Workshop, Symposia & Conference Awards

*Updated Jan 31, 2022

What: Awards to support workshops (up to $1500) and symposia or conferences (up $5000) + “UC Supplemental Awards” of up to $2000
Who: UCR faculty (PI), UC faculty, staff or students (Co-PIs)
When: July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023
Deadline to apply: March 14, 2022

Note: CIS awards do not support meetings or annual conferences of professional societies or organizations with paid memberships. All events funded by the Center are free and open to the public.

Workshop, Symposia and Conference Awards support skill-building, research development and/or dissemination events hosted at UC Riverside. Though ranging in scale and audience, these events bring a variety of UC, national and international scholars/artists together at UC Riverside (in person or online) for one or more days to learn, share research and explore topics of mutual interest in an interdisciplinary environment.

Of particular interest in these calls are projects that draw upon multiple intellectual traditions and/or interdisciplinary/transdisciplinary fields in order to develop more robust and nuanced understandings of topics than are possible within traditional disciplinary vocabularies, categories, and self-descriptions. Though proposals should demonstrate emphasis on the humanities, special consideration will be given to projects that engage the arts, social sciences, physical sciences, engineering, and other fields of study.

Project Types
Workshops: Public or campus-facing learning experiences that teach skills and develop understanding and/or application of new knowledge.
Symposia: Smaller scale, public or campus-facing research presentations, typically with 1-2 panels of interlocutors. May also include a keynote speaker.
Conferences: Larger scale, public facing research presentations, typically over 2 days, and featuring keynote speakers and 3 or more panel presentations. May also include receptions, formal dinners or performances in the conference theme. Conference applicants must also apply for a UCHRI Conference Award or similar award for the same project in the same year. (They need not be successful as a condition of award.)

UC Supplemental Awards
Up to $2000 in supplemental funding available for applicants to the Workshop, Symposia and Conference Awards. To be eligible, proposals must include substantive participation from faculty based at other UC campuses and/or partnerships with programs or departments at other UC campuses. “Substantive participation” may include serving as co-PIs or co-hosting and planning partners, giving presentations and assisting with promotion of event information. The application should include a clear description of the UC faculty participant’s (or UC program’s) expected role and contributions to the project and should also be accompanied by a short letter from them acknowledging their agreement to participate.

Online, public-facing portions of the project must be open to attendees from across the UC system.

Award Guidelines
All awardees are generally expected to seek matching campus contributions of at least 25% of the awarded amount. Awardees agree to attend the CIS Award Orientation Meeting on May 9, 2022. (Time TBD)

Submit the online application form and all required documentation by 11:59 pm on the deadline. Incomplete submissions will not be considered.

► Online application form

The online application will require:

  1. Project title and abstract (250-word limit)
  2. PDF of description of proposed project(1000 words or less, not including bibliography or CVs): Proposals should address the criteria outlined in the ‘Evaluation’ sections of the call. Identify the goals and objectives and make clear the interdisciplinary and/or collaborative aspects of the project. Provide a tentative schedule of events, as applicable to the project.
  3. Excel spreadsheet of Budget and Budget Justification: Download budget template. Itemize all expected costs associated with the event within the Award Guidelines noted in this call, including proposed UC Supplemental Award (if applicable). Include explanations of how estimates are calculated and a line-by-line justification for the necessity of each expense as it relates to the project goals. If the proposal is awarded at a lower amount than requested, indicate how the project scope can be adjusted. Describe cost-sharing, matching funds, cosponsorships, and other funding, committed or pending.
  4. PDF list of organizers and confirmed participants: Submit short (2 page) CVs of confirmed participants. Identify the roles for each person included. A list of potential invitees (with affiliations) should also be included. CVs not required for potential invitees.
  5. Conference applicants only: Evidence of having applied for a UCHRI Conference Award (or similar award) for the same project in the current year.
  6. Optional: UC Supplemental Awards – Describe the planned partnership, including names and contact information for committed UC faculty and/or program partners. How will they substantially contribute to the proposed working group? How will the addition of these UC partners strengthen or expand the reach of the project?
  7. If applying for the UC Supplemental Award: Attach short letters of support from faculty or programs on other UC campuses acknowledging their agreement to participate. Letters may also be emailed directly to CIS@ucr.edu.

In addition to humanities-emphasis, interdisciplinary collaboration, and location, the advisory committee looks for intellectually sound, clear, and well-organized proposals that, as the format of the project allows, represent the following values and standards:

Focus

The importance of the themes and/or issues of the conference, symposium and workshop seeks to address.
The capacity of the format of the conference, symposium or workshop to help develop insights into these themes of issues.
The suitability of proposed participants given the conference, symposium or workshop themes and/or issues.
Potential of the conference, symposium or workshop to inspire future research, programs, grants, or community relationships.

Management

The clarity of lines of responsibility and accountability.
The transparency and appropriateness of the conference, symposium or workshop budget
The scalability of the conference, symposium or workshop to accommodate less funding if required, or its potential to leverage additional funding through co-sponsorships, additional grants, or other fund-raising.

Final awards are based on available funding. In order to support as many projects as possible, projects may be offered an award for less than requested. Lower awards do not reflect on the quality or importance of the work being conducted.
Awardees are asked to seek matching campus contributions of at least 25% of the awarded amount.

UCR faculty are eligible for research awards ($250-$500) for presentations at conferences or on symposia. Faculty from other UC campuses may receive research awards ($250-$500), to be transferred to their home departments. Faculty from other institutions and guest presenters may be paid honoraria.

Major purchases of non-expendable equipment, course buy-outs, faculty stipends, GSR/student tuition or fees, staffing, alcohol, personal conference travel and/or annual meetings or professional organizations and groups are not covered by this award. Reusable supplies and equipment purchased with these funds remain the property of the Center. Expenditures must be within the categories listed in the proposal budget. Written permission is required for budget adjustments or changes to the project scope prior to spending funds.

CIS awards do not support meetings or annual conferences of professional societies or organizations with paid memberships. All events funded by the Center are free and open to the public.

All project transactions and processes must adhere to applicable/relevant UC, UCR, and Center
policies. Expenses must be incurred within the award period and unexpended funds are surrendered at the end of that period. Extensions of the grant timeframe are rare but may be requested in writing to the Center director. Awardees should alert the Center staff if accommodations to the project timeline or budget are needed due to COVID-19 disruptions and restrictions.

Administrative and event support is provided by the Center for Ideas and Society. Where feasible, projects are invited to make use of the Center’s facilities in College Building South.

Proposals that involve personal interviews or experiments with human subjects must be review and approved by the Institutional Review Board first. For forms and details, visit or.ucr.edu/ORI.aspx. Such proposals should indicate if IRB approval has been granted and the protocol number. Funds are released only after approval is obtained.

Project organizers will submit a final report within 4 weeks following the event date. The final narrative should assess the outcomes (both planned and unexpected) and compare the project as proposed with the project as experienced. What progress was made toward the stated goals? What questions were uncovered or resolved? What challenges were faced? What new areas of research and collaboration were opened? Reports should include a list of participants, audiences reached, and impact on students, classes, teaching, publications, community service, and other methods of research, engagement and service.

In papers, event 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, conference 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.

For questions, please contact Katharine Henshaw, Executive Director, at katharine.henshaw@ucr.edu.