Request for Proposals
The University of Iowa Obermann Center for Advanced Studies

Invites all UI faculty to submit proposals
to design and direct the
Summer 2010
Research Seminar

 

Deadline: Tuesday, April 21, 2009, 5 pm

Click here for a printer-friendly PDF version of these guidelines

After preparing proposal as described below, submit it online here.

The Obermann Center for Advanced Studies and the Office of the Vice President for Research invite all UI tenure track faculty members in all fields to submit proposals to design and direct the Center’s Summer 2010 Research Seminar. One grant up to $40,000 will be awarded.

Obermann Research Seminars bring together 8 to 10 UI and visiting scholars and researchers for 1-2 weeks for sustained interaction at the Obermann Center. We ask that the 2010 Seminar be held during the month of June. The Obermann Seminar format involves extensive group discussion of each participant’s draft paper, so as to result in a collection of essays to be submitted to a press or journal.

Under these guidelines, (1) either tenured or tenure track UI faculty may apply to direct a seminar, (2) the seminar may be disciplinary or interdisciplinary, (3) the seminar director may competitively select all of the participants or directly invite some of the participants. Participants will include some from UI but most from other institutions. Two UI faculty members may co-direct the seminar if they are in different departments.
Up to $40,000 will be available for director and participant stipends, speaker fees, student assistants and administrative costs. The Seminar Director will work closely with the Obermann Center to develop the final plan, schedule, and budget for the seminar.

The Obermann Center provides meeting rooms, offices with computers and internet connections, as well as a variety of support services, including library delivery service. The Center will handle all administrative, financial, and housing details associated with the seminar.

Here are some hypothetical examples of seminar configurations:

• A UI professor of English proposes a seminar on memoir, which will employ an international competition to select ten writers and scholars from UI and other institutions.
• A UI engineering professor and law professor propose an interdisciplinary seminar on sustainability, identify five participants from UI and other institutions, and propose an international competition to select four other participants.
• A UI professor of education proposes a seminar on testing, identifies four UI colleagues as participants, and proposes a national competition designed to select five participants from other U.S. universities.
  

Past seminars have explored topics ranging from presidential elections to medieval manuscripts to stored human tissues.

Obermann Summer Research Seminars are funded by the Obermann Center for Advanced Studies, the C. Esco and Avalon L. Obermann Endowment, and the Office of the Vice President for Research.

Guidelines for Preparing Proposals

Please submit only one proposal. Please write your proposal so that it will inform and engage reviewers who may not be familiar with the proposed area of scholarship.

Reviewers will use the following criteria to judge the proposals:

• the scholarly importance of the topic;
• the likelihood that the proposed seminar will significantly advance research on the topic;
• the strength of confirmed or potential seminar participants;
• the likelihood that the seminar will lead to a book of collected essays or special issue of a journal;
• the director’s record of research or creative activity in the proposed area and the likelihood that the director(s) can attract applicants, lead a productive seminar, and develop a publication.
• If applicable, published results from any previous Obermann Grants.

Here is how to prepare materials to submit online:

1. Write a narrative (3-5 pages, single-spaced) that answers the questions below:
• Why is the topic of scholarly importance?
• How will the seminar build on and advance scholarship on the proposed topic? What issues are to be explored? What questions are to be answered?
• What anticipated scholarly publication will result from the seminar?
• What experience does the director have in leading or participating in collaborative efforts?
  
• Who are the participants? If you wish to select participants to serve as a core group or majority, please attach brief descriptions of their scholarly work or biosketches or brief CVs, which include rank, institution, degrees, and relevant publications. If you choose to hold a competition to attract the majority of participants, please indicate the kinds of researchers who might be interested and, if applicable, identify UI faculty who might be interested in applying. We encourage seminars that involve a few UI faculty members, whether personally invited or selected through a competition.
   
2. Prepare the director’s biosketch or curriculum vitae (3 pages including degrees, appointments, relevant publications and grants, recent internal and external grants and the projects they supported).
    
3. Append a list of any previous Obermann grants and list publications that resulted from each grant.
    
4. Compile the application materials as a single document.
    
5. Complete the online cover sheet asking for contact information by going to:
   www.uiowa.edu/obermann/grants/summer/applydirect.html where you will upload your single document.

No budget is required at this time. The director(s) of the selected seminar will work with the Obermann Center to develop a final plan and budget.

Interested UI faculty members are encouraged to contact Jay Semel (jay-semel@uiowa.edu, 335-4034) to discuss ideas and proposal preparation.

Signatures: Please have your DEO email an endorsement of the proposed project to Neda Barrett (neda-barrett@uiowa.edu, 335-4034).

If you have questions or submission difficulties, please contact Neda Barrett (neda-barrett@uiowa.edu, 319-335-4034).

Deadline: Tuesday, April 21, 2009, 5 pm