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

Award: $10,000

Terms: Funds must be expended within one year of award date.

Eligibility

Tenured and tenure-track faculty in the College of Science. 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.

Proposal deadline

December 15

If the 15th falls on a weekend, the proposals will be due the next business day.

Anticipated start date: February or March 15

Proposal Guidelines and Reporting

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

The project description is limited to two pages for Project Narrative, 1 page budget & budget justification, 2 page bio-sketch, Current & Pending (no page limit). It must be formatted 1-inch margins and 10pt font or larger, with the exception of figure legends (as applicable). 

  1. The Project Narrative is limited to two pages, 1-inch margins and 10pt font or larger, with the exception of figure legends (as applicable).  It should include the following sections: 
    1. Title, short abstract, names & affiliations of all participants 
    2. Project plan and timeline
    3. Vision addressing originality of idea and transformative potential of research and/or innovation. 
    4. Description of broad impacts including student research
    5. Anticipated outcomes, e.g., manuscript, proposal submission, subaward.
    6. Statement on Inclusive Excellence goals (examples: broadening participation, fostering equity, access & inclusion)  
  2. Append 2-page biographical sketch of PI to the project description. 
  3. Budget & budget justification (including any cost-share) (1 page)
  4. References (optional, but limited to 1 page) 
  5. Current & Pending (no page limit, do not list expired awards)

Reporting: Awardee must submit a report describing how the award contributed to advancing a partnership toward concrete outcomes. The report is due within one year of the award date.

Submission process

Email one combined pdf to research.development@science.oregonstate.edu by the deadline.

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? 

Cost sharing

Cost sharing is not required, but it is encouraged. 

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

What has been funded in the past

Learn more about
  • SciRIS (Stages 1-3) - awards seed funding for high impact collaborative proposals that build teams, pursue fundamental discoveries, and create societal impact (deadlines in April, July)
  • SciRIS-ii (individual investigator) - funds individual faculty who seek to establish or augment research relationships with external partners (deadline in December)
  • The Disease Mechanism and Prevention Fund - supports research into the mechanism, diagnosis, treatment and prevention of (human) disease (deadline in December)
  • The Betty Wang Discovery Fund - supports College faculty by maintaining state-of-the-art laboratories to advance fundamental discoveries in the basic sciences (deadline in December)

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