Research Partnerships Program (RPP)

• Eligibility: Radow College full-time tenure or tenure-track faculty
• Funding: Up to $10,000
• Focus: Promote research partnerships whose aim is to secure extramural funding
• Application: Proposals accepted from September 1, 2024 – November 1, 2024.  Submit applications via the InfoReady @ KSU portal: https://kennesaw.infoready4.com/

The Radow College Research Partnerships Program (RPP) is intended to support the development of relationships that have the promise to produce a robust research program. Building research partnerships often requires significant investment. It can take time to identity partnership opportunities.  And it can take resources to establish the infrastructure needed to grow a relationship.  The fund is designed to support faculty efforts to build these teams.  

Fundable partnerships can take many forms. The previous iteration of this program focused on Research-Practitioner Partnerships – the goal of which is to leverage and integrate expertise possessed both by researchers and by practitioners (e.g., consulting relationships, training partnership, or focused research projects). Partners can include practitioners in public, nonprofit, or private agencies.  We still encourage partnerships of this nature.

We expanded the scope of fundable projects to include the cultivation of cross-institutional faculty partnerships. We will entertain proposals whose aim is to identify promising new relationships by supporting early-stage meetings between research teams at different institutions.  Proposals that seek to create interdisciplinary projects/teams will be looked on with particular favor.

The program invites proposals on a range of topics. However, in line with this year’s emphasis on mental health awareness, research proposals that engage the topic are eligible for additional funding beyond the above noted funding caps.  Proposals that seek the additional level of funding must make a clear and compelling case for how the project addresses mental health wellness/mental health awareness and the value-added of the increased funding requested.

A Radow College RPP grant is not an end in itself. The goal of the program is to cultivate and support robust relationships that can be leveraged for extramural funding. As such, recipients commit to developing a project for grant or foundation submission within 1 year of the funding’s conclusion.

• An RPP team must include at least one (1) Radow College-based tenured or tenure-track faculty member, with preference given to assistant and associate professors.
• Only Radow College faculty can benefit directly from program award (e.g., travel or salary support).
• There is a limit of one (1) award per faculty member per fiscal year.

Awardees must submit a written plan for encumbering/spending funds to RCHSSresearch@kennesaw.edu within 14 days of a funding decision. Failure to submit a spending calendar within the 14-day window risks having the funds reclaimed by the college.  

Funds can be used for travel. This includes flights, mileage, lodging, per diems, or other eligible costs. All USG/KSU Travel rules apply (https://fiscalservices.kennesaw.edu/travel/faqs.php).

Funds can be used for equipment, materials, and technology purchases essential to the project.

Funds can be used to hire a Graduate Assistant to support research efforts.

Funds can be used for June compensation. The award will be inclusive of fringes (23%) and is subject to 33 1/3% summer compensation limit.

Funds cannot be used for faculty salaries or to secure course reassignments during fall or spring semesters.

NOTE: All award funds must be expensed during the fiscal year and must observe Radow College year-end purchasing deadlines.  

The Research Partnerships Grant program is using the InfoReady @ KSU portal for all submissions (https://kennesaw.infoready4.com/). The application should be composed in an MS-Word compatible format using 12-point fonts and 1” margins. Text shall be double-spaced. Each Roman-numerated section should begin on a new page.  Proposals that do not meet the formatting expectations are subject to being returned unreviewed.

1. Cover Page: Title of the project, the names of partners, and institutional affiliations (with full addresses, telephone numbers, and email addresses).
2. Abstract (250 words max): Describe the primary objectives of the project, the significance of the project, and key deliverables.
3. Project Narrative (2 pages max): The narrative should include the following in clearly identifiable sections.
   1. Background Statement: What is the project or research question? Why is it significant? Include a brief statement on current approaches to the topic, identify existing challenges or limitations of the current approaches, and explain how the proposed partnership addresses those challenges.
   2. Statement of Objectives: How do you expect to leverage the researcher-practitioner partnership to execute the project? What are the expected deliverables? Avoiding unnecessary jargon, explain your approach and anticipated outputs/results.
   3. Plan of Work: What is the project timeline? Provide a plan for meeting objectives, with an explanation of procedures, activities, risks, timeline, and milestones. If appropriate, explain the plan for human/animal use and safety. Identify the contribution of each partner and provide a clear plan of collaboration.
4. Plans for Obtaining External Funding (1 page max): What are your follow-on plans? Please provide the following: 1) The name and URLs for agency/foundation you plan to approach, 2) an estimate of the funding to be requested from the entity, 3) an indication of any interactions you have already had with these entities, and 4) applicable submission deadlines. If considering multiple funding agencies, please provide above information for each.
5. Selected Bibliography (1 page max)
6. Budget with Justification (1 page max)
7.  CV or Biographical Sketch(es) (2 pages max): Each RP participant should provide a current CV or biographical sketch. Faculty applicants are encouraged to follow NSF or NIH format.
8. Statement on Human Subjects: All research involving human subjects must have IRB approval. Though a proposal that has not yet undergone IRB review will be considered for funding, no funds can be disbursed until the project is approved.

NOTE: Proposals will be reviewed on a rolling basis and awards offered until the available funding has been exhausted.

Proposals will be evaluated on the basis of: project feasibility; intellectual merit; clarity of objectives, methods, and anticipated results; reasonableness of costs; qualifications of personnel, including familiarity with the relevant literature, data, and methods to be used; as well as demonstrated organizational capacity for – and commitment to – the success of the researcher-practitioner partnership. Special attention will be given to the potential for outputs to serve as the foundation for a larger-scale, externally funded project.  

• Funded investigators commit to submitting an End of Year Report (see below).
• Funded investigators agree to notify the Associate Dean of Research of project deliverables and to provide copies of articles, chapters, or other scholarly outputs supported by the award, including any publicity materials, press clippings, or reviews.
• Funded investigators agree to have research summarized in a Radow College publication, if requested.
• Funded investigators agree to participate in follow-on activities such as present their research at a seminar, workshop, or other event and/or serving as a reviewer, if requested.
• Funded investigators commit to acknowledge Radow College support in any papers and publication ensuing from the research.

• An End of Year Report is due by June 30, 2025.  
• The report should be completed using the template distributed through InfoReady.
• The report shall include proof of proposal submission to an extramural funding agency.  If the investigator has not submitted a grant proposal by the report date, the investigator should provide a clear timeline for submission.  
• A project cannot be “closed” until the report has been received.  An investigator with an “open” project is not eligible for additional Radow College research funding.

The Radow College grant application scoring system uses the NSF’s 5-point scale.  The entire scale should be considered for each criterion.  The Summary Assessment should reflect the reviewer’s overall evaluation of the proposal (i.e., not a numerical average of individual criterion scores).  A score of “3” represents a “good” application.

• Criteria 
  Description 
• Aims & Objectives 
  Aims and objectives are clearly presented and can be met. 
• Background 
  Demonstrates knowledge of existing research/approaches. 
• Significance 
  Potential to make a significant impact on area of study. 
• Approach 
  Methods/procedures/process are clearly explained & appropriate. 
• Timeline 
  Research plan is clearly stated and achievable. 
• Funding Potential  
  Strong potential for project to secure future outside funding. 
• Budget 
  Budget is complete, well justified, & appropriate. 
• Summary Assessment 
  Overall (holistic) assessment of proposal quality. 

Comments: Identify key strengths and highlight areas that need strengthening. Offer recommendations for how to address shortcomings.