Center for the Study of Interdisciplinarity Request for Proposals (Deadline has been extended until April 30th)
The Center for the Study of Interdisciplinarity (CSID) will award 1-5 grants to support education and/or research aimed at integrating the non-academic community with UNT. Total funding available for this round of awards is $10,000.
Receiving official approval in the fall of 2008, CSID is dedicated to improving interdisciplinary outcomes in terms of research and education across both campus and the nation. CSID both studies and engages in interdisciplinarity, seeking improved ways to integrate different types of disciplinary knowledge to improve research and education and to make academic work more relevant to society.
On this occasion, CSID solicits proposals for interdisciplinary initiatives that, in addition to integrating two or more disciplines, also involve participants from outside the academy. Such activities could be education-oriented (e.g., partnering with a DFW-area museum to create a new exhibit that requires expertise from two or more disciplines) or research-oriented (e.g., working with a local business or community group to put in a collaborative proposal for extramural funding), but they may also include finding ways to provide useful advice to societal decision makers (e.g., advising local, regional, or national government officials about sustainability practices).
Proposals will be judged on the degree of integration of the academic and the non-academic aspects of the proposal, potential societal impact, and on the feasibility of the proposed activities, including the budget.
The deadline for receipt of proposals is April 3, 2009 has been extended until April 30, 2009. Proposals may be submitted on any topic, but must involve a) UNT faculty or research staff from at least two disciplines, and b) a non-academic organization or group. Proposals are limited to 3 pages maximum (minimum 12 point font), which includes a minimum one-page budget description (including justification). Proposals should be sent as an attachment in MS Word to: csid@unt.edu.
Award recipients will also agree to participate in an initial one-day retreat and in monthly CSID meetings for the duration of the project in order to report on their progress, participate in a community of practice, and help to formulate a collective list of "best practices" in interdisciplinarity. In keeping with CSID's strategy of both studying and engaging in interdisciplinarity, the monthly meetings are intended to benefit both award recipients (insofar as CSID can participate through capacity building) and CSID (insofar as funded projects will increase CSID's knowledge base regarding interdisciplinarity). Non-academic members of awarded projects will be encouraged (but not required as a condition of funding) to attend the retreat and monthly meetings. Award recipients will also be asked to contribute materials describing their projects for posting on the CSID site, both in order that we may publicize their research and that we may be able to disseminate a set of "lessons learned" regarding these interdisciplinary initiatives.
All awards will have a duration of 1 year, and a brief final project report will be due within one month of the end of the award.