Early Career Grants:
Strengthening Proposals for External Funding
Applications are due by noon, Wednesday, September 4, 2024.
Proposals should be submitted by email to eiugrants@eiu.edu by noon on the due date. Late proposals will not be reviewed.
Program Guidelines and Application Instructions
The purpose of the Early Career Grant (ECG) program is to support projects with potential to lead to significant external funding. Eligible projects include—but are not limited to—research, creative activity, and innovation in academic programs. There will be a single application deadline per year; the date will be the same date that Fall CFR proposals are due.
Amount: Up to $5,000 per grant
Eligibility: All University personnel within their first six years of employment by EIU are eligible to submit ECG proposals.
Duration of ECG Grants: Each grant will carry an expiration date that coincides with the end of the fiscal year in which it is awarded.
Allowable Expenses:
Early Career Grants may be used for any of the following:
- Travel: The applicant must show that the proposed activity requires travel to the destination specified. Travel must be completed in time to submit the travel voucher to the Business Office by the normal deadline for the fiscal year in which the grant is awarded.
- Student Help: Wages must be appropriate to the task, as defined by EIU classifications.
- Equipment: The applicant must show that the equipment is needed for the proposed activity and is otherwise unavailable. Equipment purchased with the funding is the property of the university.
- Commodities
- Contractual Services
- Other: The applicant must show that some other type of expense is required to make the ECG-funded project viable.
Early Career Grants may not be used for any of the following:
- Salary of the project director(s);
- Completing a dissertation;
- Typing and copying of finished manuscripts;
- Page charges assessed by journals;
- Shipment of property for the purpose of performance, exhibit, etc.
Early Career Grant Recipient Requirements:
Submission of a Proposal for External Funding:
- Anyone who accepts an ECG grant will agree in writing to submit a proposal for external funding within 24 months of the end of the ECG grant. In some cases, a longer time may be allowed in order to accommodate the normal funding cycle of an agency; such an exception must be justified in the ECG proposal and agreed to by the reviewers.
- Priority will be given to applicants who include with their application an outline or rough draft of the proposal they plan to submit for external funding.
Reports:
- A project report will be due 30 days after the expiration of the grant. Reports should be submitted on the Early Career Grant Final Report Form, which is available at this link and on the web site of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.
Finance:
- The recipient of the Early Career Grant Grant will serve as Financial Manager of the Fund/Org created in Banner (this is also known as a FOAPAL). Early Career Grant funds must be expended in accordance with Business Office deadlines during the fiscal year in which the grant is awarded.
University Criteria:
- Applicants must make a convincing case that the grant will support efforts that will substantially improve the chance of success of a proposal for external funding. The proposal for external funding required of any recipient of an ECG grant must be for a grant to the Board of Trustees of Eastern Illinois University rather than to an individual applicant.
- The maximum amount for the budget of an ECG grant is $5,000.
- The proposed external grant must have a budget at least tenfold the amount of the ECG grant. F&A costs for the external grant will be budgeted at the full amount allowed by the funding agency.
- An ECG grant may not be used simply to augment an existing external grant; an ECG grant may not be used as cost sharing for any external grant.
- The applicant must demonstrate a record of successful use of internal funding such as CFR grants.
- The applicant must demonstrate a record of application for external funding.
Revision of Program Guidelines:
Early Career Grant Program Guidelines may be revised occasionally.
Submission of Proposals:
- Proposals will be reviewed by committee members from diverse backgrounds. Therefore, proposals should be free of unnecessary jargon.
- All relevant attachments (as specified in the application) must be included with the initial submission.
- Department Chair (or immediate supervisor) signature is required in the application.
In any round of ECG funding, an individual may submit no more than one proposal.
Collaborative proposals are welcome. A collaborative proposal is defined as a proposal whose budget is divided among more than one recipient.
An individual may be the sole recipient of an ECG grant only once in an entire career.
- An individual may be the collaborative recipient of an ECG grant more than once in an entire career.
Evaluation of Proposals:
1. Initial Review by CFR
Proposals will be reviewed by CFR in order to assure evaluation by a broadly representative group. This review will assess the intellectual strength of the proposal, the clarity of expression of the proposal, and the applicant’s record of using internal funding.
2. Final Review
Proposals will be reviewed by a group consisting of a Director of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, the Dean of the Graduate School, and at least one other academic administrator. This review will assess the applicant’s record of applying for external funding and prospects for success with external funding. This group will make the final funding decision.
3. Review Criteria
Detailed review criteria and the associated point totals are available for viewing on the Early Career Grant Proposal Rating Form.
