Academic Affairs

The goal of the Faculty Development Committee is to make the resources at its disposal as freely and fairly available to the faculty as possible. The Committee reviews all proposals in great detail. Please study the guidelines carefully, as proposals that do not follow the guidelines will not be funded. The narrative part of a proposal should be presented in a form comprehensible to colleagues outside of the applicant’s own discipline. The same proposal cannot be supported by more than one fund in a given year. However, distinct pieces of one project can be supported by different proposals submitted to different funds. It is acceptable to apply for funding retroactively, i.e., to cover research expenses incurred during the previous twelve-month period.

Those faculty members receiving Faculty Research Fund grants will be expected to report briefly on the uses to which the grant was put and to describe the scholarly or artistic work resulting from the grant.

What to submit
A complete Faculty Research Award application must include the following:

1. Title of the project.
2. A brief abstract of the project (fewer than 100 words).
3. A narrative description (no more than two pages single-spaced) in which the applicant makes clear in language that is accessible to nonspecialist colleagues the following:
   1. The basic ideas, problems, works, or questions the study will examine, and the steps to be taken to accomplish this research;
   2. The significance of the project to the applicant’s scholarly field and research program;
   3. The significance of the project to the applicant’s continued scholarly development.
4. A clear statement of the anticipated outcome(s) of the project.
5. A budget, as descriptive and detailed as possible. Please round off figures to the nearest $10 when submitting your budget. In the case of a request for conference travel, a description of the proposed use of the Dean’s professional conference travel funds must also be included.
6. A statement indicating the date and amount of award(s) from the Faculty Development Committee received over the past six years. A brief summary of the results of work supported by such prior funding is a prerequisite for additional funding. Any relationships between previously funded projects and the current one must be described.
7. A statement indicating what other sources of funding have been requested or received for the proposed project. Requests for subventions for book publishing should be accompanied by a letter from the press that clarifies the publisher’s policy and provides information about the costs for which the applicant seeks funding.
8. A current curriculum vitae, no longer than five pages.

How to submit
All applications must be submitted electronically on or before the deadline date to fdc@list.bowdoin.edu. Applications must be submitted in a single document in Microsoft Word or PDF format; any other electronic format will not be accepted. For assistance in creating PDF documents, please contact the IT Help Desk. Electronic applications will be received automatically by all members of the Faculty Development Committee.

An incomplete or late application will not be considered.