2018-19 CIS Second Project Fellowships

What: One course release and quarter of residency at the Center
Who: Assistant and Associate CHASS Professors
When: Award period is July 1, 2018 through June 30, 2019
Deadline to apply:  February 12, 2018

Assistant professors often have difficulty seeing beyond tenure and their first project, one that is generally tied to their dissertations. Associate professors often find it difficult to balance research on a second project with increased service expectations, family responsibilities and the like.

The Second Project Fellowships seek to help by providing time (a course buy-out), space (an office at the Center for Ideas and Society away from departmental activities) and accountability (the fellowship application and final report.)

CHASS faculty are eligible in two ways. All applicants must show evidence of having completed a first research project. In addition, they (1) have received their Ph.D.’s between 2010 and 2018 and begun work on the second research project. (For questions about extending circumstances, e.g. adjunct teaching, childbearing leaves, etc., contact Georgia Warnke, georgia.warnke@ucr.edu.) Or (2) they are able to show evidence of having made substantial progress on a second research project in the form of drafts of the project and publications and/or papers given.

Faculty are ineligible if they have had any sort of sabbatical or fellowship in the last three years or they have had more than one quinquennial.

Submit the online application form and all required documentation by midnight, Monday, February 12, 2018. Incomplete submissions will not be considered.

Online application form

Complete applications include:

1. Basic information about you and your project, including project title and abstract (300 word limit). All required documents should be prepared in advance and uploaded to the form as PDF or Word documents at the time of submission.

2. A Research Narrative (6 page maximum single-spaced, 12-point font, with 1 inch margins.) that includes: A) an overview of the goals, objectives and approach of the research; B) an outline of the progress made on the second project thus far and the part of the research you intend to complete during the quarter of residency; C) the anticipated contribution of the research to your disciplinary field; D) information about the status of the first research project, including publication venue(s) and dates; E) Information about any current and pending extramural funding, including project title, granting agency, dates, and amount of award; F) proposed quarter of residency in the academic year of the award.

3. Short CV (2 pages maximum).

When selecting proposals for funding, the committee will consider:

  • The importance of the questions, issues or problems the research seeks to address.
  • The capacity of the project to enhance or develop insights into or an understanding of these questions, issues or problems.
  • The appropriateness, effectiveness and feasibility of the proposed approach or research methods.
  • The ability of the applicant to make headway on the research.
  • The inclusion of a realistic timetable that includes milestones.

Final awards are based on available funding.  Second Project Fellowship awards provide $6100 to buy out one course in a quarter in which no other teaching will be required. Fellows also receive an office at the Center in College Building South for writing and research during the quarter. During their residency, CIS Second Project Fellows will be expected to participate in the Center’s events and to meet at least once with Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellows.

Course release must be used within the fiscal year of the award and is non-transferable. If unused, funds must be returned to the Center.

At the close of your fellowship, we will request a final narrative report that assesses the outcomes (both planned and unexpected) and compares the project as proposed with the project as experienced. What progress was made toward your stated goals? What questions were uncovered or resolved? What challenges did you face? What new areas of research and collaboration were opened? Reports should include any impact on students, classes, teaching, publications, community service, and other methods of research engagement and service.

In papers, conference presentations, or other methods of sharing the results of your project, please acknowledge the support of the Center for Ideas and Society.

From time to time, we may share your name, project title, and/or portions of your narrative report on our website or other reports and promotional materials. This serves our mission by sharing the research of our college with the wider public and helps us emphasize the importance and relevance of humanities-focused projects.