Skip to main content

SciRIS-ii (Individual Investigator)

SciRIS-ii (Individual Investigator)

COS Research and Innovation Seed Program - SciRIS-ii

The College of Science Research and Innovation Seed (SciRIS) Individual Investigator Program (SciRIS-ii) funds individual faculty who seek to establish or augment research relationships with external partners. Such partners may include OSU units outside COS, academic institutions, industry, and other organizations. SciRIS-ii provide funds to establish partnerships, accelerate project development, generate data and manuscripts, and foster proposal submissions.

SciRIS-ii has a unique purpose focused on assisting individual faculty efforts to establish research relationships with external partners.

The funds for this innovation seed program come from Education and General funds and other Foundation funds.

Objectives

SciRIS-ii specifically seeks to

  • Identify transformative research opportunities,
  • Cultivate collaborations within OSU or external engagements,
  • Broaden participation and foster equity, access & inclusivity,
  • Cultivate ideas that strengthen the research & innovation enterprise

Investment

SciRIS-ii funds enable individual PIs to build and solidify relationships with research organizations external to the College.

Rewards

SciRIS-ii investments make faculty much more competitive for grants by providing them with the seed funding necessary to build bridges, demonstrate the feasibility of their ideas, and quicken the pace of scientific discovery.

Outcomes

  • Partner Engagement
  • Transformative Discoveries
  • Groundbreaking Publications
  • New Proposal Submissions

Example costs supported

  • Research related travel
  • Course buyout
  • Student and postdoc stipends and OPE
  • Materials, supplies, and services
  • Publication costs related to the project
  • Informal Science Education / Broadening Participation training

SciRIS - ii Guidelines

Deadlines and expenditures

Deadline: November 22, 2024

Award: $10,000

Timeline: Funds must be expended within 12 months of award date.

No Cost Extensions

The College of Science Internal Funding Program provides seed funds for one year. We anticipate that some projects may experience challenges that could delay outcomes and deliverables. If your funded project meets this criterium and you would like to request a no cost extension (NCE), you’ll need to fill out the following form: https://beav.es/cew (Note this requires ONID login). The NCE request will be reviewed by the College of Science Research Development Unit (RDU) and a recommendation will be sent to the Dean of Science by the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies. If approved by the dean, an appropriate NCE will be provided. Note: Filling out the form does not guarantee that an NCE will be granted. Please contact the COS RDU for further details at [email protected]

Eligibility

All COS faculty and research professionals are eligible to submit a proposal. Applicants may serve as PI or receive major funding for only one funded project (SciRIS-ii, SciRIS Stages 1-3, DMPF, Industry Partnership award, etc.) at any time. Applicants may serve in support roles on one or more funded grants.

Submission

Prepare your proposal as described below. Submit your proposal to our portal here: https://beav.es/pP6 by the deadline.

Forms

Optional, required and as needed: https://beav.es/scirisforms

Proposal guidelines

The proposal must adhere to the following guidelines. Incomplete proposals will be returned without review.

Summary: The project description is limited to three pages for Project Narrative plus supporting documents listed below. We recommend that you write your narrative for a diverse scientific audience, since the panel may include members outside of your field.

Pagination: Documents must be formatted with 1-inch margins and 11pt font or larger, with the exception of figure legends (as applicable).

Document one: Upload one combined pdf of the following items in this order:

  1. Proposal summary page –1 page limit
    1. Project title
    2. Names and affiliations of PI and any senior personnel
    3. Short abstract
  2. Project Narrative - 3 page limit
    1. Vision and Goals addressing originality of idea and transformative potential of research and/or innovation. Please address how your project aligns with and/or advances COS's strategic plan, Extending the Reach and Impact of Science, and/or Oregon State University's strategic plan, Prosperity Widely Shared: The Oregon State Plan.
    2. Anticipated outcomes e.g., manuscript, proposal submission, subaward.
    3. Timeline matched to the project plan
    4. Description of broader impacts including student research
    5. Statement on Inclusive Excellence goals (examples: broadening participation, fostering equity, access & inclusion)
    6. References (optional and encouraged, but limited to one page (not included in the narrative page count)
    7. Prior COS support (if applicable, 1 page or less). Include a brief summary of your proposals(s) outcomes and deliverables. Include Intellectual Merits and Broader Impacts headings.
  3. Letter of collaborations on letterhead (Required only for external to COS collaboration. Faculty with adjunct status are considered internal to COS).
  4. Mentoring plan if your budget includes postdocs or graduate students.
  5. A 3-page NSF-style biographical sketch of each PI and student to the project description. You may use ScienCV. Alternatively, you can use a template that we prepared if you have trouble combining it into one document.
  6. Current & Pending for each faculty co-applicant (no page limit, do not list expired awards).

Name this file Program_PI lastname_year.pdf (e.g SciRISii_Jones_2024.pdf, etc)

Document 2: upload the Signed Department Head letter form (see forms page)

Document 3: upload a budget & budget justification. Please use our template. You can include a separate budget narrative if you like or use the section at the bottom of the template. If you are budgeting for a graduate student researcher, you must include the student's name, if known.

Document 4 (if applicable): If you include cost share in the budget, you must upload the signed cost share approval form.

Cost Sharing

Cost sharing is not required, but it is encouraged. Please note that we do not track cost share; thus it is incumbent on awardees to negotiate cost share with the units or colleges providing cost share.

Examples of potential cost sharing include the following:

  • Department support for travel and students
  • Uncommitted 201 and start-up funds
  • University venture development funds
  • Seed grant from Oregon Signature Research Center
  • Seed grant from other colleges or Research Office
  • NSF EAGER grant or similar award from federal agency or foundation
  • Aligned OSU Foundation gift
  • New, aligned grant or contract from industry

Reporting

Awardee must submit a report describing how the award contributed to advancing a partnership toward concrete outcomes. The report is due within 45 days of award expiration. Fill in this form: https://beav.es/SciRIS_reporting (requires ONID login).

Acknowledging the grant

The acknowledgement should include the web address https://internal.science.oregonstate.edu/rdu/internal-research-funding-program or https://beav.es/ihi on any documents about the project, including but not limited to video productions, press releases, brochures, publications, posters, etc. and include the phrase:

This project has been made possible with support of the College of Science Research & Innovation Seed (SciRIS) program, https://beav.es/ihi

Proposal review criteria

SciRIS supports transformative research that will lead to extramural funding. Such research involves ideas, discoveries, or tools that radically change our understanding of an important existing scientific or educational practice or leads to the creation of a new paradigm or field of science or education.

Proposals will be judged on scientific merit, significance of the proposed research, development of new or existing partnerships with industry, potential impact on future funding, creativity in the use of emerging technology and the potential to broaden participation, equity and access. Proposals must demonstrate

  • Originality & Transformative Potential: How original is the proposed idea? Does the research challenge current understanding? What is the transformative potential of the proposed work? Does the research open pathways to new frontiers of science?
  • Inclusive Excellence: How well does the project promote equity, inclusivity, and access? Does It provide opportunities for broadening participation of under-represented groups?
  • Intellectual Merit: What is the potential of the work to advance knowledge both within a discipline and across disciplines? What are the tangible outcomes?
  • Broader Impacts: What are the benefits to society? Does the plan incorporate training of graduate students, mentoring postdoctoral researchers and junior faculty or involves undergraduates in research experiences.
  • Effective Teamwork: Are resources aligned with proposed work and outcomes? Is the PI (and integrated team if there are collaborators) poised to succeed? Are there plans in place for extramural funding?

What has been Funded in the Past

Learn more about our full program

  • SciRIS (Stages 1-3) - awards seed funding for high impact collaborative proposals that build teams, pursue fundamental discoveries, and create societal impact (deadline in April and October)
  • The Disease Mechanism and Prevention Fund - supports research into the mechanism, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of (human) disease (deadline in October)
  • The College of Science Industry Partnership Award - This award provides critical resources for projects that take a new direction, utilize a new technology or are in the “proof-of-concept” phase. Undergraduate & graduate students and faculty researchers can participate in the research, with a preference given to graduate students and faculty who are developing new areas of research AND establishing or augmenting research partnerships with external industrial partners (deadline in October).