Cornell Atkinson Graduate Research Grants 2025 RFP

Cornell Atkinson
Graduate Research Grants 2025 RFP

Application deadline: Monday, November 4, 2024 5:00 P.M. ET

The Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability’s Graduate Research Grants (GRG) provide direct funding for periods of 6-24 months to students in any doctoral graduate field at Cornell (or terminal degree in fields that do not offer the PhD) in support of innovative research that aligns with our four priority areas: Accelerating Energy Transitions, Reducing Climate Risk, Increasing Food Security, and One Health.

Timeline:

• Call for proposals: Sept. 27, 2024
• Deadline for proposal submission: Nov. 4, 2024, 5:00 P.M. ET
• Estimated notification date: Jan. 6, 2025
• Earliest project start date: Jan. 21, 2025

Grant Information:

• Maximum grant amount is $7,000
• An additional $1000, for a total of $8000, may be requested for the financial support and meaningful inclusion of an undergraduate research assistant. A maximum of $3000 from the grant may be used for undergraduate assistance (see Application Instructions, below, for more information).
• The duration of the proposed research is typically 6-24 months. Extensions beyond 24 months are not allowed.
• The following budget items are not allowed: graduate stipends, journal page charges over $2000 total, and computers/equipment typically provided by faculty advisors, field, or lab.

Eligibility

• Cornell doctoral students in any field (or terminal degree in fields that do not offer the PhD) with research interests in the priority areas listed above
• Applicants must hold a student appointment at Cornell for the entire duration of the award period
• Previous recipients of Graduate Research Grant (GRG) awards are eligible to apply to this program to request up to $3,000 of follow-on funding, or $4,000 with meaningful inclusion of an undergraduate assistant.

Awardee Requirements

• Submit a short professional profile statement and photo for the Cornell Atkinson website
• Complete an annual and/or final report upon request
• Present their work at the annual Cornell Atkinson Graduate Symposium
• Upon request, participate in the review process for future grant application cycles

Funding decisions are made based on availability of funds, overall intellectual merit, and alignment of project to Cornell Atkinson strategic goals, and potential for impact beyond academia.

APPLICATION INSTRUCTIONS

The application consists of 3 sections:

1. Online application form:
   The online form requests basic information such as applicant and advisor name and email addresses, project title, total request amount, etc. It also requests confirmation that the proposal has been reviewed and approved by the applicant’s advisor.
2. Application text:
   This is the substantial portion of the application, including its abstract, proposal text, supporting statements, CV, budget justification, etc. See “Application Text Sections,” below. Create a single combined PDF document (saved as Applicant Last Name-First Name.pdf, e.g. Johnson- Jody.pdf) and upload via the online application form.
3. Project budget:
   This is the detailed budget, which must be entered onto our spreadsheet (saved as Applicant Last Name-First Name.xlsx) and uploaded via the online application form.  More details are provided below.

Application Text Sections (Minimum 11 point font)

1. Abstract (maximum 250 words) – A brief summary of the proposed research and timeline.
2. Description of Proposed Project (3 pages maximum; references may be additional to this limit) – Includes the project’s context and importance, hypotheses and/or objectives, methods, and significance of the proposed research, as well as a proposed timeline.
3. Impact Statement (half page maximum) – A short description of (a) the relevance of the proposed research to one of Cornell Atkinson’s four priority areas: One Health, Accelerating Energy Transitions, Reducing Climate Risk, and Increasing Food Security, and (b) how the proposed research will have impact beyond academic accomplishment.
4. Undergraduate Research Assistants (half page maximum) – Required ONLY for applicants seeking supplemental financial support for undergraduate researchers. Please describe (a) the specific role(s) of the undergraduate assistant(s) and the plans for (b) inclusive recruitment, and (c) mentorship.
5. Results of prior GRG funding – Required ONLY for previous GRG recipients applying for follow-on funding. Please provide a brief summary of (a) research results, (b) additional funding received as a result of the grant; (c) publicity generated; (d) publications, presentations, and nontechnical writing, and (e) impacts beyond academia from your previous funding.
6. Curriculum Vitae (2 pages maximum) – Include education/training, awards, teaching or outreach experience, and publications (with DOI, when possible), and conference presentations. Publications submitted, in review, or in revision may be included but must be noted as such. List peer-refereed publications separately from non-refereed publications.
7. Current and pending funding – If you or your advisor have current funding directly related to the proposed project, please list funding source, amount, and funding dates (start/end), and a short statement of how this project overlaps or differs from what is funded already. If you have funding applications pending for related research, please list them separately.
8. Budget Justification (1 page maximum) – Detail all items requested for funding, typically in the categories listed below.

Project Budget Template

The budget form is a standard template (see instructions). List requested funds by expense category. Please ignore (do not fill) any boxes filled with dark grey lines, and fill only those boxes left open. GRG expenses typically include requests for items such as travel to conferences (section E), organizing a conference or workshop (section F), and materials & supplies (line G.1). If requesting funds to support an undergraduate assistant, list those expenses on the budget line B.4 for “undergraduate students.” We recommend consulting with your advisor and/or department finance manager to assist with budget preparation.

All proposal materials MUST be received by 5:00 PM ET on Monday, November 4, 2024.
Please direct questions to: atkinson@cornell.edu, subject header: GRG question