IRGP 2007

1. IRGP 2007

2. The Office of the Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies (OVPRGS) requests proposals from MSU faculty for funding in one of the components of the Intramural Research Grants Program (IRGP):  • Scholarly and Creative Grants Program • New Faculty Grants Program • New Directions Grants Program

3. IRGP programs are open to • Tenure system faculty • Faculty with continuing or multi-year, fixed-term appointments where these are standard contractual arrangements (faculty with visiting or adjunct appointments are not eligible) • Academic specialists in the continuing appointment system with the majority of their effort in the research category (the term “faculty” in this RFP includes these specialists) • Faculty who have received an IRGP grant are eligible to reapply three years after the end date of their funded project. Extensions are included in determining the end date.Individuals may be identified as principal or co-principal investigator on only one IRGP submission per year.

4. Important Dates

5. All investigators must have a current, full profile in the Community of Science database. A full profile includes name, institution, and contact information plus research interests and expertise or publications. To initiate or update a profile, click the “Login/Join” tab at www.cos.com. For help, e-mail lsc@msu.edu or call 353-1768.

6. IRGP account numbers will be distributed by email in January. To receive account numbers, investigators must have current, full COS profiles and IRB approvals for use of human or animal subjects. Investigators who have met those requirements and need to begin spending funds before account numbers are assigned should negotiate with their department chairs for permission to use general funds. Once the IRGP account number is available, the department can generate a JVE to transfer IRGP funds to reimburse costs paid from other accounts.

7. In previous IRGP cycles, between 25 and 30 percent of proposals submitted received funding. Lists of successful proposals and details about numbers funded are listed on the OVPRGS Web site. http://www.msu.edu/unit/vprgs/intgrants/irgprecip05.htm http://www.msu.edu/unit/vprgs/IRGP2004/recipients.htmhttp://www.msu.edu/unit/vprgs/IRGP2003/projectsfunded.htm http://www.msu.edu/unit/vprgs/IRGP2002/f02awardees.htm

8. My department budget officer needs to work on my budget. How can I arrange for her or him to get into the proposal? You should designate Ellen Blonde as an co-owner. If you also want to make your unit budget officer a co-owner, they can also help with your proposal. Go to the "Owner Administration" link after you create the proposal and follow the instructions there. The budget officer can then log in with an MSUNetID, go to "View/Edit Proposal," and select your proposal. You should designate PI and any co-PIs before working on the budget.

9. Expenditures must be directly related to the project and fully explained and justified. Costs of replacements for faculty teaching, travel expenses, graduate student support, publication or production costs, special computing needs, and consumable supplies are legitimate expenditures. Salary requests must have adequate justification. Maximum award is $25,000. Projects must be completed within the 18-month grant period. The period starts December 15 of the year awarded and ends on June 15 of the second following calendar year.

10. Eligible Expenditures in the Scholarly and Creative Grants Program include:a.  Salaries for temporary faculty or graduate assistants to cover your course release.  Please note that the cost of temporary faculty are less than the cost of graduate assistants. b. Sabbatical salary subsidy c. Summer salary for PIs and Co-PIs are normally not allowed. Request for summer salary requires detailed justification. d. Travel to research sites e. Materials f.  Technology and equipment g. Publication/dissemination costs

11. Budget Calculations Please calculate your budget with care.  If you do not budget enough for faculty or GA replacements or your sabbatical or summer salary (including fringes), other budget expenses will be reduced or not reimbursed.  Overdrafts are the responsibility of your home unit.  If you want the IRGP-SCA to pay your own summer salary, a sabbatical salary supplement for yourself, compensation of a GA assisting you on the project, or temporary faculty or GAs to cover your courses for release time, budget the dollar amount needed and add fringes. Your IRGP grant account will be charged these costs directly. 

12. Salaries and Stipends • Full Summer Salary is usually 2/9 of academic year salary. • GA SS08 $6,521 (1/2 time Level 3) • GA FS08 $6,808 (1/2 time Level 3-estimated 4.4% incr.) • GA SS09 $6,808 (1/2 time Level 3—estimated 4.4% incr.) • Salary rates for faculty should be inflated at 4% for the • 08-09 year. Remember to take into account raises from anticipated promotions.

14. Fringes • Faculty and Staff with appointments of 50% time or more should use the Specific Identification (SI) method. Under this method, fringe costs are determined based on individual participation. • Academic-year faculty paid for summer school should be budgeted @ 7.65% of salaries. • Part-time employees (< 50% appt or < 9 months) should be budgeted @ 7.65% of salaries • Student labor @ 0% of salaries if full time student otherwise @7.65%

15. Faculty and Staff SI Fringes • MSU retirement (10% of base salary) if the employee is eligibleAND participates.  If they don't participate, they won't be charged. • FICA, 7.65% up to salary cap, currently $99,694, and 1.45% thereafter.  • An other/miscellaneous category (2.1%) for small items like life insurance, workers compensation, unemployment compensation, long term disability, etc.  • Health, dental & prescriptions using a flat dollar amount if employee iseligible for health benefits.  This amount for FY 2007-08 is $11,200. Should be increased by 9% for any time period after 7/1/2008

17. Graduate assistants fringe benefits • Health - $844 per semester (Fall 2007 and Spring 2008) and $0 for Summer 2008 = $1,688 per year. • The health amount should be increased by 6% in each succeeding year = $895. • Tuition and Fees - $3,364 per semester for Fall 2007 and Spring 2008, and $1,755 for Summer 2008. • These amounts should be increased by 8% in each succeeding year = $3,633 for Fall 2008 and Spring 2009. • SS08 ½ time Level 3 GA Budgeted Amount $10,739 • FS08 ½ time Level 3 GA Budgeted Amount $11,201 • SS09 ½ time Level 3 GA Budgeted Amount $11,694

19. https://www.vprgs.msu.edu/gps

21. Create New ProposalTo begin, click "Create New Proposal" and type a title (you can change it later if necessary). Select a proposal type (SCA, New Faculty, or New Directions) and a review category from the drop down menus.  Note that the review category for all Scholarly and Creative Activities Grants proposals is Arts and Humanities.  Click "Create Proposal."  A confirmation screen will direct you to the “Application" menu where you can work on the proposal.The individual who creates the proposal is designated “Application Administrator.

25. Application MenuClick the title of your proposal to begin working on it. You can follow the steps in the Application Menu in any order. However, before working on the budget, you should add the names of PI and co-PIs in the "PI/Co-PI Information" section. Their names will then appear in the budget and on the signature page. You cannot type PI or co-PI names directly into the budget or the signature page. Refer to the IRGP guidelines for details on allowable faculty salaries . When you identify co-PIs, they are able to log in to view all sections of the proposal and input their own current and pending support information.  Only "owners" are able to make changes in other parts of the proposal.

27. The person who creates the proposal is automatically designated as the “application administrator."  Proposal “Application administrators" are able to make changes in any part of the proposal. You can designate additional "owners" at the “Application Administrator" link. Other owners might include co-PIs, staff, or graduate students who need to input or upload portions of the proposal.  Individuals listed as co-PIs but not owners will be able to view all of the proposal components but modify only their own vita and current and pending support information. Only individuals you identify will have access to your proposal. 

29. PI/Co-PI InformationNames of PI and Co-PIs are added by typing the individual's MSUNet ID where indicated. Be certain to select PI or Co-PI from the drop-down menu. Click "Add PI/ Co-PI." If the individual has appointments in more than one department, a pick list of those departments will appear. Select the appropriate one for this proposal and click "Insert PI/Co-PI." Community of Science profiles will serve as vitas for this proposal. Please provide URLs for the profiles where indicated. For help, call 353-1768 or email lsc@msu.edu. To add Current and Pending Support information, click on the link in the appropriate cell. At the location indicated, upload a PDF file from your computer.  The Current and Pending Support form is provided in both PDF and Word formats. If you use the Word version, you will need to convert it to PDF before uploading it. To make changes on the form after it is uploaded, modify the file on your computer and upload it again. The new file will replace the previously uploaded file.

39. Research Statement Your project/research statement should discuss the questions that will be addressed and/or the scholarly product that will result from this activity. You can type directly in the box or cut and paste from another document. It should not exceed 300 characters (including spaces).

41. AbstractThe box for the abstract will allow 750 words. You can type directly in the box or copy and paste from another file.

43. Project DescriptionTo forward your proposal to reviewers, OVPRGS needs a PDF file. If you are unable to create one, contact webmaster@egr.msu.edu. To import the file for your  project description, click "Browse…" and select the file from your computer. That file must contain only the project description. Other components of the proposal (abstract, e.g.) cannot be part of the project description file. Click "Upload File" to save the file to the system.

45. Each full proposal must contain a completed Budget Page and Budget Justification Section. The justification statements should explain why the line item is necessary for the proposed research. You MUST make a statement entry in each Justification Section. If there is an entire budget section for which you are not asking for funds, you must enter the justification statement: No budget submitted for this section.

46. Section A: Senior Personnel: PI, co-PIs, Faculty and other Senior AssociatesA list of names for this section will automatically be generated from the entries you made under the PI & Co-PI Support Information section. Once the list of names has been generated, you must fill in the project FTE (full-time equivalent), and relative project salary for each year. Information on how to calculate personnel salaries can be found at the "Fringe & Salary Budget Guidelines" link on the MSU Contracts and Grants Web site. NOTE that faculty salaries are not allowed in the New Faculty and New Directions programs. Replacement salaries are allowed for faculty applying in the SCA program. See the IRGP Guidelines for more information.

48. Section B: Other PersonnelList the total project FTE and relative project salary for each category type in the "Other Personnel" section. Note that names are not requested in Section B. Information on how to calculate personnel salaries can be found at the "Fringe & Salary Budget Guidelines" link on the MSU Contracts and Grants Web site.

50. Section C: EquipmentProvide a brief description and dollar amount for each equipment item. MSU classifies an item as equipment if it has an acquisition cost of $5,000 or more per unit; is non-expendable, tangible personal property, having a useful life of one or more years; has the capacity to function as a stand alone unit without the assistance of another unit. Please refer to the MSU Manual of Business Procedures, Section 224: Inventory Department, Section III: Equipment Criteria, for further details on the definition of equipment.