Home : University Symposium : Application Procedures

Abundance & Scarcity

Awards for Research and Creative Projects

Application Procedures

The Institute for Advanced Study and the Office of the Vice President for Research invite proposals for collaborative interdisciplinary research and creative projects on the topic of “Abundance & Scarcity,” the subject of the University Symposium for the two-year period beginning in the fall of 2010. “Abundance & Scarcity” examines issues of plenty, rarity, and sufficiency in a number of realms and dimensions, both tangible and intangible, taking a long-range and multi-disciplinary view.

We welcome proposals from any cluster of disciplines. Proposals should frame their investigations in ways that explicitly address ideas of abundance and scarcity. Successful proposals will deal with challenges to received wisdom and preconceptions about such concepts as adequacy, profusion, and sustainability. We especially welcome proposals that propose to bring together colleagues (from within the University or from outside the University) who hold divergent viewpoints. We welcome proposals that have an element of community engagement, but such proposals must show how the community engagement is centrally related to the research and creative agendas of the proposers. Proposals should explicitly discuss how the project relates to the University Symposium theme and how the project might benefit from an affiliation with the IAS and its initiatives.

Funding may be used for release time or salary support, summer stipends, research travel, student support (both graduate and undergraduate), purchase of equipment, books, and other materials, as well as to bring in scholars whose work is central to the collaboration. While we have no cap on the amount of individual awards, the total amount we have to distribute is less than $125,000. The amount you request should align with the scope of the work and be reflected in the budget. Project investigators are encouraged to seek other sources of funding as necessary. Funds will be available as soon as awards are made. Awardees are expected to present the results of their projects in a public forum at the IAS. Project principal investigators must be University of Minnesota tenured or tenure-track faculty. Faculty at all campuses are eligible. Project teams may include non-faculty members.

Preference will be given to those collaborations that cross collegiate lines and/or include new community partnerships. Applications that integrate approaches from several disciplines or propose a new or distinctive approach in their exploration of some aspect of abundance and scarcity are particularly encouraged. It is important that the proposal show ways in which the interdisciplinary collaboration is essential to the project. Evaluation criteria will include relevance of topic to the general theme “Abundance & Scarcity,” interdisciplinary and collaborative aspects of the work, and innovative approach. The narrative should adequately frame the relevant issues and provide sufficient context so that the review committee members, drawn from disciplines across the entire University, can evaluate your proposal.

If you intend to submit a proposal and have not attended an Abundance & Scarcity planning meeting, please plan on attending an event in the fall. Attendance at one or more Abundance and Scarcity event is required before funding may be released.

Submission Instructions

Proposals will be submitted through the online WorkflowGen system at https://wf.umn.edu/wfgen.

Proposals should consist of the following:

1. Project Description. This document should contain the following elements:
   • abstract of the project (200 words)
   • detailed description of the project, including its significance (1,000 words)
   • list of proposed participants in the project, including status of their commitment to the project
2. Detailed budget. This should include other sources of funding if applicable, and budget narrative.
   
3. Two-page curriculum vitae for each participant in the project. Please combine these into one document.

You may also submit images and/or a link to a film clip of up to five minutes, if relevant to the project .

Proposals were due by midnight, Friday, October 15, 2010. Successful applicants will be required to participate actively in Abundance & Scarcity Symposium events; applicants are strongly advised to participate in a Symposium event before proposal submission. For more information on these events, please visit the Abundance and Scarcity page. Faculty, staff, and students from University of Minnesota coordinate campuses can have their mileage reimbursed for travel to the Twin Cities campus for IAS events.