Collaborative Research and Creative Activity Initiative
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.
GRANT
Supports faculty summer one-time pay*, student help, supplies, necessary travel, and other costs of projects. A total of up to $5,000 may be requested as a one-time pay for the PI(s). Note that this is not per individual PI: payments for multiple individuals may be requested, but the total cannot exceed $5,000 (including the fringe rate). The payment 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 one-time pay 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 two submission cycles per year with deadlines at the close of business (5:00 p.m.) on December 15th and March 1st 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 Round 1 may run for up to two years - February 1 through January 31 of the second year.
- Grants awarded in Round 2 may run for up to two years - April 15 through April 14 of the second year.
APPLY
- Prepare your proposal using the Proposal Guidelines.
- Use the available resources to help you prepare your proposal.
- Take a look at an example application for inspiration.
- Attend the Office Hours that are held a few times a year.
- Reach out to us with questions.
- Submit your proposal online through MyApps.
REVIEW PROCESS
Collaborative Research and Creative Activity Initiative proposals are awarded by a competitive review process. Proposals are reviewed by members of the Faculty R&D Committee, which is 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.
TERMS & CONDITIONS
FINAL REPORT
A final report is due upon the conclusion of your project and is submitted within the MyApps system. 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.
FRIC will reimburse the faculty grantee's department from the project's budget. Please work with your Department Coordinator to initiate a department transfer request (a.k.a. Budget Amendment for Organization for general funds, Department Journal Entry for non-general funds) through Workday. Reimbursement requests must be made within the same fiscal year the expenses were incurred. 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.
HOW TO 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 your department's Worktags. Your department will request reimbursement from FRIC using the following process:
- Go to Workday Help Center and follow the appropriate Help Article (FRIC's FDM is a General Fund):
- If the FDM your department is using is a General Fund, then see the How to Create Budget Amendment for Organization in Workday (Internal Faculty or Student Grants) process.
- If funding needs to be transferred to a non-general fund, please see the How to Create a Department Journal Entry Request process.
- 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 cycle/year. Use the following formatting example:
- Bruce Wayne FRIC Collaborative Grant 2026-2027 (Round 1)
- Attach copies of the award notification and processed receipts (i.e. invoices, department purchases, etc.) to the department transfer request.
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:
Collaborative Grant FAQs
Please allow around 45 days from the application deadline for the committee to review your application and for FRIC's Administrative Assistant to prepare notification letters. That is by February 1st for Round 1 and April 15th for Round 2 (or the following business day if these dates fall upon a weekend).
In recent years, 0-3 Collaborative Grant applications have been funded per review cycle, about 3 per year. Roughly 35% of Collaborative Grant applications have been funded.
Here are some frequent problems:
- Applicants fail to demonstrate bona fide, original collaboration. For example, an applicant in the social sciences asking a lab scientist or statistician to perform a routine analysis would not be viewed favorably in terms of collaboration. If, however, the social scientist and statistician showed that they jointly developed and articulated the project and were using a non-routine method or approach, this would be viewed favorably. One indicator of bona fide, original collaboration would be that the two (or more) collaborators both authored the narrative of the application. Another indicator would be that the two (or more) collaborators both would be able to publish an article in their field based on the project.
- Applicants do not come from different disciplines and/or areas of expertise. It is possible for the two (or more) collaborators to come from the same department or units, but the application must make the case that the methods or approaches taken by the collaborators differ substantially and are not routinely used simultaneously in that discipline or area. Conversely, two applicants from nominally different disciplines that appear to be using highly similar methods or approaches might not be viewed favorably.
Yes. You may budget for reassigned time. It is imperative that your letter of support from your Unit Head indicates their support for your reassigned time. It is important that you indicate which semester you plan on requesting your reassignment. Approval for the reassignment is dependent on support from your unit and your college. The extra time for the proposed project is accountable by normal University standards.
Yes. The Collaborative Grant guidelines indicate that you are able to allocate up to $5,000 (including fringe rates) in stipend support. The request for stipend support must be well justified and match the time commitments of the research team. Stipend support can be split between collaborators based off of the level of effort described within the proposal.