ÃÛÌÒTV

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Office of the Provost

University Summer Grant (USG)

 

Recipients by Year

 

USG 2025 Program Guidelines

 

1. Purpose

The University Summer Grant (USG) Program provides support to faculty to engage in research, scholarly activities, and creative artistic projects. The overarching goals of the USG program are to facilitate the intellectual development of faculty and  their efforts to achieve national and international recognition in their scholarly fields.

The USG Program aims to support:

  • Efforts of tenure-track and tenured faculty to build a successful research program
  • Preparation of proposals for external funding in areas where extramural support is available
  • Faculty pursuing research, scholarly, creative, or artistic activities in disciplines where external support is not regularly available
  • Efforts of established faculty to develop a new research trajectory

USG is meant to fund work on a specific project for a specific period. Proposals that seek support to advance work on multiple projects are not preferred.

 

2. Eligibility

Eligibility for USG awards is limited to full-time tenure-track and tenured faculty. Individuals are eligible for a new USG award every other year. 

Individuals may not hold USG awards concurrently with a Small Research Grant (SRG), Research Catalyst Grant (RCG), Unitas Grant, or Veritas Grant. Individuals with projects under consideration for the RCG 2025 may submit to the USG 2026 Program on a provisional basis. If the project is successful in the RCG competition, the USG application will be automatically withdrawn from consideration. Likewise, individuals with projects under consideration for the USG 2026 may submit to the SRG, Unitas and Veritas 2026 competitions on a provisional basis. If the USG project is successful, any other VIRS grant application will automatically be withdrawn from consideration.

Note to CLAS Faculty: USG awards may not be held simultaneously with GRASP awards. You may apply to both simultaneously and your USG proposal will be automatically withdrawn if you are awarded GRASP. Please do not apply to USG if you are currently in the first year of a 2-year GRASP award.  

 

3. Award Amounts and Restrictions

The maximum total award is $12,500. Budget requests may include funds for: (a) summer salary; (b) research assistance (RA); (c) reasonable research-related expenses (RRRE); or (d) a combination of salary, RA, and/or RRRE. Details and restrictions are as follows.

a) Summer salary: Faculty may request summer salary in one of the following increments:

  • One month of summer salary, calculated as 1/9 of the faculty member’s academic year salary and capped at $12,500
  • Three quarters of a month of summer salary, calculated as 1/12 of the faculty member’s academic year salary and capped at $9375
  • Half a month of summer salary, calculated as 1/18 of the faculty member’s academic year salary and capped at $6250
  • No summer salary

Summer salary is to be paid in June or July of the summer award period and is subject to any pertinent limitations as outlined in the University's Compensation Policy.

b) Research assistance (RA): Up to $4000 may be requested to pay Villanova graduate or undergraduate students on an hourly wage basis to assist faculty members in the execution of the proposed research. Funds may not be used to provide summer stipends for students to work on their own thesis/dissertation research.

Note: Funds to hire non-Villanova research assistants should be requested as RRRE.

Note: If requesting both RA and RRRE the combined total cannot exceed $4000.

c) Reasonable research-related expenses (RRRE): Up to $4000 may be requested for eligible expenses related to the conduct of research. Some eligible RRRE expenses include but are not limited to: travel to research sites, libraries, and archives; supplies; instrumentation; software; statistical consultation; translation and transcription services; and payment for research assistance provided by individuals not affiliated with Villanova.

Note: if requesting both RA and RRRE the combined total cannot exceed $4000.

d) A combination of salary, RA, and/or RRRE:  Faculty may request a combination of salary, RA, and RRRE monies not to exceed $12,500. The allocation of funding between salary, RA, and RRRE will be at the discretion of the faculty member with the provisions that: (a) faculty receive no more than one month of summer salary (1/9 of academic year) and (b) if both RA and RRRE are requested, the combined total may not exceed $4000.

Collaborative proposals between two faculty members are allowed. For such proposals, each faculty member may request summer salary (subject to the terms indicated in the description of Summer salary above). RA, RRRE, and RA/RRRE combinations for the collaborative remain capped at $4000.

Funds may not be used to support travel to conferences. The USG Program does not provide support for course development or textbook preparation.

 

4. Proposal Preparation

Proposal Preparation Workshop Videos (Recorded Fall 2019):

Faculty should structure their proposals in a way that clearly articulates the nature of the activities to be undertaken, with the understanding that proposals will be evaluated based on the four criteria outlined below in section 6. Proposals should state the anticipated outcome that will result from USG support, the nature of which may be specific to a particular discipline, and how this outcome will advance the research of the faculty member, enhance his or her professional stature, and contribute to the national and/or international visibility of ÃÛÌÒTV.

All Faculty members that have previously received USG grant(s) should briefly address the outcomes or products from those grant(s) and clarify how the current project differs from those previous USG projects. Tenured faculty should also articulate how the current proposal represents a new trajectory beyond their established research agenda.

Keep in mind that review committee members may not have expertise in the specific topic of every proposal. Proposals should minimize reliance on jargon and define discipline-specific terminology when its use cannot be avoided.

Proposal narratives should not exceed 6 double-spaced pages with 1-inch margins, using no smaller than 11-point font. In addition to the narrative, proposals must include a separate cited literature section and a separate resume/CV (maximum 2 pages). If RA and/or RRRE funds are requested, a budget must also be submitted. The budget should indicate in as much detail as possible how the funds requested would be used. For proposals requesting summer salary, please do not specify faculty summer salary dollar amounts anywhere in the proposal, rather, indicate the portion of summer month requested (e.g. 1 month, 3/4 month, 1/2 month).

 

5. Proposal Submission 

All applications must be submitted electronically through

 

6. Proposal Evaluation and Review Criteria

Each proposal will be peer reviewed by an internal Evaluation Committee of distinguished Villanova scholars and researchers. Review of proposals will be based on the following criteria, adopted from the American Council of Learned Societies:

  • The potential of the project to advance the field of study in which it is proposed and make an original and significant contribution to knowledge.
  • The quality of the proposal regarding its clarity, methodology, scope, theoretical framework, and grounding in the relevant scholarly literature.
  • The feasibility of the project and the likelihood that the applicant will execute the work within the proposed timeframe.
  • The scholarly record and career trajectory of the applicant.

Applicants should note that any research activities involving human subjects will require approval from ÃÛÌÒTV’s Institutional Review Board. IRB approval must be in place before awarded funds can be disbursed.

Applicants should note that any research activities involving vertebrate animal subjects will require approval from ÃÛÌÒTV’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. IACUC approval must be in place before awarded funds can be disbursed.

 

7. Critical Dates         

  • Application submission deadline: TBD December 2025 by 5 p.m. 
  • Decision announcement: Mid-March 2026

 

8. Post-award requirements

After receiving an award, and in order to be eligible for future awards, awardees will be required to prepare a Final Report, to be submitted through InfoReady, due by May 31 of the year following your summer award.

 

9. Questions?

Questions about proposal preparation or review can be addressed to the Director of VIRS. You also may contact any member of the Evaluation Committee for advice about proposal preparation.

 

10. Members of the Evaluation Committee

The Evaluation Committee consists of tenured faculty, appointed by the Director of VIRS in collaboration with Faculty Congress, striving to achieve a breadth of expertise across the Colleges. In general, Evaluation Committee members will serve three year terms. Members of the Evaluation Committee are:

  • Danai Chasaki, PhD, Electrical and Computer Engineering
  • Kabindra Shakya, PhD, Geography and the Environment
  • Jennifer Ross, PhD, RN, CNE, Nursing
  • Jeremy Kees, PhD, Marketing
  • Andrew Scott, PhD, Classical Studies
  • Mary Mullen, PhD, English
  • Melissa Hodges, PhD, Sociology and Criminology
  • Mi (Meg) Luo, PhD, Finance
  • Sherry Burrell, PhD, RN, CNE, Nursing
  • Troy Shirangi, PhD, Biology
  • Jacky Huang, PhD, Chemical and Biological Engineering
  • Jennifer Dixon, PhD, Political Science
  • Yimin Zhang, PhD, Mathematics and Statistics