Request for proposals

Program description

Research, scholarship and creative activity supported by the new fund must be innovative or reflect a new application of existing research and have the potential to make a significant contribution to understanding the genesis and impact of inequities based on race, exploring impediments and/or charting a course toward racial equity. Attentive to KU’s vital role as a place-based institution, funding decisions will include as priorities community-engaged projects that address a local problem identified in collaboration with one or more community partners — injecting research, scholarship and/or creative activity to achieve both immediate progress and long-term sustainability while advancing generalizable knowledge and understanding. To address racial equity issues as broadly as possible, funding will be available to all Lawrence and Edwards campus faculty and unclassified academic staff (whether or not tenure-track), without regard for field or discipline. We hope to attract a diverse pool of applicants for this award. Projects that involve students or partnerships with colleagues at other universities, industry or nonprofit organizations are encouraged.

The Office of Research and the Hall Center’s Research & Grant Development Office will work with awardees to identify and secure external funding to continue or expand the scope of projects, but the potential to attract external funding is not a review criterion.

Workshop series

In conjunction with the award program, an ongoing Racial Equity Research, Scholarship & Creative Activity Workshop series will connect researchers working on racial equity issues and engage other members of the university community.

• Lawrence and Edwards campus faculty and unclassified academic staff (whether or not tenure-track) may submit a proposal individually or as teams.
   
• Incomplete or late applications will not be considered. To ensure that your application is complete, please consult the Racial Equity Award Checklist (.docx) before submission.

1. Submit Notice of Intent (NOI) 2 weeks before the proposal deadline.
    
2. If you would like the Office of Research to screen your budget for any potential issues before you submit your final proposal, please send it to racial-equity-awards@ku.edu by 5 p.m. Nov. 7 to allow time for review and potential corrections. Be sure to use the required budget template and include your budget narrative.

Send completed application packets as a SINGLE PDF to racial-equity-awards@ku.edu no later than 5 p.m. on the deadline. Applications will be reviewed for completeness before reviewers are assigned. Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

Notice of intent

Individuals interested in submitting a Racial Equity Fund proposal should complete a Notice of Intent (NOI) 2 weeks before the deadline. This will enable the Office of Research to plan for adequate reviewer coverage for incoming proposals. In addition, applicants can confirm that they meet the eligibility criteria for the program.

Application format

Proposals must be submitted as a SINGLE PDF (including each document listed below) via email to racial-equity-awards@ku.edu by 5 p.m. on Nov. 15.

All proposals must be completed in 11- or 12-point font with single spacing and 1-inch margins on each page.

Incomplete applications

Incomplete applications will not be considered. To ensure that your application is complete, please consult the Racial Equity Award Checklist (.docx) before submission. 

Application contents

1. Cover page (1 page)
   Include the following information:
   • Title of the proposal
   • Name and detailed contact information for the lead applicant (title, mailing address, email address, phone number)
   • Department/center that will administer the award
   • Funding amount requested
      
2. Anonymized project narrative (2-3 pages, including abstract, excluding references)
   Present an abstract of not more than 250 words, followed by a detailed description of your proposal, including answers to these questions:
   • How does the proposed work foster progress toward racial equity?
   • If applicable, what local problem does the project address and how does the proposed work engage one or more community partners?
   • What is novel, innovative and/or inventive about the proposed project?
   • How does the proposed project build upon KU’s existing work and resources in this area rather than duplicate them?
   • What are the metrics and outcomes that will signal success of the project?
   • If applicable, how does the proposed project involve students and/or collaborations with colleagues at other universities, nonprofit organizations or industry partners?

   
   Importantly, the text in the project narrative must be anonymized, omitting names and departmental affiliations of the team members as well as any other individually-identifying information.

   Anonymization guidance
   Proposers are required to write the project narrative for the proposal in an anonymized format, i.e., in a manner that does not explicitly identify the names of the team members or their KU departmental affiliations. Some specific points:

   1. Do not claim ownership of past work, e.g., "My previously funded work..." or "Our prior analysis demonstrates that…"
   2. Do not include the names of the personnel associated with the proposal or their departmental affiliations. This includes, but is not limited to, page headers, footers, diagrams, figures, watermarks, or PDF bookmarks. This does not include references to past work, which should be included whenever relevant (see below).
   3. Do not associate personnel with named teams or collaborations, e.g., “The PI is a member of the ColLAB: KU Research Collaborative.”
   4. When citing references, use third-person neutral wording. This especially applies to self-referencing. For example, replace phrases like "as we have shown in our previous work [17], …" with "as previously shown [17], ..."
   5. As always, reviewers expect proposers to describe past work in the field to put the proposed work into context and explain how the proposed work would improve, build upon, complement, contradict, or complete that past work. Using the above guidelines, proposers should be able to successfully accomplish this in an anonymized manner.

   
   Investigator(s)’ suitability for the proposed research should be described in the biosketch, which will be available to reviewers (along with the proposed budget) during the second phase of review, when applications will no longer be subject to anonymization.

3. PI biosketch (2 pages per PI; if co-PIs, submit for each)
   ​Similar to the ones for major federal funding agencies, the biosketch should demonstrate current research strength and capacity in the proposed area. It must include professional preparation; current and past positions/appointments; a list of up to 5 most recent publications and/or other outcomes (exhibitions, films, grant proposals for a nonprofit, etc.) closely related to the proposed area; if applicable, a list of applications to externally funded sponsored awards in the last 5 years, including those that are currently awarded or pending (with information about sponsor, duration, budget amount and role of individual); collaborative and/or community-engaged research activities, and other relevant research achievements.
   
   Examples of biosketches:
    
   • NIH biosketch
   • NSF biosketch
      
4. Budget on the KU Racial Equity Research, Scholarship & Creative Activity budget template
   
   Budgets may include funds to cover:
   • Materials and supplies
   • Well-justified non-conference domestic travel for KU personnel. Due to the limited funds available, applicants are encouraged to utilize remote meeting options when feasible for collaborator meetings and data collection. If travel is requested, the applicant should explain the need for in-person travel in their budget narrative.
   • Salary and associated fringe benefits for graduate and/or undergraduate student assistants during the summer.
   • Up to one biweek of salary and associated fringe benefits for the PI and any associated co-PIs.
   • Salary and fringe for other KU staff needed to complete the proposed work.
   • Collaborative activity on the KU campus
      
   Budgets should not include:
   • Subrecipient agreements
   • Foreign travel
   • Conference travel
   • Tuition
   • Indirect costs
   • Equipment (items with a unit cost of $5,000 or above)
   • Cost share. Contributions from other sources are permissible and can be discussed in the project narrative. They should not be included in the budget template.
      
   If you would like the Office of Research to screen your budget for any potential issues before you submit your final proposal, please send it to racial-equity-awards@ku.edu by 5 p.m. Nov. 7 to allow time for review and potential corrections. Be sure to use the required budget template and include your budget narrative.
    
5. Budget narrative
   The budget narrative should describe in detail how each cost category on the proposed budget will be used to complete the work proposed, and the timing of expenditures.

All complete and on-time proposals will be reviewed following the Nov. 15 deadline by the Racial Equity Award Review Panel.

In an attempt to minimize bias, the Office of Research utilizes an approach to anonymize the identity of applicants for Racial Equity Awards until the second phase of the review process. Our aim in anonymizing proposal narratives is to help reviewers focus on the merit of the proposed research, scholarship or creative activity and limit potential unconscious bias while encouraging applications from investigators who otherwise might not apply due to perceptions of bias.

During the first phase, reviewers will only assess the anonymized project narrative for each proposal — focusing on project merits without taking into account the proposing team qualifications. Reviewers will submit their initial assessments via the program rubric (see below) to the Office of Research. As a final check, and only after the merit evaluation is finalized for all proposals, reviewers will be provided with the PI biosketches and budget to assess the project's feasibility and the qualifications of the team to execute a given proposed project. If there are clear, compelling deficiencies in the expertise required to accomplish the goals of the proposal or serious questions about the project's feasibility within the proposed budget, reviewers may note this in their comments to the Office of Research. This review may not be used to “upgrade” proposals for having particularly strong team qualifications, nor may it be used to re-evaluate the merits of proposals.

Following the two-phase review process, funding recommendations will be provided to the Vice Chancellor for Research for review and final approval within 8 weeks of the application deadline.

Review criteria include:

• Merit and degree of novelty/innovation of proposed work
• Feasibility
• Evidence of the PI(s)’ capacity to lead the proposed work

Reviewers will assess these criteria using the KU Racial Equity Award Reviewer Rubric & Feedback Form (.docx). Applicants are encouraged to consult this rubric as they write their proposals.

The Office of Research and the review committee reserve the right to ask applicants to revise their proposals, and funding may be awarded for lesser amounts than requested.

KU Racial Equity Award reviewers are selected based on their knowledge, skills and experiences, per the following criteria:

Preferred skills and experience

Peer reviewers must be:

• Faculty or academic staff on KU’s Lawrence-Edwards campus.
• Able to analyze grant proposals effectively against published submission and evaluation criteria.
• Able to express their evaluations in writing following established submission and evaluation guidelines.
• Interested/invested in the advancement of racial equity through research, scholarship and creative activity as demonstrated in administrative, philanthropic, community, scholarly and/or creative activity/record/service.

Preferred backgrounds

Racial Equity Award sponsors (Office of Research and Hall Center for the Humanities) are interested in potential peer reviewers with:

• Demonstrated history/experience in racial equity research, scholarship, creative activity, community engagement and/or community organizing.
• A diverse range of identities that includes representation of groups historically excluded from higher education.
• Scholarly experience representing a range of disciplines, including arts and humanities, social sciences and STEM.

Time commitment

• Reviewers are needed annually in late fall to evaluate proposals that arrive by the November deadline.
• Time commitment varies depending on the volume of applications and the number of proposals assigned to each reviewer. Reviewers will meet twice: once for an orientation that includes a review of their bias training and later to discuss proposals after scoring.
• In addition to scoring each proposal, reviewers must provide written comments for each proposal that speak to how they evaluated the proposal and be willing to support their scores with evidence from the proposal. Reviewers must also be willing to listen to input from other reviewers, engage in discussion, and work to resolve discrepancies in scoring.
• At the present time, reviewers are not compensated monetarily for their service. 

The Office of Research will inform successful applicants after the selection process is complete, usually by early January. Awardees will then work with Pre-Award Services to complete the proposal review process, including securing any applicable compliance approvals. All applicants will be provided with comments and feedback from the review panels.

1. All KU Office of Research policies and procedures, including research compliances, must be followed.
    
2. Rebudgets over 10% of total award amount must be approved by the Office of Research. Any rebudgeting must still adhere to the budget requirements of the proposal.
    
3. All funds must be expended within 24 months of receiving the Racial Equity Award. A one-year no-cost extension may be requested at the end of award duration if additional work needs to be completed. Unused funds will be retained by the Office of Research to support future Racial Equity Award competitions.
    
4. Awardees will be asked to serve as reviewers for internal awards and/or limited submissions when their award is complete.

Awardees will communicate any project developments, challenges and/or achievements — such as evidence of positive changes for the community or in relevant public policy, publications, external grant applications, invention disclosures, patents or patent applications, conference presentations, creative work, press releases, licenses, etc. — to racial-equity-awards@ku.edu as soon as possible, and for up to three years beyond the initial funding period, so that they can be disseminated through KU Research and KU News. Any publications (or other “products”) arising from this request for proposals should acknowledge that it was "Made possible through support from a KU Racial Equity Research, Scholarship & Creative Activity Award."

• A final report will be submitted to racial-equity-awards@ku.edu within 120 days of the project end date. The report must:
  • Summarize the extent to which original proposal goals and objectives have been achieved, highlighting metrics for measuring project success as included in the proposal.
  • Highlight any other significant achievements and outcomes.
  • Address plans for future work.

Awardees who do not submit final reports within 120 days of the award close date will not be eligible for future Office of Research funding opportunities.

At the top of the Year 1 budget tab, enter the PI name, the proposal title, and the start and end dates of the proposed project. The earliest project start date is February 1 for the KU Racial Equity Research, Scholarship and Creative Activity Award competition. You may request one or two years. Your departmental SSC contact can assist you with providing biweekly salary rates as needed.

Salaries and wages

• Senior personnel
  Up to one biweek of salary can be requested for the Principal Investigator (PI) and any KU Co-PIs or KU Senior Personnel if needed to complete the project. If salary is being requested for the PI, enter the name of the PI, the percentage of time devoted to the project for the requested biweek, and the biweekly rate for the PI. If requesting the full 2 weeks allowed, the percentage should be 100%. Enter the same details for Co-PIs or Senior Personnel for whom salary is being requested. The total salary amount will be calculated and displayed in G.16.
   
• Other personnel
  • Postdoctoral Associate: If requesting salary for a postdoc, enter the name of the postdoc, the number of biweeks, the percent effort requested, and the biweekly rate for that individual. The salary amount will be calculated and displayed in G.19.
  • Technician: If requesting salary for a technician, enter the name of the technician, the number of biweeks, the percent effort requested, and the biweekly rate for that individual. The salary amount will be calculated and displayed in G20.
  • Graduate research student (GRA): Graduate students who are doing work that is related to their degree program should be categorized as GRAs. If requesting salary for a GRA, enter the name of the student if known, or TBD if it is to be determined. Enter the FTE for the GRA in Cell I24. Enter the number of biweeks and the percent effort. The minimum GRA salary is displayed. You can increase this rate to follow your department’s guidelines, but you may not reduce this rate. The GRA salary will be calculated and displayed in G21.
  • Graduate assistant (GA): Graduate students who are doing work that is not related to their degree program may be categorized as GAs. If requesting salary for a GA(s), enter the number of GAs and the number of total hours/GA for the year. The recommended minimum GA rate is displayed. You can adjust this rate to follow your department’s guidelines. The GA salary will be calculated and displayed in G24.
  • Undergraduate student (UG): Enter the number of UGs and the number of total hours/UG for the year. The minimum UG rate is displayed. You can increase this rate to follow your department’s guidelines, but you may not reduce this rate. The UG salary will be calculated and displayed in G25.
     
• Fringe benefits
  Fringe benefits will be calculated based on standard rates for each type of appointment and will display in the appropriate line. Do not enter anything in this section.

Travel

Travel costs for KU personnel should be budgeted using the Travel Worksheet tab at the bottom of the budget spreadsheet. Do not enter data directly into the Travel section of the budget spreadsheet.

Click on the Travel Worksheet tab.

For trips requiring airfare, use travel table (a). For regional travel using a personal car, use travel table (b).

• Travel table (a): Enter the number of persons traveling, the number of trips, and the number of travel days/trip. Review the rates displayed for airfare, meal per diem, lodging, and ground transportation and adjust as needed depending on your destination. You can access allowable per diem and lodging rates for your destination city using the widget at the U.S. General Services Administration website. Travelers requesting a lower per diem rate than the approved rate for their location must complete a per diem exception form before travel. The total travel amount will calculate and be displayed in Cell P27 and will populate on the Year 1 budget.
   
• Travel table (b): Enter the number of persons traveling, the number of trips, the number of miles per trip, and the number of travel days per trip. If returning home on the same day, do not enter anything into the Days field. Review the rates for meal per diem and lodging, and adjust as needed depending on your destination. You can access allowable per diem and lodging rates for your destination city using the widget at the U.S. General Services Administration website. Travelers requesting a lower per diem rate than the approved rate for their location must complete a per diem exception form before travel. The total travel amount will calculate and be displayed in Cell P36 and will populate on the Year 1 budget.

When you click back to the Year 1 tab, the total travel request will be displayed in Section D.

Research materials & supplies

Enter the description and cost of materials and supplies needed for the project in these lines of the budget. The total amount will be calculated and displayed in G44.

Other costs

Enter the description and cost of other project expenses in these lines. The total amount will be calculated and displayed in G54.

The total proposed costs for Year 1 will be calculated and displayed in G56.

Year 2

If you are budgeting expenses in Year 2, follow the guidelines above using the Year 2 tab of the budget spreadsheet. Total project costs will be calculated and displayed on the Total tab of the budget spreadsheet. Do not enter any information into the Total tab. It is for display purposes only.