The College of Arts and Sciences provides a range of initiatives in support of research and scholarship. They recognize the many different types of research and scholarship conducted across the disciplines represented in CAS. They also make available resources across the different stages of the research process, from the development of proposals for external funding, to the conduct of research, to the publication and celebration of results. Below are brief descriptions of these initiatives.

Internal Research Funds

Research Expense Account (REA)

$2000 provided each fiscal year (FY) to all full-time research active tenure-line faculty and all research active term faculty at the rank of Associate Professor or Professor; $1000 each FY to all other full-time term faculty and tenure-line faculty on a 5- or 6-course load; up to $1000 of unspent funds can be carried forward to the following FY. Funds must be spent on research related costs.

Mellon Competition

Applications accepted from full-time tenure and full-time term faculty twice per year for up to $4000 (total per year) in funding in support of research and scholarship. A research committee reviews applications and provides funding recommendations to the Dean.

Collaborative Pilot Research Grants

New initiative! Initiated in FY22, applications for the Collaborative Pilot Research Grant will be accepted in winter of each academic year from teams (at least 2) of CAS full-time faculty for projects that have a high likelihood of generating successful applications for external funding in the amount of >$250,000 within 2 years of pilot project completion. Subject matter experts will review proposals and make funding recommendations to the Dean. One pilot grant will be awarded each year.

Support for External Funding

Grantwriting and/or Scientific Illustration or Graphic Design Support

CAS full-time faculty can apply for assistance from a professional grantwriter and/or a scientific illustrator/graphic designer in developing their proposals for external funding. Grantwriters have experiences with different types of funding mechanisms and across disciplines. Applications accepted on a rolling basis, ideally at least 6 weeks prior to proposal submission deadline.

Salary “Top Off”

Full-time faculty applying for prestigious external fellowships may receive salary “top off” (up to a certain amount) if the fellowship does not cover the full amount of their semester or annual salary. Faculty applying for fellowships should consult with the CAS pre-award team prior to submission of the application.

REA “Bumps”

Faculty eligible for an REA who serve as the Principal Investigator (PI) on a grant or fellowship application in the amount of $10,000+ will receive a $500 increase in their REA in the fiscal year following the submission (one bump per year, regardless of the number of submissions). New initiative: The PI may elect to share the $500 bump with other CAS faculty collaborating on the application.

Indirect Sharing

CAS faculty who are PIs on an externally funded project will receive 7.5% of any indirect costs associated with the award; funds are placed in an Internally Designated Faculty Research Account (IDFRA) at the end of each relevant fiscal year. Funds may accumulate over time and must be spent on research related expenses.

Publication

Virtual Book Incubators

Open to all tenure-line faculty and term faculty with multi-year appointments; up to $1250 available to support virtual meetings comprised of author-selected discussants, internal and external to AU, to critique manuscripts or portions of manuscripts before they are submitted to publishers; calls for proposals issued twice per year and up to 5 awards made each year.

Page Charges

To defray the cost of journal page charges and enhance the impact of scholarly work, full-time CAS faculty may request up to $2000 to cover page charges when the article is accepted and other sources of funding are unavailable; the article must have a full-time College faculty member as its primary author, or as a co-author with an AU student as primary author; applications accepted on a rolling basis.

Book Subventions

New initiative! Full-time CAS faculty whose publisher seeks a subvention to complete an expensive book or reduce its selling price may apply for support of up to $2000 with evidence of manuscript acceptance; applications accepted on a rolling basis.