Guide to submitting proposals to the GARC

GUIDE TO SUBMITTING PROPOSALS TO THE GARC

These guidelines should be used for all research proposal submissions to the GARC unless otherwise specified in the call for proposals. Digital versions of all required documents should be sent to the Chair of the GARC/Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) [2023-24: Mike Pace] prior to the stated deadline. If there are questions not addressed in this document, they should be referred to the Chair of the GARC.

All proposals must contain the following items in the order specified. Pages should be numbered sequentially, beginning with the first page of the Project Description. Pages before the Project Description and past the References need not be numbered. Type should not be less than 12 point, and margins in the Project Description must be no less than 2.5 cm on all sides.

1. Title Page

The title page should be prepared according to the following format:

Title:

Student Name ___________________________________

Advisor Name ___________________________________

Submitted for ____________________________________[enter name of Award, e.g. Exploratory Research Award, Moore Award, etc.]

Date __________________________________________

Amount of Request _______________________________

2. Project Summary

This should be an abstract of no more than 300 words that includes the question being addressed, the objectives of the research, the general approach to fulfilling the objectives, and the anticipated benefit of the research.

3. Project Description (up to 3 pages)

The project description must contain adequate introductory material to allow the committee to determine the context of the proposed research. It should contain the question to be addressed and the specific objectives to be fulfilled in answering that question. The experimental approach, including experimental design, should be laid out to allow the committee to determine if the research will address the question. Finally some statement of anticipated results and their general benefits should be included. Literature citations are necessary to demonstrate the appropriate background to conduct the work. This section must not exceed 3 single-spaced pages, including figures and tables.

4. References

References for the literature cited in the Project Description should be included. The Reference section is not included in the page limit for the Project Description.

5. Budget

An itemized budget must be submitted to indicate what funds are requested and how they will be used. Travel requests other than to and from a research site in a personal vehicle are discouraged. The basis for the request for funds for use of a personal vehicle to get to and from a site must be explained (miles, rate etc.) and the need justified. Some level of personal investment in a project by a student is encouraged; travel often falls in this category. If funds for use of a rental vehicle are included, a full justification for the request must be included as an appendix to the Budget. Supplies need not be completely itemized, but adequate description must be included to allow the committee to determine the appropriateness of the requested funds. Equipment and computer software, data products, and digital or photographic images must be specifically enumerated in as much detail as possible.