Faculty Working Groups

Deadline: ongoing

Program Purpose:
To foster innovative and interdisciplinary research, the Center for Global Initiatives is pleased to fund faculty working groups. These groups meet regularly to critique scholarly works, host visiting speakers, organize conferences, develop grant proposals, and embed research into the curriculum.

Eligibility and Restrictions:
Any tenured or tenure track faculty member is eligible to propose a faculty working group.  We require that the group’s core members represent at least 3 different departments or schools.

Available Funding:
The Center for Global Initiatives provides each group with $4,000 for one year with the possibility of renewal. 

Application:
To apply for funding, please submit the following materials via the Center for Global Initiatives' online application:

1) A narrative of 1,000 words. This narrative should examine your project through the lens of the evaluation rubric described below.
2) A budget that lays out the planned activities for the year. Food budget may not exceed $250.
3) An abbreviated curriculum vitae of the lead faculty organizer of the working group.

Narratives and other required documents can only be uploaded into our online application in PDF format. If you do not have access to Adobe Acrobat and you are unable to convert documents to PDF format, visit http://www.freepdfconvert.com/ or http://www.bullzip.com/ for examples of free software.

Please note that page three of the online application is not applicable to this award.

Evaluation of Applicants:
Reviewers assign points to each application based on the following rubric:

• Feasibility and Planning (max. 5 points)
  Are the plans for this working group adequate and appropriate to achieve its short and long-term goals?
  Is the proposal specific and well-written?
• Need and Importance (max. 5 points)
  Is there a clear need for the applicants to receive this award in order to conduct this work?
  What is the importance of the proposed group to the field?
• Impact (max. 5 points)
  Will participation in this working group provide clear professional benefits for its members?
  What is the interdisciplinary nature of the group's core faculty members?
  Will UNC-Chapel Hill benefit from this working group?
• Budget (max. 5 points)
  Is the budget clear, adequate, reasonable, and justified?

Notification of Award:
Applicants will receive award or rejection notices via email 1-2 weeks after submitting an application. Please do not contact the Center for Global Initiatives to inquire about the status of your application during this time frame. However, if you have not received a notice 3 weeks after you submit your application, please inform us.

Reporting Requirements:
If you receive this award, you will be required to submit a final report at the conclusion of the project using the Center for Global Initiatives' Online Reporting System. This system collects narratives and data about funded projects to enable the Center to determine whether its programmatic purposes are being met.

Awardees are also required to enter or update their brief biographical sketch in UNC's Faculty International Expertise database.

To apply for this award, please fill out the Center for Global Initiatives' Online Application.

Contact Information:
Niklaus Steiner
Director, Center for Global Initiatives
nsteiner@unc.edu