report upon completion of the project. Progress reports are due no later than 30 days after the end of each annual reporting period. Final reports are due no later than 30 days after the end of the project period. Awardees may be asked to serve on a review committee for future Stengl-Wyer program competitions.
AWARD TIMELINE
Submission window opens: January 17, 2023
Submission deadline: March 27, 2023
Announcement of awardees: May 2023
Award start date: September 1, 2023
CONTACT INFORMATION
Program website: https://cns.utexas.edu/swe/endowment-grants
Program questions should be directed to the Stengl-Wyer Endowment Program Directors: swe@austin.utexas.edu.
Application submission interface questions should be directed to CNS Strategic Research Initiatives: CNS_SRI@austin.utexas.edu.
The form and timing of Stengl-Wyer Endowment Grant awards is subject to change in subsequent years.
The content of this announcement is relevant only for the 2023 competition cycle.
2022 - 2023 Stengl-Wyer Endowment Grant Awardees
Research-driven enhancements of collections
Alex Wild: "A Pipeline to Accession UT Faculty Research Materials to the Biodiversity Center Insect Collection"
Research-driven enhancements of field stations
Amy Wolf: "Integrating UT field stations into long-term, globally distributed ecological networks"
Educational support
Brian Sedio: "Integrating metabolomics in graduate student research in the life sciences"
Research grants
Jeffrey Chen: "Molecular and Ecological Studies on Enhanced Adaptation in Plant Polyploids"
Chris Law: "The evolution of mammalian body plans: a case study in squirrels"
Previous Stengl-Wyer Endowment Grant Awardees
