Supplemental Multicampus Faculty Working Group Graduate Student Funding, 2024-25
The UCHRI Supplemental Multicampus Faculty Working Group Graduate Student Funding provides financial resources to create or augment support of research-driven, graduate student engagement in Multicampus Faculty Working Groups. Prospective PIs as well as successful applicants from last year who are applying for a renewal grant are eligible to apply for supplemental funding for a graduate student stipend that will allow the substantive inclusion of at least two graduate students in the project.
Supplemental funding is intended to allow graduate students to participate significantly in large-scale research projects, to receive sustained mentorship from the professors involved in the project and build on their own research, and to help them gain research and project management skills. Full integration means that PIs and project members share the full scope of the project with graduate students, including how it was conceived, what its future will be, and how its budget operates. Graduate students should be both collaborators and mentees and their participation in the project should be carefully considered and diligently managed.
UCHRI has funded integrated graduate student participation in many research-based projects in the past. Graduate students have helped to set the research agenda, used data from research projects to write scholarly articles, engaged with community members around research issues, and shared pedagogical and methodological resources through studio-built websites and workshops.
Integrated graduate student collaboration can take many forms, but grantees are especially encouraged to consider:
- Co-authorship of published materials based on the project
- Management or leadership of a smaller subset of the larger project (serving a particular community or dealing with a particular issue)
- Creation and maintenance of a website/blog/podcast or other multi-modal, public-facing tool to bring attention to the project and share methods and findings
- Participation in planning large seminars, workshops, and conferences and moderating or presenting on panels
- Assisting in grant and budget preparation if the participants decide to extend the project and seek additional funding from other sources
Applications must be submitted online via Submittable by 11:59 PM (Pacific time) on the deadline date.
To be considered for the Graduate Student Supplement, applicants will be asked to add the following materials to their Multicampus Faculty Working Group application:
- Supplemental Project Description (Graduate Student Funding) explaining how the graduate student(s) and their own research will augment the ongoing research project (750-1,000 words max, see details below)
- Supplemental Budget (Graduate Student Funding, see details below)
All project activities must take place between July 1, 2024 and December 31, 2025.
Supplemental Project Description (Graduate Student Funding)
The supplemental project description should primarily address the ways in which the graduate students would be integrated into the grant. Graduate student involvement should be substantive and central. While there might be a need for some administrative tasks (organizing materials, helping to set up events, etc.), successful applications will describe not just how graduate student labor is necessary to the project, but also how working on the project will benefit graduate students in terms of research and professionalization.
Graduate student participation should be evident in the deliverables from the project; graduate students should gain skills and credit for research that is legible to the academic community or the broader public.
If you have already identified the graduate students who will work on the project, please address their qualifications and how they will contribute to the development of the project. If you have not yet identified potential graduate students, please address how you will secure their involvement (i.e., sending out a call for applications through your department or humanities center listservs). We encourage interested applicants to include as much detail as possible regarding how they will identify interested graduate students.
Supplemental Budget (Graduate Student Funding)
The proposed budget is made up of two elements:
- The Applicant PROPOSED Budget Template
- A Budget Narrative (500 words max) that explains how estimates were determined
Proposed budgets should describe when graduate students will be working on the project, how many hours, and when payments will arrive. No funds may be used to pay graduate tuition or fees, and payments can only be made between quarters or semesters (winter break, spring break, and summer break). Proposed budgets should plan for a pay rate up to Graduate Student Researcher Salary Level 3, as awarded graduate students must be paid in accordance with the approved contract experience salary levels. Please consult with your home department and local Academic Personnel Office for any questions about salary level determinations. Applicants should keep in mind that they are paying graduate students for their research expertise.
The Faculty Administrative PI will be responsible for coordinating and monitoring the progress of graduate student involvement. Please note that at the end of the grant period, the graduate students will be asked to submit a brief narrative report discussing their involvement in the project. UCHRI will work with the graduate students directly to obtain this work.
Funds will be transferred directly from UCHRI to the appropriate campus PI administrative unit. Please be sure to indicate in your budget how the funds will be disbursed. As a result, budgets should clearly communicate campus-by-campus expenditures (this is especially critical if the graduate student(s) do not share the same campus as the project PI).
Campuses are prohibited from charging indirect costs on funding from the Office of the President.
For program related questions, please contact grants@hri.uci.edu. Please include the name of the grant for which you need assistance.
For technical assistance, please contact Submittable at support@submittable.com.
