Rationale

Research in the social sciences has undergone significant changes in the past few decades. The complexity of the subject matter, the sophistication of methods and theories, and the demands for expertise and information to launch innovative research are increasing at a rapid pace.

Modern research requires teamwork, specialized expertise, and planning. Its financial demands also require administrative skills and access to major outside funding. Such endeavors are potentially risky as well. Ideas may not pan out, effort becomes dissipated, and funding may be hard to come by. Nascent teams can get distracted and discouraged—and their funds easily depleted, often before a promising project is able to get off the ground.

Our research faculty in international affairs needs support to think and plan. This is especially true in a project’s early—and possibly unstable—stages. This is a proposal for incubation funds to help large-scale research projects get efficiently off the ground and on their way to major outside funding.

The Weatherhead Center has earmarked $30,000 to support the development of faculty research proposals with the intent of submitting proposals to major outside funding agencies or foundations (the National Science Foundation, the National Institutes of Health, and various private foundations).

Activities to be Funded

Principal investigators must intend to apply for major outside funding to carry out the bulk of the proposed research for a proposal to receive incubation funds from the Weatherhead Center. This plan should be described in the application for incubation funds.

Funds may be requested for the following purposes:

• Facilitating occasional meeting of collaborators (planning sessions, workshops, etc.).
• Facilitating intensive work sessions with collaborators of a week to several weeks in length. Funds could include travel, food, and lodging costs to bring collaborators to Harvard for such sessions.
• Providing summer salary (1/9) for affiliated principal investigators intending to devote full-time attention to project development for at least one month of the summer.
• Providing infrastructural and consulting support, including access to funding advisers, budget development, and professional grant-writing expertise. The Center will strive to develop the infrastructure that will make such consulting expertise available on a regular and easily accessible basis.
• Providing working space as necessary. This could include short-term office space for collaborators, graduate students, and undergraduate researchers intensively involved in the project development. It could also include meeting and discussion space as necessary. To the extent possible, this space will be arranged from existing Center space allocations.
• Small honoraria to encourage researchers with funding expertise to review and advise on the project.

Principles and How to Apply

• Applications for incubation funds must show evidence of a firm commitment to securing significant outside funding. Programs and target deadlines should be part of the application itself.
• Proposals will be selected that meet the criteria for Center funding (international, transnational, or comparative social science research) and that are especially innovative, require collaboration, and are most likely to be successful.
• Research teams applying for incubation funds must be headed by a Center Faculty Associate.
• Successful applicants accept the norm of “pre-peer review;” that is, they will be expected to provide (and to receive) feedback from other recipients of incubation funds.
• Renewals/reapplications may be considered, but on a highly competitive basis.
• Individuals may also apply for incubation funds, but priority will be given to projects involving research teams that may be in greater need of coordination in the development phase of their research.

Applications for research incubation funds should be submitted to Adelaide Shalhope. Address all preliminary questions to Center Director Beth Simmons.

Proposal Evaluation

The WCFIA Steering Committee evaluates research incubation proposals and makes recommendations to the director and executive director.

Deadline

Proposals for a research incubation grant must be filed on or before February 1, 2008.

Terms

Faculty who receive these research funds will be expected to contribute actively to the collective intellectual life of the Center. Faculty who receive support from the Center should acknowledge it in future publications of their research. All grant recipients are requested to submit a one- to two-page memo at the end of the academic year reporting on the use of Weatherhead Center funds. Reporting memos are due on June 30.