Osher Faculty Grant

The Osher Faculty Grant was created by the Osher Institute Advisory Board as a way to support Boise State faculty and help raise awareness of the Osher Institute within the university. Annual member contributions to the Osher Excellence Fund help make this grant possible. Since its creation in 2011, the Osher Institute has awarded over $217,000 to Boise State faculty projects.

Osher Faculty Grant proposals are due on Friday, March 15, by 5:00 p.m. Please read the Osher Faculty Grant website thoroughly prior to submitting your proposal.

Osher Faculty Grant Mission

The mission of Boise State University’s Osher Institute Faculty Grant Program is to promote research and scholarly projects at Boise State University. A secondary objective is to engage university faculty with the Osher Institute.

Eligibility

• Full-time faculty members are eligible to apply.
• The program is open to members of any university department.
• Each applicant must have support of his or her department chair.

Details of the Program

Grant recipients will be provided support for their research, project, or scholarly work in the form of up to $7,500 in grant funding to support the submitted budget. Smaller grant applications are welcome. It is acceptable for multiple applicants to collaborate on a grant application.

Grant recipients may use the grant to forward their scholarly research by any means described in the project application and approved by the selection committee. Student involvement is highly encouraged.

The grants are residential. It is acknowledged that there may be a need for travel related to the pursuit of a grantee’s work, but it is assumed that the majority of the grant period will be spent in residence at the university.

It is also assumed that the scholarly or creative work will be performed by the grant recipient or students under his or her direction and not sub-contracted. In addition to pursuing their respective projects, grant recipients are expected to make their scholarly activities accessible to Boise State University students and members of the Osher Institute. The means by which this is achieved will vary according to the nature of the project and may include presenting their project as part of the Osher Institute’s programming.

Following final completion of the project, grant recipients are expected to share the outcome of work with the Osher Institute member audience in the form of a lecture about the project and its larger context or in another appropriate format.

If this proposal is a component of a larger project, or preliminary work is needed to justify an application for a larger grant, the outcome or deliverables paid for with this grant must be clearly defined as a distinct sub-project that can be explained to the Osher Institute audience.

Proposal Requirements

Proposals must be single-spaced, 12 pt. font, and include the following:

1. Cover Page: List the project title and applicant’s name(s), department, and college.
2. Project Narrative (Maximum 3 pages): In clear, non-specialist language, describe the project and how it relates to the Osher Faculty Grant’s mission and the evaluation criteria outlined on this page.
3. Budget Justification (PDF) (Maximum 2 pages): Applicant may request up to $7,500 to cover expenses. Funding is intended to defray expenses related to the proposed project. It is not a faculty stipend or course buyout. Please clearly identify other sources of funding, the amounts, and the status of that funding in your Budget Justification.
4. CV (Maximum 2 pages): Applicant must submit a current CV.
5. Two Letters of Recommendation: One letter must come from the applicant’s department chair. Letters should speak to the merits of the project, the ability of the applicant to complete the proposal, and must include the author’s contact information.

Additional information that might be helpful to the selection committee may be placed in an appendix. All proposal materials must be submitted in one file.

Evaluation Criteria

Proposals will be evaluated by a selection committee comprised of individuals from the Osher Institute community and the Osher Advisory Board. The following criteria will be used to evaluate the proposed work:

• The overall merit, creativity or uniqueness of the proposal and its significance for the university and the wider community.
• Relative interest of the project to the Osher Institute audience.
• Student engagement in research project.
• Evidence of collaboration among faculty, disciplines or colleges.
• Likelihood of success.
• Suggestion of how project and outcomes may be shared with the university and Osher audience.
• The coherence and intelligibility of the proposal narrative and completeness of application.
• Feasibility of budget/budget justification, and a clear relationship between budgeted expenditures and proposal outcome.

Osher Faculty Grant awardees and Department Chairs will be notified on April 15.

Follow-Up Activities

Grant recipients must submit a brief update six (6) months after receipt of the grant funds. Within one month following the conclusion of the grant period, the grantee must provide the Institute with a one-page summary of the grant project. Reports are to be sent to the Director of the Osher Institute.

Grant recipients will define presentation format for sharing the outcome with the Osher Institute membership during the subsequent academic year. Osher Institute staff will assist with scheduling.