External Funding Opportunities

Purpose: NEH and NSF summer programs recognize faculty expertise, publicize the role of the humanities and social sciences in the College, raise the national profile of Virginia Tech programs, and generate substantial external funding. NEH summer seminars and institutes bring K12 teachers or college faculty to campus for one to five weeks. Funded NEH summer programs have combined intensive study time in Blacksburg with site visits to libraries, archives, and organizations in Washington DC. NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates bring students from other institutions to campus for an intensive mentoring experience for approximately ten weeks. These programs require considerable effort in terms of both preparing an application and administering the program. This incentive program rewards faculty for doing the work necessary to prepare a proposal. The likelihood of proposals being funded is high, so the investment by the faculty and the College is likely to bring results. The goal of the incentive program is to generate two proposals each year for NEH programs (one for K12 and one for higher education) and one proposal each year for an NSF program. Faculty who are selected to submit to the NEH or NSF will receive assistance in preparing proposals, coordinating with collaborators, completing budgets, working with program officers, and meetings grant requirements. 

Timeline: 

• Deadline for internal proposals: October 31, 2019
• Selection and notification: November 10, 2019
• NEH Deadline: February 13, 2020
• NSF Deadline: August 26, 2020

Eligibility: full time faculty in the College, including tenured, tenure-track, collegiate faculty and Instructors

Proposals should consist of a short description of the summer program, a tentative schedule, the research and teaching expertise of the faculty, possible collaborators, and how the project relates to the professional plans of the faculty member. Proposals should be limited to one page. Please submit proposals as an attached pdf to Tom Ewing (etewing@vt.edu).