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Research

Advancing Research and Creative Scholarship (ARCS)

Cohort 2

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Program Summary

Illinois State has an opportunity to take bold steps to synergize interdisciplinary scholarship, enhance competitiveness and foster the emergence of areas of scholarly excellence. This program, entitled Advancing Research and Creative Scholarship (ARCS), looks to positively impact the inter-departmental collaborative scholarly environment at Illinois State University by investing in grassroots, faculty-led, self-organized teams to attempt to address big, bold scholarly themes. This type of research seeks to solve some of the worlds most complicated problems, often termed “wicked problems”. The program seeks to advance the work of ISU faculty teams organized around self-defined research themes. These scholarly themes are expected to align with both Illinois State faculty's research strengths and interests and with major external funding opportunities. A sustainable return of the investment is another central tenet of the program.

The program will provide internal seed funding through a competitive application. The expectation is that the faculty teams will transition from dependence on internal support to support by major external funding (> $100,000) and become self-supporting. The intended purpose of this program is to foster innovation of research and creative scholarship activities at Illinois State through greater coordination, alignment, and strategic investments, which will in turn increase competitiveness and transformational potential of applications for external funding.

Interdisciplinary proposals are welcomed in any area consistent with these tenets. Although far from exhaustive and certainly not prescriptive, examples of current major funding emphases that align with demonstrated areas of ISU faculty strength include, inter alia, artificial intelligence (including impact, deployment, and ethics) with major opportunities from the National Endowment for the Humanities, the National Science Foundation, and the Department of Defense; cybersecurity from many federal agencies in a variety of contexts, and the Department of Agriculture’s emphases on smart agriculture and advancing racial justice, equity, opportunity, and rural prosperity.

Recognizing that teams will vary in the degree to which they are formed, two tracks are available. Track I proposals are for teams who have fully developed plans for interdisciplinary collaboration and are thus ready to submit a full proposal to support implementation of a robust project with established plans. Track II proposals will support capacity building, allowing individuals and nascent teams to develop a plan to grow innovative ideas into a robust, interdisciplinary project, which can be proposed in the future.

ARCS also seeks to accelerate the interdisciplinarity of research and creative scholarship activities at Illinois State among its faculty, staff, and students. Although interdisciplinarity exists in current research and creative scholarship activities undertaken at Illinois State, such activities can be significantly enhanced and leveraged to attract national recognition and prestige. Managing “wicked problems” requires interdisciplinary approaches and scholars who can think outside of traditional disciplinary boundaries to create transformative solutions. Supporting these teams will amplify the university's core strengths and expertise areas and help Illinois State University to develop a national brand identity, and enable Illinois State to impact society in beneficial and transformational ways.

The program and accompanying objectives respond to the priority areas identified in Excellence by Design: Illinois State University’s Strategic Plan for 2024-2029 , specifically Strategic Direction III, Goal A: Increase the impact of our scholarly and creative productivity.

  • Eligibility

Track I

  • Lead investigator and a core team (total of five (5) people) shall be full-time tenured/tenure-track faculty, including chairs/directors, at Illinois State University;
  • Additional team members may include faculty, administrative personnel, and civil service staff from ISU and experts from governmental, community, academic, or corporate partners;
  • Teams should both reflect and advance the university's core value of equity, diversity, access, and belonging;
  • At time of proposal, a minimum of three (3) members of the team, at least two (2) of which are full-time tenured/tenure-track faculty must be included;
  • Pre-existing groups or Centers/Institutes are eligible to apply;
  • Where applicable, satisfactory completion of previous ARCS expectations;
  • An investigator is only allowed to lead one ARCS proposal, regardless of track.

Track II

  • No minimum team size;
  • Lead investigator and a core team shall be full-time tenure-track faculty, including chairs/directors, at Illinois State University;
  • Additional team members may include faculty, administrative personnel, and civil service staff from ISU and experts from governmental, community, academic, or corporate partners;
  • Teams should both reflect and advance the university's core value of equity, diversity, access, and belonging;
  • Pre-existing groups or Centers/Institutes are eligible to apply;
  • An investigator is only allowed to lead one ARCS proposal, regardless of track.
  • Deliverables

Track I

  • Upon completion of the award funding, teams are expected to have submitted one or more applications for indirect cost-generating external funding opportunities from major research sponsoring agencies such as NSF, NEH, NIH, DOE, USDA, and/or other national foundations, including corporate foundations.
  • Upon completion of the project, a written summary of project outcomes must be submitted electronically to the Associate Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies.
  • Annual progress reports are to be submitted in a timely manner for review and upon request.
  • Lead PI and Co-PIs commit to presenting their project to the Illinois State community and to participate in related ISU events as requested.
  • Lead PI and Co-PIs commit to acknowledge ISU in outcomes and reports with the following statement or something similar: “This material is based upon work funded by Illinois State University”.
  • Lead PI and Co-PIs commit to notify the AVPRGS of publications and follow-up funding achieved resulting from this grant.
  • As allowable, Lead PI and Co-PIs commit to depositing data, outcomes, presentations, and reports in our institutional repository, ISU ReD.

Track II

  • Upon completion of the award funding, teams are expected to have evidence of planning for submission of a Track I award and/or evidence of planning for or actual submission of one or more applications for indirect cost-generating external funding to major research sponsoring agencies such as NSF, NEH, NIH, DOE, USDA, and/or other national foundations, including corporate foundations.
  • Upon completion of the project, a written summary of project activities and future plans must be submitted electronically to the Associate Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies.
  • Lead PI and Co-PIs commit to presenting their project to the Illinois State community and to participate in related ISU events as requested.
  • Lead PI and Co-PIs commit to acknowledge ISU in outcomes and reports with the following statement or something similar: “This material is based upon work funded by Illinois State University”.
  • Lead PI and Co-PIs commit to notify the AVPRGS of publications and follow-up funding achieved resulting from this grant.
  • As allowable, Lead PI and Co-PIs commit to depositing data, outcomes, presentations, and reports in our institutional repository, ISU ReD.
  • Funding

Track I

  • Total funding per team cannot exceed a maximum award of $200,000 ($100,000 maximum per year for two years) from the Office of the Provost. A third year of support for a maximum of $200,000 for one year may be available based on progress and review. Beginning with the 2023 award cycle, the Provost has pledged $3.2 million over seven years in this initiative and for the 2025 application cycle, we anticipate making up to 4 awards. Future requests for proposals are expected.

Track II

  • Total funding per team will not exceed a maximum award of $7,500 for one year from the Office of the Provost for capacity building. Future calls and cycles are expected. These funds are not intended to replace relevant University Research Grant opportunities.
  • Eligible/Allowable Expenses

All expenses to be used for the program must be allowable under general University and ISU Foundation policies. Additional stipulations:

  1. Graduate and undergraduate student stipends and the associated fringe benefit costs. If appropriate, graduate students funded through this program will be eligible for scholarships or tuition waivers (but not both).
  2. Research expenses, including fieldwork, data, laboratory analysis, archival search, travel, publication costs, equipment, supplies, research incentives (often in the form of gift cards), and materials related to the proposed research and creative scholarship activity.
  3. Strategic, well-rationalized course buyout (and associated fringe benefit costs) for team members.
  4. Post-doctoral fellowship support.
  5. Reasonable team meeting expenses.
  6. Pilot sub-grants to support collaborative interdisciplinary work.
  • Ineligible/Unallowable Expenses
  1. Salaries and personnel (except for graduate students and post-doctoral fellowships).
  2. Tuition support (unless part of an allowed graduate assistantship.
  3. Facilities & Administration (indirect) costs. F&A on ISU costs will be waived.
  4. Administrative support, including director stipend (although a group can request a course buyout for the lead investigator outside of the budget for Track I proposals).
  5. Entertainment including alcohol.
  6. Space renovation (except for modest facilities improvements critical to project success).
  7. Other expenses for which funding is available through AEF or Provost Innovation Grants.

Explore Advancing Research and Creative Scholarship (ARCS)

  1. Application Process
  2. Frequently Asked Questions

Questions

A list of answers to Frequently Asked Questions is available and will be updated periodically. Input on this program will be incorporated into future calls for proposals and may result in the development of distinct programs. For general information and/or to submit further questions, please contact AVPResearch@IllinoisState.edu.