The Collaborative Research and Creative Activity Initiative is designed to foster new collaborative research and creative activities between faculty members from different disciplines and/or areas of expertise. Proposals that create and integrate ideas across the arts, sciences, humanities, and all professional colleges will be most competitive. Research partnerships across GVSU units and between GVSU and other universities and institutions are strongly encouraged. 

AWARD
Supports faculty summer stipends*, student help, supplies, necessary travel, and other costs of projects. Travel to conferences are allowed for data collection but not for dissemination. A total of up to $5,000 may be requested in salary for the PI(s). Note that this is not per individual PI: salaries for multiple individuals may be requested, but the total cannot exceed $5,000. The salary requested should be proportionate to the amount of effort expended by the faculty member and should be indicated in terms of time period and equivalent corresponding percent of effort. Up to a maximum funding of $10,000. The duration of the grant is up to two years. The project end date is determined by the date submitted in the proposal, no later than two years (no extensions allowed unless there are extenuating circumstances). Only one proposal per review cycle, and faculty must have closed previous Catalyst/Collaborative grants before funds may be distributed.

*PLEASE NOTE: when budgeting for faculty stipends and/or student summer pay, be sure to include fringe rates in your planning.

ELIGIBILITY
Tenured or tenure-track faculty members on continuing appointment are eligible. Visiting Faculty, Affiliate Faculty, Adjunct Faculty, and Staff can be co-Principal Investigator (PI), but not lead PI.

DEADLINES
There are three submission cycles per year with deadlines at the close of business (5:00 p.m.) on October 1st, February 1st, and March 15th of each year. If the deadline day falls on a weekend, then the deadline is moved to 5:00 p.m. on the next business day.

• Grants awarded in October may run for up to two years - November 1 through October 31 of the second year.
• Grants awarded in February may run for up to two years - March 1 through February 28 of the second year.
• Grants awarded in March may run for up to two years - April 15 through April 14 of the second year.

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Review Process

Collaborative Research and Creative Activity Initiative proposals are awarded by a competitive review process. Proposals are reviewed by a committee composed of faculty from several disciplines, and therefore must be written to be understood by members of these multi-disciplinary review committees, i.e., an educated lay audience, rather than by narrow specialists in your field.

Criteria used in evaluating proposals include: project justification, significance of project, appropriateness of project design and methods, level of collaboration of the team members, qualifications of the applicant for implementing the project, probability of achieving project objectives, and appropriateness of the schedule for project activities, if applicable.  All of these criteria must be judged in terms of the likelihood that the project will result in the acquisition of future external funding and/or recognition for the faculty member, his or her department, and the University.

Proposals will be evaluated on the basis of merit. Successful applications must demonstrate how the collaborative effort will help solve the question/problem under investigation in a way that individual effort is less likely to do so.

Resources

Proposal Guidelines

Letter of Support Template

Annis Water Resources Institute Example

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Terms & Conditions

FINAL REPORT
A final report is due upon the conclusion of your project. It should include your goals, how you did or did not meet those goals, how the process went, and any dissemination plans.

Budget Information

Each grant recipient is allocated a budget for their project. This budget is determined by the application process and varies depending on the needs of the research or creative project. Grantees are responsible for monitoring their budget and initiating any payments/reimbursements. We do not order supplies, make travel arrangements, etc.

You may (1) use the CSCE worktags in Workday when creating your requisitions, (2) use the CSCE worktags in Workday when initiating a reimbursement expense report, or (3) work with your Department Coordinator to initiate a department transfer request (a.k.a. Budget Amendment for Organization) through Workday. GVSU's Workday system should allow faculty to make purchases via department Expense Cards, etc., so that the faculty do not need to have out-of-pocket expenses. We will then reimburse the faculty mentor's department from the project's budget.

USING CSCE WORKTAGS IN WORKDAY
Your project may require that a lab order supplies, your department purchase equipment, the grantee have out-of-pocket expenses reimbursed, etc. You will need to process your expenses through Workday and send to the CSCE Worktag. Go to Workday Job Aids & Demo Videos - Finance and follow the appropriate Job Aids. Please use the following Worktag/FDM information: 

• FUND: FD100
• COST CENTER: CC0195
• PROGRAM: P22200
• DESIGNATION: DS0297

Please use the "DESCRIPTION" or "MEMO" field to include the faculty member's first and last name, the specific grant, and the grant year. Use the following formatting example: Bruce Wayne CSCE Collaborative Grant 2024-2025 (Round 1)

The awarded faculty's department may also submit a Budget Amendment for Organization in Workday to have your grant funds returned to the department. See the Job Aid for the Budget Amendment for Organization process. Have your department coordinator attach copies of the award notification, processed receipts (i.e. invoices, department purchases, etc.) to the Budget Amendment. Per GVSU policy, any services performed (editing, page publication, transcription, etc.) MUST be paid directly by a GVSU department via an invoice or purchased using your department p-card. Purchase of services using personal credit cards will not be reimbursed.

PLEASE NOTE ALL GVSU PURCHASING POLICIES AND PROCEDURES MUST BE FOLLOWED, INCLUDING:

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