Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants from the NEH

The Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants program awards grants to support the planning stages of innovative projects that promise to benefit the humanities. Proposals should be for the planning or initial stages of digital initiatives in any area of the humanities.

Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants may involve

• research that brings new approaches or documents best practices in the study of the digital humanities;
• planning and developing prototypes of new digital tools for preserving, analyzing, and making accessible digital resources, including libraries’ and museums’ digital assets;
• scholarship that focuses on the history, criticism, and philosophy of digital culture and its impact on society;
• scholarship or studies that examine the philosophical or practical implications and impact of the use of emerging technologies in specific fields or disciplines of the humanities, or in interdisciplinary collaborations involving several fields or disciplines;
• innovative uses of technology for public programming and education utilizing both traditional and new media; and
• new digital modes of publication that facilitate the dissemination of humanities scholarship in advanced academic as well as informal or formal educational settings at all academic levels.

Innovation is a hallmark of this grant category, which incorporates the “high risk/high reward” paradigm often used by funding agencies in the sciences. NEH is requesting proposals for projects that take some risks in the pursuit of innovation and excellence. Digital Humanities Start-Up Grants should result in plans, prototypes, or proofs of concept for long-term digital humanities projects prior to implementation.

The deadline for application is September 12, 2013.
To view the full announcement visit: http://www.neh.gov/grants/odh/digital-humanities-start-grants
If you are interested in applying for this opportunity please contact the Sponsored Programs Office at 5-1600 or SPO@bsu.edu.

NEH Offers New Enduring Questions Grants

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has released a solicitation for the new round of Enduring Questions grants. The grants offer funding to faculty to develop new courses that will encourage undergraduates and teachers to use the humanities to grapple with a fundamental concern of human life. Through a deep and sustained program of reading, students will encounter influential thinkers from across previous centuries to the present day.

In its last five annual competitions, the Enduring Questions program received approximately 193 applications per year. The program made an average of nineteen awards per year, for a funding ratio of 10 percent. Award descriptions from previous grantees can be found here, including examples from GRC members: University of North Carolina, Charlotte; Wheaton College; Cheyney University of Pennsylvania; State University of New York, The College at Brockport; and Saginaw Valley State University.

Applications are due by September 12, 2013 for awards of up to $38,000. The award amount is dependent on the number of project directors indicated in the application. The grant period may last between 18 and 36 months.

If you are interested in applying for this grant please contact the Sponsored Programs Office at 285-1600 or spo@bsu.edu or your area proposal manager.

From Blue Avocado

This blog post originally appeared on Blue Avocado, the online magazine for American Nonprofits. Although the author here is speaking about funding for nonprofit organizations SPO thought everyone who has ever had to deal with funding restrictions on a project would appreciate it.

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Blue Avocado's humor columnist Vu Le dreams about restricted funding for cakes:

For the past few months one of our staff has an eye that's been twitching. "It's this grant!" she says. "It's for our after-school program. It pays for instructors' teaching time, but not their planning time! How can they teach when they can't plan?! How? How?!"

"Psst," I whispered, "Let's talk in the conference room. "Since the staff is so dedicated, they will plan anyway even without getting paid,” -- I paused, looking around -- "Why don't you just increase their hourly wages?"

"This grant capped the hourly wage, so I can't pay them more. The other grant might pay for planning time, but they don't pay for employer taxes!" She started pulling at her hair, and both of us collapsed on the floor, weeping and beating our chests in anguish and despair.

Grant Seeking and Grant Writing workshops from the Muncie Public Library

Two free grant training opportunities from the Muncie Public Library.

Foundation Directory Online Basics.
This database lets you search over 100,000 US grantmaker profiles to find a good “fit” to fund your project. You can discover a foundation’s funding interests, funding history, method of approach, timelines, and much more. RSVP by Monday, May 20—seating is limited.
Date: Wednesday, May 22, 10am-noon
Place: Connection Corner, 1824 E. Centennial

Grant Writing Basics.
Learn the components of a grant proposal, what information to include, and tips and tricks for writing a strong proposal. RSVP by Monday, May 20.
Date: Thursday, May 23, 10am-noon
Place: Connection Corner, 1824 E. Centennial

To register, contact Donna Browne at 741-5155 or dbrowne@munpl.org.

Spring 2013 Update of Ball State Research Now Online!

The Spring update of Ball State Research is now available online!

Ball State Research is an online magazine produced by the Sponsored Programs Office in order to highlight some of the amazing sponsored projects taking place at Ball State. The spring update focuses on the Global Health Institute, a campus knowledge unit established in 2009 to encourage interdisciplinary investigation of critical issues that are impacting local and global health.

Please, take a few moments to read all about the exciting work taking place at the Global Health Institute.

Ball State Talks Peace

By: Margaret Cude

On April 5 and 6, 2013, the Ball State University Center for Peace and Conflict Studies hosted the first ever Benjamin V. Cohen Peace Conference: Promoting Nonviolence at Home and Beyond . Co-sponsored by the City of Muncie, Benjamin V. Cohen Memorial Endowment Fund, and the United States Institute of Peace, the event drew presenters and audiences from across the US, and even a few from Canada.

With over 150 pre-registered attendees and more than fifty presentations, the Conference covered such varied topics as mediation techniques, racism, the crisis in Sudan, Muncie economic empowerment, pagan oppression, and conscientious objection.

“I was very impressed to know about the efforts of various centers and offices across Indiana,” said Janet Brown, Spiritual Life Commission, St. Luke’s United Methodist Church.

Friday’s kick-off included addresses from Dennis Tyler, Mayor of Muncie, Dr. Robert Morris, Associate Provost of Research and Dean of the Graduate School, and keynote speaker Pastor Steve Roese, President and Founder of Water is Basic.

Open Sessions on Supplemental Compensation

Three opportunities are scheduled to address questions about the supplemental compensation policy.

Supplemental Compensation Open Sessions – Bracken Library 215

a.       Tuesday, 4/16/13           11:30 am to 1:00 pm

b.      Wednesday, 4/17/13     11:30 am to 1:00 pm

c.       Thursday, 4/18/13          3:00  to 4:30 pm

This will be an open format for Q&A, as well as discuss policy basics. There will not be a formal presentation.  As time and attendance permit, specific individual scenarios can be reviewed.

These sessions are directed for faculty and professional personnel, individuals who enter supplemental compensation payments, as well as Chairs and Directors who approve supplemental compensation. 

Prior to attending a session, individuals should review the current policy located at http://spo.iweb.bsu.edu/supcomp/SupCompPolicy.pdf.

Supplemental Compensation is defined as “all compensation beyond the employee’s base salary, whether originating internally or externally, and processed through University Payroll and Employee Benefits.” This includes summer teaching.

Please refer all questions to: 

Jacqueline S. Davis, MA, CRA

Proposal Manager and Supplemental Compensation Coordinator

Sponsored Programs Office

Ball State University

Selected Grantweek updates from the Grants Resource Center for the week of April 1, 2013

Federal Budget Progress (No April Fool’s Joke)

Both the Senate and the House of Representatives passed budget plans for FY 13 and FY 14 recently, leaving GRC members one step closer to knowing the future landscape of Federal funding opportunities. It was the Senate’s first budget in four years. The Senate plan calls for almost $1 trillion in tax increases while cutting spending by roughly the same amount over the next decade. The plan addresses higher education by fully funding the Pell Grants Program, increasing aid for existing education programs, and increasing institutional and research support.

According to the Washington Post, the GOP-led House plan would lead to a “radical” reduction in the size of government, making large cuts in healthcare and social programs. The House plan hopes to move funding for higher education away from financial aid to policies that develop more innovative institutional options for students and their families.

Of course, neither of these plans will be implemented as is. Instead, they will set the boundaries for the coming debate. The real battle begins as Senate and House leaders meet to reconcile their competing visions and try to come up with something both chambers can approve and send on to President Obama.

Internationally Attended Conference Examines Print Culture

By: Margaret Cude On Friday and Saturday, March 15-16, 2013, researchers from around the world met at the E.B. and Bertha C. Ball Center for the “Print Culture Histories Beyond the Metropolis Conference,” hosted by the Center for Middletown Studies. “The animating idea of the conference is to explore the ways that printed material was produced, consumed, circulated, and encountered in smaller cities, provincial districts, rural settings, colonial outposts, and comparable contexts,” said Dr. James Connolly, Director for the Center for Middletown Studies and Professor of History.

From the NCIIA: E-Team Program for Faculty and Students

Next E-Team Stage 1 Deadline: May 10, 2013

Click here to meet our Fall Stage 1 E-Teams

NCIIA is pleased to announce a NEW E-Team Program, launched in fall 2012. The program provides early-stage support and funding of up to $75,000 for collegiate entrepreneurs working on market-based technology inventions.
Since 1995, our E-Team grants have been funding collegiate student and student/faculty teams to move ideas out of the lab and classroom and into the marketplace. The 2012-13 E-Team Program enhances this opportunity by providing expert entrepreneurial and venture coaching, experiential workshops, and a potential investment opportunity to help realize the commercial success of the technology inventions and innovations that come through our organization.
Selected E-Team Program participants may also be invited to exhibit their technologies at Open Minds, the annual showcase of breakthrough technologies from NCIIA's top student teams. The 2013 Open Minds exhibition will be held March 22-23 in Washington, DC at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, hosted by hosted by its Lemelson Center for the Study of Invention and Innovation.