PREP Program
The Institute for Society, Culture, and Environment (ISCE) established the Preparing your Research for an Extramural Proposal (PREP) Program for social science faculty who have strong potential for success in seeking external funding, but who are relatively new to the proposal writing process, or whose prior proposals for which they have served as PI have not been funded. Selected participants will receive funding to support preliminary proposal development activities as well as mentoring to prepare a proposal to be submitted no later than August each year.
Overview
This two-semester, structured program consists of didactic and interactive sessions where cohort members learn (a) the grantsmanship process, including how to write a compelling narrative, and how to develop a budget; and (b) craft a competitive grant proposal to be submitted to a federal or state agency or private foundation.
Anticipated fall activities include 1-2 sessions per month to review funders’ requirements and develop a compelling 1–2-page concept paper that presents the project idea for communicating with a program officer. In the spring semester, monthly group sessions of approximately 2-3 hours each will consist of writing, reviewing, critiquing, and discussing cohort member proposals. Cohort members are expected to spend time outside of sessions on tailored assignments (fall) and preparing their proposals and brief written reviews of their peers' proposals (spring). The ISCE leadership team will provide individually tailored mentorship throughout. It is expected that PREP members meet at least monthly with their assigned mentor.
ISCE funds up to 6 awards of up to $10,000 per award each year. The application process takes place in late spring or early summer with awards beginning with the beginning of fall semester.
Questions
Contact Yancey Crawford (yanceyc3@vt.edu)
- Sweta Baniya, assistant professor of English in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, “Compounding Crisis and Communication: Strengthening Transnational Disaster Response and Community Resilience via Social Justice Oriented Crisis Communication”
- Rachel Cheng, assistant professor of food science and technology in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, “Case-control Study of Foodborne and Non-Foodborne Acquired Salmonellosis in Children”
- Shaddi Hasan, assistant professor of computer science in the College of Engineering, “Advancing Digital Equity through Scalable Techniques for Improving Broadband Data Collection and Integrity”
- Rachelle Kuehl, research scientist for the Center for Rural Education, “Teaching Race in Rural Places: Investigating Contextualized Challenges, Successes, and Solutions in Contentious Times”
- Jessica Rich, research assistant professor for the Center for Coastal Studies, “A Comparative Study of Environmental Decision-Making in Coastal Virginia and Greenland”
- Ruichuan Zhang, assistant professor for the Myers-Lawson School of Construction in the College of Engineering, “Assessing Adaptive Buildings for Inclusive Disaster Response”
To read the VTx article, click here.
- Elinor Benami, assistant professor of agricultural and applied economics in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, “Reassessing drought indicators used to finance relief payments in the U. S. Crop Insurance Program.”
- Heather Davis, assistant professor of psychology in the College of Science, “Investigating shame as a mechanism underlying eating disorder comorbidity.”
- Junghwan Kim, assistant professor of geography in the College of Natural Resources and Environment, “Assessing urban walkability with an artificial intelligence (AI) method: A case study in small-sized U.S. cities.”
- Karin Kitchens, assistant professor of political science in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Science, “Identifying variation in juvenile sentencing.”
- Michael G. Sorice, associate professor of forest resources and environmental conservation in the College of Natural Resources and Environment, “Ecosystem stewardship as a policy target: Cultural expectations for private lands in the United States.”
- Hannah M. Sunderman, assistant professor of agricultural, leadership, and community education in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, “An intersectional approach to leader(ship) identity development through meaning making.”
- Clara H. Suong, assistant professor of political science in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Science, “Popular but unimportant? Power and language in digital diplomacy.”
To read the VTx article, click here.