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Research

Research Initiative Award

The Research Initiative Award recognizes faculty members who have initiated a promising research agenda early in their academic careers.

Award amount: $500

College deans submit notifications and completed application materials to AVP for Research by the close of the working day October 7, 2022.

Announcement of awards: December 2023

View Award Winners

Criteria for Eligibility

  1. Nominees must be Illinois State University tenure-track faculty members who have completed five years or less in a tenure-track position at any institution of higher education. For example, an individual may have completed three years at another institution and be eligible within their first two years at Illinois State University. Individuals with unusual career paths may be considered if they are within their first five years as an Illinois State University faculty member; the College Dean must provide written justification for nominating individuals in this situation.
  2. Nominees must currently be involved in research and must show promise of making a significant contribution to their fields of study.
  3. Members of the University Research Council are ineligible during their terms of service. Previous recipients of the award are ineligible.
  4. Individuals may not be nominated for both the Outstanding University Researcher Award and the Research Initiative Award simultaneously.

Procedures for Submission of Nominations

  1. Eligible faculty members may ask to be considered for nomination by the College Research Committee; they may be nominated by any faculty member or department chair/school director in the College; or they may be nominated by the College Research Committee. Application materials are provided to each College Dean for distribution to applicants in the College. Applications are submitted to the College. Please check with your College for the date these are due.
  2. The Dean of the College, in conjunction with the College Research Committee, may submit to the University Research Council up to five individuals from among the nominees.
  3. The College nominees must seek written endorsement of their applications from their department chairperson or a colleague in the department. The endorsement should address the extent to which the nominee shows promise of making a significant research contribution to his/her field.
  4. The College Dean shall submit the completed applications and written endorsements to the Associate Vice President for Research. The requirements for a completed application are listed below. The College nominees should be unranked.
  5. The final evaluation of applications will be made by the University Research Council. During deliberation, the Council may request supporting materials from nominees and/or may ask the College Deans for additional information.
  6. The University Research Council will recommend to the Provost up to seven recipients from the list of nominees forwarded to the Committee by the College Deans.

Application

A complete application should include:

  1. Cover sheet form
  2. A statement from the nominee describing his/her current research. The statement should be written at a level appropriate for researchers outside the discipline. In addition to a description of current activities, the statement should address the contribution that the nominee's research objectives will make to their field of study. (1 to 1 and 1/2 pages single spaced.)
  3. A full career vita. Research accomplishments should be categorized and listed, beginning with the most recent, using the Evaluation Guidelines and Criteria of Scholarly and Creative Productivity found in the current Appointment, Salary, Promotion and Tenure (ASPT) document. Complete citations must be given for all published works.
  4. Endorsement of the application by the nominee's department chairperson/school director or a faculty member in their department/school. The endorsement should address:
    1. Current involvement in research
    2. Promise of making significant contribution to their field of study
  5. External letters of support are welcome, but not required.

Criteria for Evaluation

  1. A nominee's record of research and publication for the first five years following receipt of their terminal degree at any institution of higher education will be reviewed for potential contributions to their profession. Individuals with unusual career paths, whose nomination has been justified by the College Dean, will be evaluated on their work performed in their first five years at Illinois State University.
  2. A nominee's record of research and publication while at Illinois State University will be given the greatest weight in the Council's deliberations, although a full career vita for each nominee will be evaluated.
  3. Written endorsements should address these criteria:
    1. Current involvement in research
    2. Promise of making significant contribution to their field of study
    NOTE: Please be aware that reviewers of the Research Initiative Award nominees are colleagues with expertise in diverse scholarly fields. It is important to address each nominee's achievements with information clarifying how the work qualifies as outstanding in the particular discipline represented. (For example, scholarly activity in fine arts may be judged in quite different terms from scholarship in physics.)

Distribution of Award

  1. The award of $500 is to be used for any expenditure allowable within University budgetary guidelines with the exception of faculty salary.
  2. The awards are for the new fiscal year beginning July 1.
  3. The recipient must inform the Provost's office of how the funds are to be encumbered by February 1 of the academic year in which the award was announced or the award will be made from the equipment line.