From: Aaron Shonk, Senior Director, Foundation Relations
Oregon State University Foundation
Funding Opportunity: Keck Foundation – Call for concept papers
Deadline: May 29, 2018
This is a call for concept papers for research projects in either science & engineering or medical research. Proposed projects should have the potential to meet the funding interests of the W.M. Keck Foundation. Please forward this call for concept papers to department chairs and any faculty who may be interested.
Criteria
The Keck Foundation seeks to support outstanding basic research in science, engineering, and medicine that will have a significant impact in solving complex issues and problems. The Foundation strives to fund endeavors that are distinctive and novel in their approach.
Keck encourages projects that are high-risk with the potential for transformative impact. “High-risk” comprises a number of factors, including questions that push the edge of the field, present unconventional approaches to intransient problems, or challenge the prevailing paradigm. “Transformative” may mean creation of a new field of research, development of new instrumentation enabling observations not previously possible, or discovery of knowledge that challenges prevailing perspectives.
The Keck Foundation looks for projects that would not qualify for federal funding from agencies like NSF and NIH due to the project’s high-risk nature. Projects that have received federal funding or that have applications pending for federal funding are unlikely to be funded.
Keck also looks for outstanding project personnel who are very accomplished in terms of publications and journal citations and highly regarded in their area of research. Keck is open to funding faculty at either the junior or senior level.
The maximum amount of funding available for a Keck research grant is $2 million. Research projects can run from one to five years.
Further details can be found at:
Concept Paper
Concept papers should be limited to one page using 12 point font with 1” margins. Concept papers should include the following:
- Indication as to whether the proposal’s emphasis is for (1) science/engineering or (2) medical research. (Simply state one term or the other at the top of the page in the title.)
- Overview of the research proposed emphasizing unique aspects of the project and pilot studies.
- Brief description of the methodologies and key personnel
- Brief justification of the need for Keck support
- Length of time for the project
- Estimated budget showing major areas of expenditures such as personnel, equipment, consumable supplies, etc.
- Availability of, or potential for, matching funds from OSU or other funding sources\
On a second page, please provide a brief description of any previous or pending funding requests for your project.
Do not include illustrations in the concept paper.
Interested faculty should email their concept paper to Elizabeth Ocampo, Foundation Relations Coordinator at the OSU Foundation by the deadline above. Elizabeth’s email address is Elizabeth.Ocampo@osufoundation.org. Any questions about these concept papers can be directed to Elizabeth at 541-737-7362.
Timing
If you are interested in submitting a concept paper for consideration, please carefully review the following information about the timeline for this funding cycle.
A concept paper submitted for this funding cycle would result in the following deadlines:
May 29 Deadline for concept papers submitted to OSU Foundation
May 30 – June 21 Research Office reviews concept papers and selects 1- 2 concepts
for pre-application advice from Keck.
July 1 – Aug 15 Research Office has pre-application advice session with Keck.
Aug 15 – Aug 30 Research Office notifies PIs of Keck feedback and whether PI
can submit a Phase I application to Keck.
November 1 Phase I deadline
January 15, 2019 Keck notifies PI if s/he is invited to submit full proposal.
February 15 Phase II deadline
June 2019 Keck Board meeting for review and funding decision
Anyone wishing to be considered for this funding cycle at Keck must be available to meet the above deadlines.
Please keep in mind that Keck has two funding cycles per year. A concept paper on your research project could be considered for future funding cycles if the timeline for this funding cycle does not work for your schedule.
Other Considerations
If you have proposed this project to other funders, please provide that information as an addendum to your concept paper. This includes both proposals currently pending a decision and proposals that have been declined.
Keck looks for strong evidence of institutional support for a proposed research project. Keck favors projects that (1) present a matching amount of institutional resources and (2) have obtained or applied for support from external private funding sources. Keck will allow the OSU indirect costs of the project to be counted as institutional support.
Keck asks that the PI of a proposal disclose if he/she is considering leaving the institution.
