DI2: Dietrich Innovation Initiative

Overview

The Dietrich Innovation Initiative is a transformative opportunity to empower faculty and staff to enrich research, student learning, and community engagement and foster a sense of future-oriented, constant development. It’s an invitation to our community of learners to take on the compelling questions at the school, the University, and in higher education that engage their interest and curiosity.

Full-time faculty and staff at the Dietrich School and CGS are invited to submit proposals that offer unique and exciting opportunities in the areas of:

• Curricular Development
• Outreach
• Research
• Student Services

About the Awards

There are two types of awards available:

Individual Innovation Awards facilitate project-based efforts in scholarship, artistic production, community engagement, or curricular development/change.

Laboratory Innovation Awards bring people together to chart daring lines of inquiry within and between disciplines or roles.

For each category of award, funding is available in three tiers:

• Launch Support—for short-term projects with budgets of $5,000 or less
• Major Development—for longer-range, bigger-budget projects, up to $20,000
• Moon Shot—for major innovative efforts that may not fit neatly into standard categories, with budgets up to $100,000

Who is Eligible?

• Full-time Tenure Stream Faculty
• Full-Time Appointment Stream Faculty
• Full-Time Staff

Visitors and part-time faculty are NOT eligible. Neither are temporary or part-time staff.

Past Winners

Individual or Laboratory Innovation Awards Might Be Used To:

• Collaborate with a team to develop a new resource, initiative, or program that makes creative use of tools, methods, or (inter)disciplinary clusters;
• Present groundbreaking academic work in a new genre, venue, or modality (by individuals or small teams);
• Leverage a course release to transform an existing course;
• Embark on a new and innovative direction in one’s scholarly research trajectory (not unlike Mellon’s New Directions Fellowships);
• Convene a multidisciplinary laboratory that reconfigures conventional understanding of a pressing global concern;
• Collaborate with peers to catalyze pedagogical or curricular change;
• Support an individual PI in drafting an ambitious proposal for a large team of investigators;
• Integrate High Impact Practices to enhance student success;
• Pilot programming or initiatives tied to the Dietrich School pillars and priorities

Individual Innovation Awards

Individual faculty and staff are encouraged to submit inventive proposals that support their career advancement goals. Applications should make a clear argument for the timing, amount, and duration of the award, but the proposal may include different forms and combinations of support, such as:

• 1-2 course releases (requires letter of support from program director, department chair, or supervisor)
• Travel or development funds

Projects may be a career-defining individual effort, such as the development of a digital or media project, community engagement effort, monograph, or curricular design. Pathways to innovative academic production may also emphasize completion of a shorter-term goal such as initial project research, skills acquisition, or course development.

Successful proposals will make a persuasive case for the likely impact of the resources requested, and recipients will be able to demonstrate that they are prepared to achieve substantial gains during the award period. Proposals should specify clear start and end dates for the project; funding should be used within 18 months of award receipt. Successful applicants may submit a new proposal for funding two years after receiving internal support from the Dietrich School.

Interdisciplinary Team Awards

Faculty or staff groups of two or more may apply for support for an innovative laboratory project in research, community engagement, or pedagogical domains. Proposals should dare to imagine real change; not every endeavor will be immediately successful, but we value audacious efforts and instructive experiments in structure, thought, and application. Interdisciplinary groups are especially encouraged to apply. As with individual awards, applications should make a clear argument for the timing, amount, and duration of the award, and may take a number of different forms, such as:

• 1-2 course releases (requires letter of support from program director, department chair, or supervisor)
• Travel or development funds

Each individual’s contribution to the project should be clearly specified, including the percentage of full-time effort they anticipate devoting to the project and the tasks for which they will be primarily responsible. Proposals should identify measurable outcomes and deliverables which enable us to highlight our successes and learn from our mistakes. The strongest proposals will make a persuasive case for the potential gains of the project, and recipients will be able to demonstrate that they are prepared to achieve substantial gains during the award period.

Awardees must begin active use of their support within six months of receipt; unless the approved proposal specifies a longer development period, projects must also conclude within 18 months of receipt. Proposals should specify clear start and end dates for the project.

What Does a Successful Proposal Look Like?

Projects may be as expansive as an effort to revitalize the curriculum of a program or department, or as specific as a series of on-campus lectures or other events culminating in a new work.

Proposals should identify measurable outcomes and deliverables which enable us to highlight our successes and learn from our mistakes. The strongest proposals will make a persuasive case for the potential gains of the project, and recipients will be able to demonstrate that they are prepared to achieve substantial gains during the award period.

Awardees must begin active use of their support within six months of receipt; unless the approved proposal specifies a longer development period, projects must also conclude within 18 months of receipt. Proposals should specify clear start and end dates for the project.

Examples of Possible Projects

• A faculty member undertakes a multimedia project, grounded in the latest research, that pioneers a widespread education campaign in basic participatory civics. Outcomes include online videos and curricular modules freely shared online for K-12 and university instructors. A publicity campaign drawing on a professional media advisor incorporates planned television appearances and op-eds by the faculty member near the end of the project. These activities also support the faculty member’s work on an upcoming book that crosses genres and reading markets.
• A team of two TS and AS faculty members collaborate to decolonize the curriculum of a major departmental introductory course during one academic year. Measurable outcomes might include: a new syllabus for use in future semesters, recommendations for inclusion efforts within the department, a narrative account of the process of achieving departmental consensus on priorities.
• A small team of faculty and staff members create an immersive student-engagement program for a small cohort of first-year students who engage in community enrichment activities and enroll in two related cross-disciplinary courses during the academic year, such as “The Politics of Numbers,” “Environmental Change and Writing the Future” or “The Science of Art.” Deliverables might include: a clear plan for implementation, including identifying and selecting students; staff responsibilities; fully drafted and approved syllabi; commitments for ongoing program support from chairs, supervisors, staff, and faculty
• A cross-divisional project seeks local pathways to deploy environmentally neutral power sources across the city. Participants include faculty from the Natural Sciences, Social Sciences, and Humanities, and staff members, who collaborate to create:
  • Policy white paper to be shared with local and state government officials on the benefits of a low-cost or no-cost power generation initiative
  • Development of ongoing partnerships with local neighborhood representatives, as well as city and county decision-makers to assess best practices and possible development resources
  • Major grant proposal to support purchase of environmentally neutral power generators in pilot neighborhood(s)
  • Plan for future management of project after initial funding period ends

How to Apply

Submit the following required materials through our application portal.

• Project proposal (1500 words max)
• 2-page CV or resumé for each participant
• Project Budget and Budget Justification*
• Support Letter Department Chair, Program Director, or, in the case of staff members, Senior Staff Leader.

OF NOTE: For those applying as a team, a letter from each team member’s respective supervisor must be included. Awards will not be provided for postdoc effort/salary.
* All applicants should contact Jeff Petsis, Director of Sponsored Projects Administration, prior to submitting a Project Budget. Jeff can provide expert guidance to help ensure budgeting accuracy.

Deadlines

• Complete applications are due by 5 p.m. ET on September 27
• Awardees will be announced no later than October 31**.
  (**Due to the high volume of submissions, the announcement date has been pushed back from October 18 to allow the reviewers adequate time to thoroughly assess every proposal.)

​Application Review Process

Selection of the awards will be done by a newly constituted Dietrich School Internal Grants Committee.

Criteria for selection will be based on the potential impact and originality of the proposal, proposed measurable outcomes, and availability of funds.

We are committed to a rigorous evaluation process to assess the impact of DI2 projects. This could include quantitative and qualitative assessments of the overall effectiveness of the processes, procedures, and programs implemented. Proposals requesting significant funding for administrative/operational costs, for example, are less likely to be funded. 

Need Help?

Have a great idea but you’re not sure how to translate it into a proposal? Need guidance on developing a budget for your project or identifying deliverables? To launch DII with as much momentum as possible, the Dietrich School is hosting two online drop-in workshops to support prospective applicants. Members of the Dietrich School's Sponsored Projects Administration Team will be available via Zoom on May 21 and June 17 to answer your questions.​

Use the Zoom links below to log in.

May 21, 1:30 - 2:30 p.m.

June 17, 1:30 - 2:30 p.m.

Application Portal

Visit our Sharepoint site to submit your application! We look forward to learning more about your projects!

Support DI2

To learn more about how you can support this exciting new program, contact Josh Bow, Executive Director of Development for the Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences and College of General Studies.