Research Resources

Contact information: Paolo Saona (Madrid), paolo.saona@slu.edu, and/or David Borgmeyer (St. Louis), david.borgmeyer@slu.edu.

Seed Funding

The Research Institute in Missouri has several internal awards for which Madrid faculty are eligible. These awards are called Seed Funding. The goal of these various opportunities is to promote individual and collaborative research and scholarly activities, encourage the application for external funding, and promote Saint Louis University as an excellent teaching and research institution.  The various research opportunities include:

Health Research Grant Program

To encourage applied health sciences research projects to conceptualize a larger application for external funding. Collaborative groups are emphasized, and new working relationships are encouraged. Applications for pilot projects should include a tentative plan for a future structured grant, the extent of each collaborator's contribution to the proposal, and a clear description of how the seed money will support the future grant application. Applications are typically received in January of every year, via the Openwater icon in the 'Tools' tab.  Eligible expenses include salary for non-key personnel/staff and student labor, and reasonable expenses directly related to the project, including materials and supplies, software, transcription, participant reimbursements, etc. Further details about the eligibility, award amount and its categories, performance period, application format, and review process can be found here.

Beaumont Scholarship Research Award

To encourage faculty researchers working in the arts, humanities, and social sciences to further and complete scholarly research projects. Applicants are encouraged to connect with their respective Associate Deans for Research, members of the Scholarship Research Council (SRC), or staff from the Office of the Vice President for Research for any specific questions about this funding opportunity. Applications are typically received in January of every year, via the Openwater portal. Eligibility is based on the disciplinary content of the project, rather than the appointment of the scholar or researcher(s). Scholars must also meet the following criteria:

• Full-time SLU faculty members (Madrid faculty should consult with their program director).
• Individual or collaborative proposals are allowed.
• One application per lead scholar is allowed for this opportunity.

Eligible expenses include but are not limited to summer stipends or a one-course release (only with the chair's/dean's support) up to 50% of the award, research and conference travel, student workers, appropriate materials, and supplies. Further details about the eligibility, award amount, performance period, application format, and review process can be found here.

President's Research Fund

The President's Research Fund (PRF) supports promising projects with strong potential to attract external research funding. PRF awards are aimed at supporting the collection of data or other pilot activities that the awardee will use as the basis for extramural grant or contract applications. Applications are typically received in January of every year, via the Openwater portal. All full-time faculty with projects in Science and Engineering Research Council (SERC) disciplines are eligible. The program prefers proposals with strong plans to pursue external funding. Eligible expenses include but are not limited to expenses that are essential to the proposed project are allowed, salary is allowed only for non-key personnel, and summer salary is allowed for senior/key personnel on 9-month contracts, but may not exceed 20% of the total budget. Budget items will be reviewed and may be questioned or removed. Further details about the eligibility of Principal Investigator (PI) and Co-Principal Investigators (Co-PIs), award amount and its categories, performance period, application format, and review process can be found here.

Scholarship Opportunity Fund

The Scholarship Research Council (SRC) seeks to support small-budget research needs in the humanities, social sciences, and other fields represented in the SRC that are not readily funded by existing mechanisms, but that can pose a significant impediment to research productivity and advancement. To address this funding need, the SRC has created the Scholarship Opportunity Fund (SOF) supported by the Research Growth Fund. The SOF is up to $5,000 on a rolling basis for high-impact, cost-matched funding for SRC-discipline projects. Therefore, only proposals with matching funds from another internal SLU source or external source are eligible; however, there is no required match proportion if there is another funding source. All SLU faculty (full-time and part-time) in units represented by the SRC are eligible. Research costs imagined as the target of the SOF include, but are not limited to subsidies for hosting high-impact conferences/scholarly societies' meetings, publication subventions, reproduction rights and fees, indexing, and editing services, research-related travel costs, research-related supplies and minor equipment, minor digital humanities/technology consulting, and services, among others.

Applications will be received through the Openwater portal. Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis if funds are available, and decisions returned within approximately one month.  Awards must be spent within one year and a report submitted upon completion.  Guidelines for the Scholarship Opportunity Fund can be found here.  

Spark Microgrants

To support faculty research, the OVPR makes small grants of up to $1,000 to support faculty who wish to convene possible collaborators outside of his/her primary disciplinary area. The funding goes up to $2,000 for Madrid faculty.

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis and OVPR will review applications weekly. Projects need to be completed within three months of approval. Therefore, please only apply when you are ready to start. If you need to look out more than three months to get a collaborator scheduled, you are welcome to test the idea with Jasmin Patel (jasminpatel@slu.edu) who can tell you whether it is something OVPR is likely to fund as a Spark Microgrant. Spark Microgrants aim to support faculty collaborations. The funding supports work that seeks to bring together a new collaboration or to pursue a new opportunity with faculty in different schools and colleges. This does not necessarily preclude collaborations between two departments within the same school, but the fields and methods should be distinct enough to warrant an extra effort to encourage collaboration. Guidelines for the Scholarship Opportunity Fund can be found here.

Scholarly Works Awards

This corresponds to an award at the junior or senior faculty levels in any of the following categories: book (in English), book (in a language other than English), non-book scholarly publication, creative works, and public works. These awards, which carry a cash prize, are for work that was published, produced, or appeared during the previous calendar year. There is no limit on the number of nominations a person or unit may make. Typically, the deadline for nominations is in January each year.

Professional Development Funding

Professional development funds for SLU-Madrid faculty include financial support for traveling to professional conferences and meetings for presentations, full or partial reimbursements of publication fees for articles accepted for publication in scholarly journals, and costs related to participating in training programs and projects that directly enhance a faculty member's expertise in research and teaching. The eligibility and procedure for applying for each of these academic activities are described here.

Sabbatical and Research Leaves

The purposes of sabbatical and research leaves are professional development and renewal. All faculty members who have taught for six years or more at the Madrid Campus may apply for funded leaves of one semester at full salary or one academic year at half salary. Application guidelines, evaluations, and policies for sabbatical recipients can be consulted here.

Research Grants

Saint Louis University — Madrid also awards two or more research grants of up to 3,000€ annually. These grants are open to faculty members who will complete at least their sixth semester of teaching at SLU-Madrid. Faculty who wish to apply for a research grant should provide the appropriate application (see here) to the Chair or Program Coordinator by January 1. Applications will be reviewed by the Faculty Professional Development Advisory Committee, which will make recommendations to the Academic Dean. Faculty who received research fellowships within the past three years may not apply.

Institutional Sponsorship of Scholarly Meetings and Conferences

Saint Louis University — Madrid sponsors and co-sponsors academic events, such as conferences, symposia, and professional meetings. A faculty member requesting sponsorship for an academic event should submit the following Sponsorship Application Form to his or her chair or program coordinator three months prior to the date of the event. Upon the recommendation of the chair or program coordinator, the sponsorship application is reviewed by the associate academic deans, who recommend the level and type of resources available (funds, administrative support, facilities, etc.) to the academic dean. You can read all the information available for this internal award here.