University of Chicago Women's Board Grants

The Women’s Board invites your proposals for projects to be funded in the 2015–2016 academic year. Below please find information on the format and content of submissions, deadlines, and other pertinent information. This information may also be found online at http://womensboard.uchicago.edu/page/information-grant-applicants.

Proposal Format and Content

·       All proposal materials must be submitted electronically to Daniel Waclaw, Associate Director, at dew@uchicago.edu.

·       This year, all proposers are required to use our Official Grants Fund Application Form for 2015–2016 Funding in order for their proposal to be considered. The form must be completed in full and returned, with all additional materials, via email to dew@uchicago.edu no later than 5:00 p.m. Central time on Wednesday, March 4, 2015. [In the Division of the Humanities, Courtney Guerra will submit applications, as well as decanal letters of endorsement, on behalf of the faculty.]

·       Each proposal package must include the following elements:

1.      A fully completed Official Grants Fund Application Form for 2015–2016 Funding in Microsoft Word format

2.      A PDF of a signed letter(s) of recommendation/endorsement from at least one individual on our list of approved signers on our website

3.      (Optional) A single bundled PDF of supplemental materials

§  Note: Supplemental materials (e.g., presentations, brochures, a list of links to videos and websites, etc.) may also be attached to the email in PDF format in addition to your grant application; however, these materials will not be considered as part of your formal grant application. These materials will be made available to Grants Committee members online only. Please use the utmost discretion in selecting only the most helpful supplemental materials.

·       Please refrain from using highly technical language in your grant application.

·       Proposals must be written in error-free, succinct, and persuasive language in order to have the highest probability of receiving funding.

What Can and Cannot be Supported by Women’s Board Grants

·       The Women’s Board takes pride in supporting grants from faculty, staff, and students affiliated with all divisions, schools, offices, and units within the University community. The primary requirement of all proposals is that they must reflect and bolster the mission of the University of Chicago.

o   Core values of the University may be found online at http://communications.uchicago.edu/identity/core-values-attributes.

·       The Women’s Board can only consider funding requests from University of Chicago entities (e.g., University departments, centers, schools, faculty members, divisions, offices, etc.). Outside not-for-profit organizations may collaborate with a University entity on the grants that we fund, but the funding must go directly to the University entity and may not be used for any purposes other than those that reflect and bolster the mission of the University of Chicago.

·       Salaries of University faculty cannot be covered by Women’s Board funding; however, personnel costs for independent contractors, student workers, and other paid staff as necessary for the project may be requested.

·       The Women’s Board considers grants ranging from as low as $2,000 to as high as $100,000. Most grants tend to fall within the $25,000–$60,000 range.

·       Partial funding is also possible if the proposal can move forward without receiving full funding. This question is included in the application form.

·       To review which proposals have been awarded funding in the past by the Women’s Board, please visit our website at http://womensboard.uchicago.edu/page/funded-projects-2014-2015-academic-year.

Some Background on the Grants Committee

·       The Grants Committee is a group of 15–20 Women’s Board members who are appointed annually by the Chair of the Women’s Board to allocate all donations from Women’s Board members throughout the year. (Last year, Women’s Board members contributed over $500,000 for this purpose.)

·       One hundred percent of Women’s Board members’ contributions go directly to support our annual Grants Fund.

·       Members of the Committee come from many different backgrounds. Past members of the Grants Committee have included physicians, writers, filmmakers, philanthropists, computer scientists, lawyers, social workers, basic scientists, and business executives, among many others.

·       To ensure fairness, communication between proposal submitters and this year’s Grants Committee members is strictly prohibited. As such, this year’s Grants Committee membership roster is kept confidential until the final funding decisions have been made after oral presentations have been heard in April 2015.

Key Dates and Schedule

Wednesday, March 4, 2015, at 5:00 p.m. Central time

Proposals must be submitted before or on this date and time. The Women’s Board will not consider proposals submitted after this deadline.

Wednesday, April 29, and Thursday, April 30, 2015

Finalists will participate in oral presentations on one of these dates during regular business hours at the Harper Court building on campus (5235 South Harper Court, Eleventh Floor, Chicago, Illinois 60615). All persons submitting funding requests should block these dates on their calendars until April 16, 2015, when we will inform all applicants whether or not they have been selected to make oral presentations. Please note that all use of electronic audiovisual aids is strictly prohibited in all circumstances for these oral presentations.

Friday, May 8, 2015

All finalists will be informed formally on or before this date as to whether they have been approved for funding.

Friday, January 15, 2016

Grant funding will be transferred to your designated account by this date. Please keep this funding schedule in mind when considering which proposals to submit.