This is a call for Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) grants that are faculty‐led. This grant is to support faculty members to manage projects of an applied research nature. The projects can be in collaboration with an industrial partner or not.
Scope
The Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) program was instituted in collaboration with Georgia Tech and piloted at AUB from 2020 until 2023 under TLP (Tomorrow’s Leaders College to Work Program). The idea of VIP is to have projects implemented in a vertically integrated manner including students as early as sophomores up to and including graduate students. Think about VIP as a mini company you are managing with tens of students from multiple disciplines (for now from within MSFEA exclusively). The beauty of the concept is that the team makeup allows you to create a hierarchy in the management makeup of the team, where senior students become mentors to junior students and continuity of the project is ensured without you necessarily being the critical link for its sustainability. This contrasts with the path of many of our research projects, which can sometimes terminate or face a gap in research support with the graduation or departure of students.
VIP funding will include budget lines for MSFEA faculty time (summer pay), as well as funding for RAs, equipment, travel, and other. Furthermore, under VIP, faculty members will have access to an unlimited number of undergraduate students (typically above 10) who will earn academic credit (up to 12 credits) to work on these projects.
VIP awardees will be ensured a minimum of two-year funding, conditional on satisfactory performance of each team. VIP teams will be supported by a VIP coordinator, as well as the VIP infrastructure (e.g., website) that was established during TLP.
We prefer that VIP projects are made in collaboration with an industrial partner, but this is not a pre-requisite. Projects with authentic problems and industry collaboration will be eligible receive an additional 10K funding per project per year. Authentic collaboration means that the research is born from a real problem faced by the industry partner(s) whose solution would result in a significant improvement in their competitiveness.
Application Process & Reporting
Individual faculty members (full‐time professorial rank faculty of all ranks not on leave) submit an application. A faculty member can submit only one proposal per call. Project duration is for multiple years (two to five years), with continued funding awarded annually conditional on satisfactory progress.
The application is a two‐page note including:
- Name of PI
- Summary of proposed research, including an explanation of how the requested funded categories/items map to the intended research activities for the project.
- The plan for the team make-up of the VIP team, from sophomores to graduates. This is just a plan and will probably not be immediately realized.
- A timeline spanning at least two years.
- Expected impact and outputs (include at least one objective measure of success).
- Budget with justification. The budget should span at least two years.
Review Process
The applications will initially be evaluated by the a committee formed by the VIP coordinator (including the coordinator), who will make a recommendations to a committee consisting of the dean team (dean and associate deans) and the chair of the MSFEA Research Committee. Proposals will be scored based on the suitability of the project to be realized as a VIP and the proposed plan for student integration.
We will be organizing a session at the beginning of the semester to brief faculty on VIP and its concepts.
Factors that are not considered in the evaluation include the professorial rank of the faculty member and whether the faculty member is applying soon for tenure/promotion.
Important: performance on previous VIP projects will be weighed during the evaluation process.
Funds
The total requested funds by the concept note are limited to $20k USD for industry-free projects, and 30k for projects including industrial partners. Awarded funds can be used for:
In case a faculty member goes on leave, unspent funds will return to the initiative.
Timeline
The following timeline will be observed for the upcoming exploratory research grant proposals. Submissions of the VIP proposals (at
msfea@aub.edu.lb) are due on September 29, which will be evaluated until October 27. The first of November the awards will be notified, and you may begin work. The yearly progress reports are due on August 1, 2024.
