Educational and Research Initiative Fund (ERIF)
IIT tenured and tenure-track faculty members are invited to submit multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary proposals for funding from the Educational and Research Initiative Fund (ERIF). The maximum award is not to exceed $25,000. Proposals (including the budget and appendices) are limited to eight pages. An original and four copies of the proposal are due by Monday, November 21, 2011, at 5:00 PM in the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs (Main Building, Room 301).
For the 2012 award period, ERIF proposals:
- Must be based on the collaboration of two or more faculty members from at least two different academic units. The collaborators may be designated as co-PIs, or as PI and co-PI(s).
- Must be multidisciplinary or interdisciplinary in scope.
- Show substantial promise for developing a larger proposal for external funding. Each proposal must include strong evidence that the PIs have identified external funding agencies with potential interest in the proposal.
- May not be used to supplement existing grants or contracts.
Additional proposal characteristics may include:
- high risk or innovative ideas that need pilot funding at the pre-competitive stage; or
- new initiatives for the organization of multidisciplinary research programs leading to the development of research centers or consortia.
Applicants must use a standard proposal format outlining the objective and significance of the proposed work, nature of the anticipated results, resources and facilities, collaborations, plans for seeking external funding based on the results of the proposed work, budget and budget justification, and the list of current and pending support. This year the budget will be limited to tuition and stipend expenses for students, except for a small amount of funding (up to 5%) that may be allocated for supplies, if necessary. Detailed guidelines for proposal development and review criteria are attached. They are also available on the Graduate College web site or from the Office of Sponsored Research and Programs. The award period is January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012. Recipients will be required to submit a mid-term progress report and a final technical report.