Office of Research & Sponsored Programs Let us take the panic out of the process for you! Spring 2012 Volume 1, Issue 2 The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs supports Minnesota State Mankato faculty and staff from start to finish in the process of obtaining grants and securing contracts. We focus on the technical details, from identifying sources of funding and assisting with budgets to providing post-award support after an award has been received, so that you can focus on the research itself. Come see us if you are: Looking for funding. Writing a grant/contract proposal or completeing an application. Looking for assistance on a current grant/contract. We will take the panic out of the process by dealing with the details. Call us at 507-389-6605 or email rasp@mnsu.edu. We can help you from beginning to end! For more information, visit grad.mnsu.edu/research/rasp Department of Research and Sponsored Programs Research News is published by Minnesota State University, Mankato and the College of Graduate Studies and Research. 325 Wigley Administration rasp@mnsu.edu Phone: 507-389-6605 Michelle Alvarez Interim Director Jeane McGraw Grants Specialist The mission of the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (RASP) is to promote learning through encouraging and assisting faculty and staff in their pursuit of external funding for research, scholarship, service and creative endeavors.
Spotlight on Faculty Dr. Knoblich recently received a grant from MnSCU to the Professional Science Master s development fund. She will be using this grant to develop a Professional Science Master s Degree in Biomedical Sciences. Funding will also be used for duty days this summer to meet with different industries in the biomedical area and to begin development of the new program. Dr. Shannon J. Miller, Assistant Professor of Gender and Women s Studies was awarded a MSU Faculty Research Grant to explore African-American queer (lesbian, bisexual, same-sex-attracted, and gender nonconforming) women s perspectives on the cultural, religious, and social barriers that both challenge and encourage family acceptance of their sexual and gender identities. Findings will be used to consider avenues for involving heterosexual relatives in providing supportive communicative environments for African-American queer women. Through the support of her FRG, Dr. Miller traveled to Atlanta, Georgia to conduct qualitative interviews and is currently busy with data analysis. I have been fortunate enough to receive two major awards that immensely help me to pursue my research. In February 2011, the Social Science Research Council awarded me an Abe Fellowship for my project, entitled Privacy in Japan, Australia, and South Korea: Complex Policy Convergence in the Asia Pacific. By using the fellowship, I conducted field research in Australia, South Korea, and Japan, last semester. During my stay in these countries, I interviewed (former) government officials, business persons,and academics who are knowledgable about privacy protection policy in each country, and obtained valuable insights. I will continue to work on the research project. I plan to visit Australia and Japan this summer and South Korea in May 2013 to conduct follow-up research. In December 2011, the Japan Foundation Center for Global Partnership awarded a grant to support my project, entitled The Politics of Information Governance in Japan, the Asia-Pacific, and Beyond. The grant has helped me to organize a panel at the 2012 Association for Asian Studies Annual Conference in Toronto. At the panel, along with scholars from Stanford University, Keio University (Japan), Yonsei University (South Korea), and University of Washington, I will examine information governance in the Asia-Pacific from various perspectives. Based on the discussion at the panel, I hope to develop a collaborative research project.
Featured Faculty Research Profile Written by: Susan L Schalge In 2010, I received a Faculty Research Grant for travel to Dar es Salaam, Tanzania to carry out research on ideas and practices of mothering. Tremendous variation exists in the meaning, definition and practice of motherhood cross-culturally. However, relatively little empirical research has been done on mothering, particularly in Tanzania. The purpose of the study was to explore how societies, and mothers themselves, construct and evaluate motherhood. I used qualitative research methods and ethnographic case studies in particular Tanzanian communities to explore these issues. Motherhood is an important status recognized in all societies. It is also a status that a majority of women hold during their lives. Yet, until recently, the act of mothering was considered instinctual and biologically determined. My primary objective has been to uncover the specific ways that Tanzanian mothers work to provide for their children and how they differ from practices observed in the US. In the U.S., for example, time is a key component of maternal practice. Good mothering is measured, in part, according to the amount and quality of time spent in mother-child interactions. Moreover, those interactions are expected primarily to be child-centered and aimed at meeting the physical, developmental, and emotional needs of the child, not the parent. By contrast, maternal practice in Tanzania places greater emphasis on what one does for one s children. Specifically, the measures taken to provide for children s basic needs and future successes take precedence over extensive time devoted to direct mother-child interactions once children grow past infancy. Insuring the survival of their children remains a significant challenge for Tanzanian mothers due to high rates of poverty and infant mortality. Motherhood is part of a triple burden (wage labor, domestic labor, and childcare) women carry as they negotiate rapidly changing economies wherein they are required to meet traditional expectations in addition to shouldering new burdens. Effective mothering requires a far-reaching and pragmatic knowledge of the material world. It is neither biologically determined nor instinctual, rather mothering is complex, learned, and cross-culturally variable. 3 College of Graduate Studies and Research
Congratulations to Fall 2011 Faculty Research Grant Awardees! Last Name Miller Matarrese Filter Frink Reza First Name Shannon Craig Kevin Brian Farhad College SBS SBS CSET Title of Project "My Family Loves Me Unconditionally?" A Queer Women's Reflections on Family Travels in Musical Meaning Factors Related to K-12 School Staff Buy-In to PBIS The Black Madonna Paintings Setting Time Characteristics for Colored Concrete Amount $4,992.00 $4,607.07 What is effort Reporting? Effort reporting is required by the federal government as noted in Federal OMB Circular A-21 Cost Principles for Educational Institutions to certify the effort required by the award is consistent with the salary charged and the salary is reasonable in relation to how much effort was expended on the project. Martin Justine Library Revising Information Literacy Standards: What the British Can Tell Us $3,732.00 Yin Young Wrigley Lybeck Camp Drescher Willemsen Hongxia Patricia Dorothy Karen Heather Nancy Matthew CSET AH&N CSET New Optimization Methods for Date Clas sification Communication Practices in Distance Mentoring Aging Effects on Chromosomes of Adult Earthworms and Their Offspring International Student Acquisition of Academic English Writing Goal Setting Theory and College Writing Teacher Professional Development Professional Development for Teachers in Tonga Exploring the Use of Stencils to Build Elaborate Visual Narratives $1,050.00 $2,939.80 $4,844.25 $850.00 $2,500.00 Who has to report effort? All employees who have salary or wages charged or cost-shared (used as a match) to federally funded or flow-through grants or contracts as the prime award or subaward. Principal investigators or Project Directors are required to certfiy the effort of students and staff funded by their grants.
Searching for Funding Opportunities COS Funding Opportunities MSU is a member of Community of Science (COS), which publishes the largest and most comprehensive funding database and collaboration network on the Web. Do not be misled by the name. COS is not limited to scientific and technological fields; the database contains information on grant opportunities in all fields of research and creative activity. It is the single most comprehensive source to search for funding much more efficient than googling! Foundation Search Foundation Search is an online resource which includes more than 120,000 foundations, representing billions of dollars in annual granting, and includes tools to locate grants by type, value, year, recipient, and historical giving trends, and much more. If you re interested in this type of funding, please contact RASP for more information. Step by Step Instructions on using Community Science (COS) Access openly from any campus computer, or off-campus with individual log-ons Go to: http://pivot.cos.com/ Enter research topic in search box and select Search More detailed search option instructions available at http://pivot.cos.com/support Setting up an account allows you to save searches and create a profile To set up an account go to: http://pivot.cos.com/ register Your user id will be your email address (your email must be your University issued email) Your account must be confirmed through an email If you have an account: Select the Login Now button in the upper lefthand corner Enter username and password FOR FACULTY & STAFF Are you looking for funding? We can help! If you have a specific area that you would like to pursue in funding, send an email to rasp@mnsu. edu with your name, department, area of interest and a couple of your go-to agencies that you have found funding with in the past. We will do our best to find funding sources that match your needs and send you information via email. RASP is also here to support you through the external funding process whether you need assistance writing your proposal, are ready to submit or have already received your award.
Frequently Asked Questions What is the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs? Pre award services offered by RASP include the following: Identify potential funders Review application guidelines Assistance in proposal and budget development Facilitate the submission process Post award services offered by RASP include the following: Assistance in interpreting grant agreements, contract terms, and regulations for awards Assistance and advice for changing aspects of a project Budget interpretation and support for faculty and staff Assistance with initiation and closure of awards RASP website http://grad.mnsu.edu/ research/rasp.html. On the website you will find forms, commonly used numbers, and the University s indirect cost rates as well as other useful information. Indirect Costs - Did you Know? Did you ever wonder what exactly indirect costs are? Indirects are the real costs sustained by the University when they administer sponsored projects. These costs are indirect because they cover things like overhead, facility expenses, personnel payroll and other administrative expenses. They cannot be identified with a particular sponsored project, but each project uses these resources, so the University adds a surcharge. The good news is that indirect costs come back to you! When an individual receives a grant or contract, the award either pays out the indirect cost to the University in one lump sum, or over a series of installments. Once a year in the fall, the indirect costs are recovered meaning they are allocated back to the University via different departments. Minnesota State University, Mankato has a generous allocation policy that helps fund the college that received the award, the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, the Library and Student Affairs. 50% is allocated to the division or college generating the activity in the previous year 30% is allocated to the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs to provide administrative support to faculty and staff for research, grants and other outside funding 10% is allocated to the Library for research support and resources POST AWARD CHECKLIST The funding process is long and sometimes tedious; make sure you don t forget anything with RASP s Post Award Checklist. After you have received your award, fill out the checklist and turn in to the RASP office to make sure you have completed all the necessary documents and complied with the requirements of your award. The form will be posted online soon, so please check back. 10% is allocated to Student Affairs (if the grant activity was generated by Student Affairs) or to post award support