Dean’s Research Chair 2022

Apply via Infoready by deadline of NOON EST, Tuesday, February 1st 2022.

We are pleased to announce the continuation of the CCAS Dean's Research Chairs (DRC) program, which we first launched in Spring 2014. This program for regular faculty in the Arts and Sciences is intended to stimulate and encourage research productivity, particularly for faculty who are engaged in a significant project nearing completion, or who are undertaking a promising new research endeavor.

The structure of the DRC has been adjusted to allow for an expansion in availability of the DRC, and to ensure clarity and equity in the offered teaching release. Faculty who are awarded a Dean’s Chair will be accorded teaching release equivalent to one semester’s teaching load, i.e. two courses for faculty with a 2-2 load, 3 course releases for faculty with a 3-3 load, over the two-year course of the DRC. In cases of uneven loads (e.g. 1-2 or 2-3) faculty will receive at least the load in their lightest semester, and can receive up to their maximum single-semester load, at the discretion of the dean, in order to be able to have one semester completely free of teaching if needed by the project. With department approval, the allotted course releases may be combined in such a way as to provide a full semester’s leave during the two-year duration of the chairship, or taken at different times to provide protected research time over several semesters.

Each CCAS Dean’s Research Chair will be provided with an enhanced annual research and travel award of $2,500, which is intended to top off any existing research and travel accounts. The enhanced annual research and travel stipend may be carried over from one fiscal year to the next fiscal year but must be expended within the two-year funding period. Regular faculty members of any rank are eligible. Faculty, however, may not hold a CCAS Dean’s Research Chair for consecutive terms.

Granting of a CCAS Dean’s Research Chair will not interrupt a faculty member’s sabbatical clock and course relief may be combined with normal sabbatical leave. A committee will review all applications and make recommendations to the Dean for final approval. Faculty who receive a Dean’s Research Chair will NOT be eligible to apply for a CCAS Enhanced Faculty Travel Award during the period of their “Chairship.” They are still eligible for all other sources of intramural funding.

Application Procedure

Submit nomination materials in PDF files through Infoready. The four files should contain the following items:

Project Description, including a description of proposed project (see below), and a summary of how the granted course releases will be distributed over the 2-year period. Up to three pages.
Single-page personal statement outlining PI qualifications (see below).
List of all current and pending research funding, with funding source, duration, details of the level of summer support it will provide over the course of the DRC, and a sentence for each one detailing how it relates to / does not relate to the proposed work. It should be clear from this list that the DRC would be supporting a new research direction, or a specific extension of an existing project, and not something which is already adequately supported from other sources.
A letter of support from the chair of the department or program which also explains how the course release will be accommodated by the department, and whether an additional Temporary Part Time faculty member (adjunct) will need to be hired. Please note that the explanation of the planned course release mechanism is for dean’s office planning purposes and does not form part of the review criteria.

All documents must be in no smaller than 12-point font, have a minimum of 1” margins on all sides and conform to the stated page guidelines. All non-compliant proposals will be rejected without review.

Project Description (3 page maximum, not including citations)

The clarity of the written proposal will be important; proposers should address each item below, bearing in mind that the reviewers will likely not have extensive knowledge of the field of inquiry being described. Using language appropriate for the educated lay reader is critical to the success of a proposal, regardless of the discipline or the technical nature of the research. Proposals will address:

Objectives and specific aims of the proposal
Background and significance of the proposed work
Plan of how the proposed work will be carried out, including milestones, and where appropriate detailing access, clearance, etc.
- Where archival work is planned, indicate which archives are targeted
- Where the DRC would support the production of a book, the proposal must outline the book in detail appropriate to the stage of the project: preferably a brief outline or working title of each of the chapters, noting at which stage the work is for that chapter / what remains to be done.
Outcome and final products of the proposed work, including dissemination
- Describe the likelihood for using findings of the proposed work to obtain external funding and/or how the final products will impact the field and bring external recognition to the PI & university
Outline what impact the DRC will have
- Does it adjust the scope of a current or planned project? Would it speed up the timeline of a project? Will it help publish a book or exhibit work in some form necessary for career advancement?

Note: “Impact of the DRC” is a mandatory section and will form a substantial part of the proposal score. Proposals missing this information will not be deemed compliant.

Personal Statement (1 page maxiumum)

A single-page document, following the 12-point font, 1” margins format outlined above, which illustrates the PI’s qualifications to successfully perform the planned DRC activities. This should be a self-contained document and can have any narrative or bulleted form desired by the PI, and does not need to contain a listing of all prior publications and / or products, or detail the PI’s prior positions or academic qualifications. It may be useful to the PI to consider the following questions (adapted from the Wenner Gren Foundation): “Why are you the right person to carry out this project? We are interested in how you have prepared yourself for this research. Describe your language competence, technical skills, previous research, and any other relevant experience. Describe any work you have already done on this project and how this research relates to other research you have done. You may be working with academic collaborators. If so, please describe their role in this project and how it will relate to yours. We are also interested in how you became committed to doing this work. Please tell us about your background and your relationship to the community or communities affected by your work.”

Review Criteria

Each nomination package will be evaluated based on the quality of the Project Description and the contents of the personal statement, with the following components:

Aims of the DRC (15%):

Are there clear aims to the proposed work?
Are the goals described with adequate specificity?
How do these aims differ / augment the PI’s already supported work?

Background and Scholarly Motivation for the DRC (15%):

How does the proposed work relate to the broader field?
Is the motivation for the work well articulated?
How significant is the need for this work?

Research Plan (20%):

How well does the research plan outlined address the stated goals of the research?
Is it clear that the research plan is feasible?
Is the PI qualified, and do they have the necessary access and clearance to perform the outlined research, or do they outline a plan to obtain any necessary access or permissions?
Are any risks appropriately mitigated with contingency plans in place?

Outcome / Final Product (25%):

How well is the final product / desired outcome of the DRC delineated?
Given the qualifications of the PI, and the quality of the outlined research plan, what is the likelihood of successful completion of the proposed work?
What is the impact of the final product on the field?
In funded disciplines, is the work likely to result in external funding and is there a clear plan to work towards that?
In scholarly disciplines, what is the likely reputational impact and external recognition from this work?
Where appropriate, how does the DRC contribute to inclusive excellence within the college?

Impact of the DRC (25%):

How will the award of the DRC facilitate the desired work (accelerate timeline, enable travel which would otherwise be impossible etc.)?
Would the award of the DRC facilitate a necessary step for career progression of the PI?
Does the DRC make possible work that would otherwise be infeasible?

Review Procedure

The applications will be reviewed by a committee convened by the Research Dean, with consultation from the CCAS Research Advisory Committee. The Committee will review the application packages and then make recommendations to the Dean. When awarded, course releases will be staged in a way to support the research project while meeting the overall teaching needs in the department.

Notification of Decisions

The Dean will work to notify all applicants of the funding decisions by the end of April 2022.