Intellectual Community Planning Grants for Faculty Collaborations

The Office of the Provost is once again offering support to Duke faculty who are interested in convening a group of colleagues to begin or test a new collaboration around a shared intellectual interest.  

Project funds ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 will be awarded for use during the 2024-25 academic year. Recipients can use funds to cover the cost of meeting venues, external speakers, event materials, books or other meeting costs, and/or exploratory research (as by a student research assistant) into potential collaborators at Duke, UNC, NC State, NCCU, RTI, or organizations in Durham or the Triangle. Expenses for meetings, travel and in-person events are contingent upon university guidelines.

Recipients from grant cycles in previous years represent a broad range of groups and new projects.

Eligibility

• Any Duke regular rank faculty member, from any discipline, is eligible to propose and form a new collaborative group.
• Each group is recommended to have at least three to five core participating faculty members.  
• Prospective collaborations may be framed around disciplinary, interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary themes. The search function at Scholars@Duke is a useful tool to find other faculty who share a particular intellectual interest. Other resources to help identify and engage collaborators and stakeholders are available via Duke’s myRESEARCHpath.
• Proposals should identify a faculty lead organizer (or “Principal Investigator,” PI).
• Collaborative groups that include faculty from the schools of Medicine and Nursing are welcome to apply, so long as that contingent does not comprise a majority of committed faculty.  

Selection Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

1. Potential to build collaborations in exciting intellectual areas for relevant department(s), school(s) and/or cross-cutting institute(s), whether around fundamental/applied research, innovative teaching and/or community engagement
2. Demonstration of an organizing group of faculty who have self-aggregated around a shared intellectual interest, and who want to pursue that common interest in a variety of venues (e.g., small monthly meetings, larger quarterly meetings, workshops). Meetings should be designed to facilitate potential collaboration.
3. Extent to which proposals articulate a clear anticipated outcome and also provide a plan to sustain interactions, prepare joint grant applications and/or create a product such as a class, shared research project, extra- or co-curricular offering, etc.

Review Process

The review process of submitted proposals will be overseen by the vice provost for interdisciplinary studies and the interim vice provost for academic affairs. All proposals, and discussions thereof, will be kept strictly confidential. The intent is that the collective set of award recipients will reflect the richness of intellectual approaches and modes of inquiry that make Duke a vibrant university.

Proposal Requirements

The Office of the Provost uses KualiBuild to collect ICPG applications. You will be asked to provide the following information:

1. A brief (maximum two-page) narrative that articulates the:
   • Area of shared intellectual interest
   • Question or problem the group proposes to explore
   • Proposed faculty group’s unique position and qualifications for engaging in the interest area and/or addressing the question or problem
   • Activities the group plans to conduct during the exploratory period
   • Anticipated outcome (e.g., sustained interactions, joint grant application, new educational offering, Bass Connections project team proposal, research project)
2. A proposed budget
3. Information on other funding already obtained or requested (if applicants receive news about other funding proposals after the deadline, they should provide updated information to Mindy Miller at mindy.miller@duke.edu)
4. A listing of the organizing core faculty group with brief (maximum two-page) CVs for each.

Application

To apply, visit: https://duke.kualibuild.com/app/builder/app/64a5a8f347fa4800f9f91278/run

The deadline is April 15, 2024.

Timeline

• RFP released: Friday, March 1, 2024
• RFP deadline for submission: Monday, April 15, 2024
• Anticipated grant recipient notification: Wednesday, May 8, 2024
• Funds made available (or sooner upon request): Monday, July 1, 2024
• Funds to be expended by: June 30, 2025

Contact

For any questions regarding your proposal, please contact us at ovpis@duke.edu.

FAQ

Who can apply?

Any group of Duke faculty members with a regular rank faculty lead organizer (PI) can apply.

Our project idea is not very interdisciplinary. Is this okay?

Yes, we are interested in collaborations of all types, including those framed around disciplinary themes.

Is this our only chance at submitting a project proposal?

No. We plan to continue the program.

Is there an optimal number of faculty for a proposal?

We are expecting to see at least three to five core faculty interested in developing a collaborative group around the shared intellectual interest.

What kinds of items and expenses would ICPG funds be able to cover?

Funds can be used to cover the cost of meeting venues, external speakers, event materials, books or other meeting costs and/or exploratory research (as by an RA) into potential collaborators at Duke, UNC, NC State, NCCU, RTI, local community organizations, etc. Expenses for meetings, travel and in-person events are contingent upon university guidelines.

What kinds of deliverables do you expect the ICPG groups to produce?

Examples of successful outcomes for an ICPG group include sustained and/or expanding interactions in the group, a joint grant application, a new educational offering or curricular framework, a Bass Connections project team proposal, a research project, a major collaborative research grant, etc.

How are the ICPGs different from other proposals, like Bass Connections?

ICPGs are aimed at faculty groups in the initial stages of exploration of a topic, to begin or test a new collaboration around a shared intellectual interest. Thus, ICPGs provide a smaller level of initial funding. Bass Connections project teams require participation of students at multiple learner levels and a focus on applied problems; the application process also encourages engagement with partners from outside the university (NGOs, government agencies, corporations, etc.).