20 August 2008
Dear Colleagues,
The University of Missouri is extremely fortunate to have a program to foster and encourage creative scholarship of its faculty on all four campuses through a competitively awarded research program administered by the Research Board.
While all research endeavors will be considered, the Board is particularly interested in promoting the career development of our new, junior faculty and in facilitating exceptional new initiatives of senior faculty who are expanding beyond their traditional areas of expertise. A significant criterion for support is the potential for attracting additional external research dollars; this becomes a “win-win” for the faculty member and the UM System.
The budget for this program for the last seven years has been approximately $2 million per year. We want to thank President Forsee’s Office and Office of the Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs for the strong support in maintaining these funds for the foreseeable future. The Board takes great pride in the opportunities that have been made available to many researchers in the four campus system which have resulted in expanded intellectual development and external grant funding. A summary of proposal requests and awards is available at http://www.umsystem.edu/ums/departments/aa/research/awards/. The limited availability of funds coupled with a stringent review process results in only the finest quality proposals being funded at rates not that different than many Federal agencies.
There are over 20 Board members who are responsible for soliciting reviews of the proposals, evaluating their quality, and making decisions concerning funding. The review process seeks the expertise of faculty and researchers from inside and outside the UM System to serve as peer reviewers. Such funding judgments cannot be made without the advice of you, as faculty. Your participation in this critical role is essential to the success of the efforts of the Board and your help in this process is appreciated. I encourage you, if asked to review, to take the time to provide a solid, substantive review. Your detailed comments benefit your colleague, the Principal Investigator, regardless of funding decision.
Research Board members are not allowed to consult with applicants regarding their proposals by a conflict-of-interest policy. However, the System officials responsible for Research Board proposals and awards (Dr. Bill Day, the Board's Executive Secretary, and Ms. Sam Kanatzar) can be contacted with questions concerning proposal submissions and process. Please follow the guidelines available on the UM Research Board website concerning the submission process.
We look forward to receiving your proposals and your reviews in order to support creative and exciting research efforts that benefit all of us within the University of Missouri System.
With best regards,
Jim Drallmeier
Chair, UM Research Board
