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Eligibility

CADS Research Fellowships are open to Miami University Tenure/Tenure Track Faculty members in all disciplines. The strongest proposals will include multiple faculty members from different academic divisions and/or departments. The expected outcomes of the project should be sufficient to warrant the funding requested.

Purpose

The purpose of the CADS Fellowship program is to encourage new research in analytics and/or data science that is likely to result in external funding or publication(s) in respected scholarly journals. Multidisciplinary proposals are required. Examples of the possible uses of funding include faculty summer salary, travel, equipment, and graduate support of new research initiatives.

Expectations for Recipients

CADS Research Fellows are expected to dedicate effort towards the research projects that is commensurate with the funding request, provide quarterly reports regarding their progress, and provide report documenting the outcomes that resulted from the funding. The award will be given June 1, 2018 with quarterly reports documenting the work and outcomes that have resulted from the funding due each quarter following the receipt of the grant.

It is expected that the research funded by CADS will result in at least one publication in a peer reviewed scholarly journal which will cite the support of Miami University’s Center for Analytics and Data Science. Grant recipients will also be expected to submit a follow-up competitive funding proposal. CADS will help facilitate this process for researchers unfamiliar with the grant-writing process. CADS should be notified of the publication of the article and the submission of the grant.

Application Process

Your application should include the following:

  • A cover letter indicating all sources of external funding for 2018
  • A 3-page research proposal using the template below

Template for Research Proposal

(Use Arial 11 pt, single spacing, 0.5 margins for the Project Description, which does not include the references and CVs) – For CVs, please follow the NSF CV template – click here for a template). Proposal should be no-longer than 3 pages.

I. Project Aims

(1 page)

Introduction

  • Why should readers care: Use 1-2 sentences to describe the societal issue or disease your project will be addressing.
  • Relevant knowns: Use 2-3 sentences to bring the reader up-to-date on the main issue and to set up “the gap”. Could be work from your lab but often it encompasses the bigger picture of what many groups have discovered.
  • Critical gap in our understanding: This is the highpoint of the first paragraph and is often bolded. One sentence is usually enough and it often starts with , “However…” “Despite the progress…” “What remains to be…”
  • Unmet needs because of the gap: What is the societal impact of not knowing the answer to “the gap”.

Our Approach

  • Long term goal: Using 1-2 sentences explain the big picture of the research you are doing.
  • Project objective: How will your work in the next year fit into the long term goal above and most especially how will it address the gap? 2-3 sentences.
  • Hypothesis statement: This is the climax of the second paragraph and is often bolded. What is your working hypothesis that will span the gap? Usually 1 sentence is adequate.

Define the Aims

  • “We plan to test our hypothesis by pursuing the following specific aims…”
  • Aims should test the central hypothesis and they should be brief and informative.
  • Consider using the “To...we will...using…” template for aims.

Payoff

  • Expected outcomes: This will be the payoff if the reviewers vote to fund your proposal.
  • Impact: When you confirm your hypothesis what will be possible next, or how will society be better off? It is always great if your closing sentence ties back to points made in paragraph A.

More guidance on the specific aims section can be found online here.

II. Significance

Importance of the Problem

  • Discuss the importance of the problem here.

Relationship of Planned Research Activities of the Current State of Knowledge

  • Discuss how your work addresses gaps in the literature and has the potential to be transformative

Expected Benefits and Outcomes

  • In one paragraph, please discuss both the contributions to your scientific discipline (i.e. intellectual merit) and the impacts to the broader public (i.e. broader impacts).

III. Innovation

How is your proposed work innovative? In addition, an important review criterion here is how your project addresses problems, challenges, or questions that emerge in response to larger, more diverse, higher volume data.

IV. Methods

Please provide a full description of the methods you will use to conduct this project and any preliminary results if they exist. Where applicable, include a full description of your data, model, and alternative strategies for your methodology/analysis. Discuss any potential limitations to your approach and how you plan to address these limitations.

V. Timeline and Participant Responsibilities

Please present a timeline of project activities. Note that the duration of the funding is limited to one year. In the case of multiple participants, please identify the responsibilities of each participant.

VI. Budget

Detail how funds will be spent (i.e. faculty salaries, student support, computing resources, equipment and/or travel). Please refer to the resources online for assistance with budget preparation (in the case of multiple categories). No indirect costs are allowed. Faculty salary support includes fringe.

Center for Analytics and Data Science

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Oxford, OH 45056