UChicago Art|Science Initiative Faculty Collaboration Grants

Call for Letter of Intent
The Arts|Science Initiative, in collaboration with the Office of the Provost and the Reva and David Logan Center for the Arts, invites proposals for funding through our Arts|Science Faculty Collaboration Grant.  These grants aim to cultivate trans-disciplinary research through collaborative projects involving faculty from the arts, humanistic social sciences, psychology, and the physical or biological sciences. The Initiative recognizes that breaking new ground and probing complex questions requires travel across disciplines and adventure into unfamiliar territories beyond or around academic conventions. Our aim is to provide opportunities to deepen the collaborative exchange between artistic practices and scientific investigations and to provide an environment in which these explorations can thrive. The Initiative’s priority is to fund faculty research that pursues fresh connections in research and teaching, that fosters the emergence of research which engages practices central to the arts and that could lead to the development of new teaching environments and/or instructional materials.

The Arts|Science Initiative Faculty Grant provides up to $15,000 for project(s) that involve two or more members of the faculty, with at least one whose primary appointment is in the arts or humanistic social sciences and one whose primary appointment is in physical, psychological, or biological sciences, or molecular engineering. The application involves a two-stage process: (1) a letter of intent and (2) on invitation, a formal application. Funds can cover costs related to project creation, production, documentation, research assistance, materials, guest lecturers, and (in limited cases) purchase of equipment. One to three grants will be awarded at the end of January 2014. Funding can be used over a two-year period after a grant has been awarded (2014-2015). To be eligible applicants must be a full-time faculty member of the University of Chicago or hold other full-time academic appointments such as Lecturer or Senior Lecturer.

Stage One: Letter of Intent
The application process will be initiated through the submission of a one-page Letter of Intent. The Letter of Intent must include the project title, the names of all collaborating faculty and their affiliations, along with a brief description (up to 300 words) of the proposed project. This description should address:
• The intellectual significance and importance of the proposed project’s investigation.
• A description of the collaborative activities to be pursued and why this collaboration is appropriate to the questions being pursued.
• How this collaboration will fit within the Arts|Science Initiative goal: to promote collaborative research and teaching environments that transcend boundaries of the arts, science, and humanistic social science.
• How the proposed project might develop into a trans-disciplinary course.
• An estimate of the total funds required.

Please include a CV for each collaborating faculty member with the Letter of Intent. All submissions should be sent electronically to Julie Marie Lemon, Program Director, Arts|Science Initiative/Office of the Provost at:jmlemon@uchicago.edu

The Arts|Science Faculty Advisory Committee will review the Letters of Intent and invite those which it deems most promising to submit a full proposal for consideration. The Advisory Committee will then review the full proposal(s) to determine the award(s). Prospective applicants are invited to consult with the Program Director for further information.

• Letter of Intent deadline: midnight, December 1st, 2013
• Notification to submit a full proposal by December 16th, 2013
• Full proposals due: midnight, January 17th, 2014
• Grant(s) announced: January 31st, 2014

Stage Two: Application
Upon successful review of the Letter of Intent, applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal for consideration. The full proposal should include a project narrative and a budget with specific cost estimates stating a clear description of what expenses are needed for. Full proposals need to articulate anticipated outcome and the possible impact this project has to stimulate future collaborative research and arts practice.  An invitation to submit an application does not guarantee funding.

Project Narrative:
The project narrative should be no longer than 2000 words and should address following criteria:
• The intellectual significance of the proposed project’s fundamental questions related to each field and why the projects require this specific collaborative effort.
• The working methodologies and respective tools to be applied throughout this process.
• The distinctive impact this collaboration will have on individual and/or collaborative inquiry in the future.
• The importance of this new connection in research and teaching in each field.
• Anticipated short and long-term results of the proposed project.

Criteria for Evaluation:
• Degree of scholarly risk-taking and experimental approach to critical thinking.
• Integration of concepts explored and forms in which it is executed to connect artistic practices with scientific investigations.
• Potential for impact to each individual team member’s disciplines and potential as a catalyst for future inquiry and production.
• Feasibility: successful realization of goals, work plan, timeline, and availability of necessary resources outside the grant request.
• Reasonableness of costs in relation to anticipated results.

Budget Guidelines:
• Include the direct cost of the project with a brief description for all expenses.
• Grant recipients will be responsible for the administration of awarded funds.
• Funding will not cover summer salaries, academic leave, or administrative support unrelated to the research fields.
• Specify additional funding sources, if any.

Expectations of the Arts|Science Initiative:
A brief narrative on the project outcome(s) will be due two months after the end of the project period. In order to help promote future collaborative exchange and experimentation, the Arts|Science Initiative asks that some aspect of the project be communicated though its website or other University media.

• Faculty collaborators are to document their project and provide an informal presentation during or after the project.
• Faculty collaborators are to interact (through one dinner conversation) with recipients of the Arts|Science Graduate Collaboration Grants.
• Each team must agree to allow the University of Chicago to include some form of documentation of work in publications, websites, or other media forms.

Proposals must be submitted electronically to Julie Marie Lemon, Program Director, Arts|Science Initiative/Office of the Provost at: jmlemon@uchicago.edu