RUC-IU JOINT FUNDING

Call for proposals

Proposals are not being accepted at this time. For more information about the funding program, contact Shawn Reynolds at shreynol@iu.edu. 

To encourage and support faculty who wish to generate ongoing teaching and research partnerships, Indiana University and Renmin University of China (RUC) have established a strategic seed fund to initiate cross-institutional collaborations. Each university will contribute US $10,000 or its equivalent in Renminbi each year and commit to encouraging faculty and academic staff to seek support for joint projects from this fund.

The fund is intended to facilitate substantive research collaborations that result in tangible outputs, such as publications and grant applications, within two years of the award date. Applicants are expected to demonstrate the feasibility of their research plan.

Eligible activities include but are not limited to:

• Visits to engage with research groups to establish new contacts and explore possibilities for future collaboration;
• Preparation of collaborative bids to attract research funding;
• Facilitating internationally co-authored publications;
• Development of new interdisciplinary research programs
• Other items that facilitate the collaboration among researchers at both universities

Applications are open to all social sciences and arts disciplines.

About the funding

For each program, in each academic year faculty can apply for funding ranging from $500 to $10,000 USD. Programs are divided into two types: general programs (smaller scale and lower cost) and major programs (bigger scale, higher cost, and more ambitious outputs).

In this round, grants can be made for periods of up to three years. The maximum amount of funding available for any one project would be $30,000 over the full three-year period. One-year period projects are as welcome as longer-term initiatives.

Each university will provide its lead applicant with an equivalent amount of funds. The grant funds can be spent over the course of the grant period on travel, accommodations, workshops, facilities use, and other expenses related to meetings or the preparation of external funding proposals, as specified at the time of the proposal.

Participation from other universities in projects and partnerships is permitted but cannot be funded through this program.

Proposal guidelines

Applications to the fund should be prepared using the Indiana University-Renmin University Strategic Seed Fund Application Form. Applications should be discussed jointly and submitted by a lead applicant from one university with a statement of support from a lead applicant from the other institution. Duplicate copies should be submitted to both universities. Applications should include how the budget allocation will be split between collaborators.

Proposals may come from individual faculty members or a group of faculty but should have IU and Renmin faculty members as lead applicants in all cases. Lead applicants at Renmin must be official and full time faculty. At IU, the fund is open to tenure or tenure-track faculty from all disciplines whose contract of employment extends to at least the end of the proposed period. Non-tenure track faculty and staff are ineligible to apply to the fund.

Proposals should be submitted in English and include the following components:

• Timeframe/date for the project
• Budget calculation and budget justification
• Written statement of support from a lead applicant at the other university
• Information on project leaders at both universities and list of other project participants

Selection criteria

The review committee will assess applications according to the following criteria:

• Appropriateness of proposed participants
• Potential for enhancing research quality
• Potential for generating high quality research outputs, e.g., collaborative research bids and joint publications
• Potential for generating research income
• Scope for further development of this partnership/network once the initial funding period has ended

Recipient reporting requirements

Successful principle applicants will be expected to submit reports detailing progress towards anticipated outcomes and outcomes to date. Reports will be shared with both partner institutions.

Both universities may publicize the activities supported by this fund, and recipients are expected to engage in this process.

For further information, contact the staff listed here:

At Renmin University:

He Xujiao
Research Office
Email: hexujiao@ruc.edu.cn

At Indiana University:

Shawn Reynolds
Office of the Vice President for International Affairs
Tel: +1 812 856 9024
Email: shreynol@iu.edu