IRIS 2019 Researcher Awards – DUE 10-1-18

Amount: Up to $15,000 will be awarded for dissertation awards and up to $30,000 for early-career and established researcher awards
Deadline: October 1, 2018

Call for Proposals: 2019 IRIS Researcher Awards

The Institute for Research on Innovation and Science (IRIS) seeks to fund researchers who will use the IRIS data to address questions about the social and economic returns to investments in research. IRIS seeks to enable fundamental research on the results of public and private investments that support discovery, innovation, and education on the campuses of U.S. universities. Up to $15,000 for dissertation awards and up to $30,000 for early career and established researcher awards will be disbursed to the recipient’s institution. Funds can be used for personnel (e.g., research assistance, salaries, or stipend if recipient is a student), equipment, supplies, travel (may include travel mandated by the award), and other expenses (e.g., professional development and training). Awards must include no more than 12% overhead or indirect costs to be paid as a part of the award total. Applicants with proposals for projects with longer timelines may be considered, but the monetary award is limited to a 15-month time period beginning January 2019 through March 2020.

Description of Eligible Research

Proposals submitted for IRIS Researcher Awards must emphasize the use of IRIS data in projects that address open issues in the study of science and technology and in science policy. Topics of particular interest include but will not be limited to: (1) new methods to estimate social and economic return on investment for funding from various sources (federal, philanthropic, industrial, and institutional); (2) studies about the relationship between research training, career outcomes and the downstream productivity of employers; (3) research on the relationship between different funding sources and mechanisms and the structure and outcomes of collaboration within and across campuses; (4) analyses of the distinctive contribution university research makes to regional economic development and resilience; and (5) examinations of the effects different funding sources and mechanisms have on research teams and the productivity and efficiency of the academic research enterprise as a whole.

Particular attention will be given to work that develops and tests strategies for using IRIS data to support causal claims. Creative instruments and other identification strategies that can be validated in these projects will enhance the value of IRIS data for the research community. We also seek projects that develop appropriate comparisons and counterfactuals for studies of academic research contributions to the social good and economic growth. To those ends, we hope to support projects that demonstrate the feasibility and value of new data assets that might be linked with IRIS data to further improve its utility.

Applicant Eligibility

Applicants do not need to be affiliated with a current IRIS member institution (see the list of IRIS members). However, applicants must be currently affiliated with an academic or research institution in the United States. Applicants may apply for one of three award categories, as follows:

• Dissertation Award (up to $15,000)  – Applicant is currently a candidate in a doctoral program
• Early Career Researcher Award (up to $30,000) – Applicant received a Ph.D. within 10 years and has not obtained tenure
• Established Researcher Award (up to $30,000) – Applicant received a Ph.D. more than 10 years ago and/or has tenure

Application Process

A complete application must be submitted to IRIS no later than 11:59 p.m. EST on October  1, 2018. All applications, including attachments, must be submitted via the Online Application Form.  A printable Application Form Preview (PDF) is available here, including further information about the required attachments (see page 7). Incomplete applications will not be considered.

A complete application includes:

• online application form with personal contact information, and the following attachments:
  • research proposal,
  • proposed budget and budget justification,
  • signed research proposal cover sheet,
  • bio sketch or curriculum vitae,
  • a letter of recommendation for dissertation awards

Recipient’s Commitment

Recipients are required to attend a three day, face-to-face IRIS Data Camp in Ann Arbor, Michigan in March 11-13, 2019 where they will meet each other, share and discuss proposed projects and take part in training designed to introduce them to the IRIS data, the VDE environment, and disclosure processes. Recipients will also agree to participate in subsequent annual meetings to present and discuss their work in progress, and participate in peer mentoring and a research community of IRIS data users throughout the year.

IRIS’s Commitment

Beyond the financial award, IRIS provides a community for researchers as well as training and ongoing support. IRIS will also provide the opportunity for structured mentoring with an experienced researcher. Awarded researchers will receive access to the current IRIS de-identified research data release files within the secure IRIS Virtual Data Enclave (VDE) environment. These files are further described on the IRIS website.

Please note that IRIS cannot give direct access to Census data. A mirror of the IRIS dataset with linkages to restricted Census data is available through the Federal Statistical Data Center (FSRDC) system (see here) but access to this data is a completely separate application process and is not controlled by IRIS. If you wish to submit a proposal for the IRIS Researcher Awards that includes access to Census data, IRIS recommends that you contact a RDC (link here) to begin the application process simultaneously with them, as it can be a lengthy process.