Research Enhancement Program (A-39)
Original Implementation: September, 1965
Last Revision: July 14, 2005
Research Enhancement funds are intended to encourage and enhance research opportunities for faculty members and serve as support for innovative research and seed monies to attract external financial support.
The Research Enhancement Program at Stephen F. Austin State University consists of two components: the Faculty Research Grants Program and the Minigrants Program. The Faculty Research Grants Program provides substantive support for research and scholarly creative activities. Minigrants provide an opportunity for faculty to carry out small projects or preliminary research activities which will increase their competitiveness in the acquisition of Faculty Research Grants or external funds.
Any full-time faculty member including any professional librarian is eligible to apply for a faculty research grant, subject to the following conditions:
-
A faculty research grant will not be awarded for the purpose of obtaining an advanced academic degree.
-
The recipient of a faculty research grant in a given year is ineligible for a grant the following year, except that, in the first year of a fiscal biennium, a project may be funded for two years under extraordinary circumstances.
-
Except in extraordinary circumstances, an applicant is limited to one faculty research grant award or one minigrant award in a single year.
-
Faculty research grant funds may not be used for research activities or equipment funded by another research grant. This does not preclude the use of these funds for purposes of matching.
-
Those researchers who have access to research funds from other sources are encouraged to exhaust all alternative funding pathways prior to applying for a faculty research grant.
-
In the expenditure of faculty research grant appropriations, a recipient is subject to all local, state, and federal regulations.
-
Any research proposal that would involve the use of human subjects, laboratory animals, or hazardous materials must be accompanied by a memorandum of approval from the chair of the appropriate University committee. These committees are: Institutional Review Board for the Protection of Human Subjects, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, Environmental Safety and Health/Radiation Committee, Biosafety Committee, and Public Health Committee.
-
A faculty research grant recipient must make such progress and final reports about his/her project as required by the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs. The final report must include a 200-word abstract of the research and the findings.
-
Any publication resulting from a faculty research grant shall acknowledge that the project was conducted under a Stephen F. Austin State University faculty research grant. Copies of the publication shall be filed with the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs and with the Steen Library.
-
Each recipient of a faculty research grant is subject to the provisions of, and shall be responsible for adherence to, the University policy on Intellectual Property (Policy D-20), which applies to ". . . intellectual property of all types (including any invention, discovery, trade secret, technology, scientific or technological development, computer software, conception, design, creation or other form of expression of an idea ) regardless of whether subject to protection under patent, trademark, or copyright laws or common law." In addition, each recipient shall be responsible for securing and disposing of all other legal claims, such as copyrights, to any publication or other original creation made or conceived in the course of research or other activity supported by a faculty research grant.
For information on application procedures, program guidelines, submission deadlines, methods of evaluating faculty research proposals, and criteria for evaluating faculty research grant proposals, contact the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.
Source of Authority: Texas Education Code, sec. 141.001 et seq.; 7 U.S.C., sec. 2131; 9 CFR Part 3; 17 U.S.C., sec. 101; 37 CFR Parts 203 and 204; 35 U.S.C., sec. 101; 42 U.S.C., sec. 289; 45 CFR Part 46; President; Provost and Vice President for
Academic Affairs
Cross Reference: University Policy D-20, Intellectual Property
Contact for Revision: Associate Vice President for Graduate Studies and Research
Forms: None