Applications are now being accepted for the 2024 Center for Social Science Scholarship
Summer Fellowships!

Download the application here.

Applications are now being accepted for the Center for Social Science Scholarship Summer Fellowship.  The purpose of this fellowship is to support significant social science research by tenure-track or tenured faculty in the UMBC College of Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences, resulting in a submittable product by December 2024.  Up to three fellows will receive a $6,000 award during the summer of 2024. 

By December 2024, each Fellow agrees to complete a submittable product, which can include an external grant or fellowship proposal, journal article, policy paper, book manuscript, or book chapter; upon completion, Fellows shall provide a copy of this submitted product to the Director of the Center for Social Science Scholarship. 

Interested faculty should complete and submit an application consisting of this downloadable 2-page cover sheet and proposal that adheres to the specified guidelines. The deadline for applications is FEBRUARY 15, 2024.

Applications will be reviewed and ranked by members of the Center for Social Science Scholarship Advisory Board, according to the following criteria:

• Quality of proposed research project;
• Significance of the project in its field;
• Publishing/funding potential of the work;
• Qualification of the faculty member to carry out the work, including the requisite expertise in the topic area and prior research productivity;
• Likelihood that the proposed work can be successfully completed with fellowship support and that it will result in a submittable product within the specified time period;
• Approval and recommendation of faculty member's department chair.

For more information, interested faculty may contact Christine Mallinson, Director, or Felipe Filomeno, Associate Director.  

Funds for this fellowship are provided by the Center for Social Science Scholarship and the College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences (CAHSS).

Faculty seeking external funding for humanities research projects should contact Rachel Brubaker, Associate Director, CAHSS Creative Achievement and Research Administration Team (CARAT), for assistance.  Faculty must be Principal Investigator (PI) Eligible to submit external proposals and receive awards at UMBC. Consult with your department chair before beginning any funding application.

Current internal and external opportunities including program descriptions, application information and deadlines can be found here. 

MEMORANDUM

DATE:           12/5/2023

TO:               Business Managers/Department Chairs/Center Directors/Faculty

FROM:          Michael T. Walsh, Director, Office of Sponsored Programs

RE:               OSP Winter Break Deadlines: Dec. 21, 2023 - Jan. 1, 2024

________________________________________________________________

This is a special announcement concerning the OSP schedule for reviewing/approving proposals with deadlines to Federal, State, and Other Agencies that occur during UMBC's Winter Break this year. 

Please note the following:

1.     UMBC's holiday break begins at COB (5 PM) on Friday December 22^nd (first full day of holiday vacation is thus Monday December 25^th) and goes through Monday January 1^st.  UMBC opens for business on Tuesday January 2^nd.

2.  All proposals with submission deadlines occurring between Friday December 22, 2023 and Monday January 1, 2024 must be fully routed, ready for submission, and released to the OSP office for final review and submission by the close of business on Monday December 18, 2023; and

3.     All proposals with submission deadlines occurring between Tuesday January 2^nd and Thursday January 4th, 2024 (the first 3 business days after the break) will be due to OSP by 9 AM on Tuesday December 19, 2023.

This schedule is consistent with our current policy, which requires the submission of complete proposals to OSP at least three (3) FULL business days before the agency submission deadline. Since UMBC is closed during the Winter Break, OSP will also be closed and OSP personnel will not be available during the Winter Break for consultation or proposal submission(s). 

The campus closure during Winter Break traditionally has imparted a heavy workload on OSP staff. Therefore, we will enforce our current policy more consistently, with little maneuverability.   Proposals received after the OSP deadlines specified above will be reviewed on a first-come/first-serve basis and will be submitted only if time permits. 

In keeping with the deadline enforcement policy of ORCA (Office of the Vice President for Research & Creative Achievement), any proposal not fully routed and ready for submission by 9:00 a.m. of the deadline date will not be submitted to the agency.  If the deadline occurs over Winter Break, please refer to the deadline presented in #2 above.

Thank you for your understanding...and best wishes for a great Holiday season and Winter Break.

Best Regards,

Dr. Michael T. Walsh

Director

UMBC Office of Sponsored Programs

On this special 50th episode, we hear from Dr. Felipe Filomeno, Associate Professor of Political Science and Associate Director of the Center for Social Science Scholarship (CS3) at UMBC.  We discuss Dr. Filomeno's approach to research through a discussion of community-engaged scholarship and his forthcoming book.

Campus Connections

On today's Campus Connection, we hear about the CoLab program at UMBC, and Dr. Filomeno's recent CoLab course on immigration.

Check out the following links for more information on UMBC, CS3, and our host:

• The UMBC Center for the Social Sciences Scholarship
• The University of Maryland, Baltimore County
• Ian G. Anson, Ph.D.

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About The Series

***repost from UMBC Research and Creative Achievement Opportunities***

With support provided by the Office of Institutional Advancement (OIA) and the Office of Research and Creative Achievement (ORCA), we are happy to announce a new funding initiative called FEAT. The program is designed to help broaden the technology pipeline, while also assisting with later stage technology commercialization. It is available to UMBC’s entrepreneurial PIs to advance their technical concept, or their idea (social/behavioral/policy related) in conjunction with technology, towards commercial success, and out to meet societal needs. FEAT is flexible to assist UMBC researchers in obtaining additional commercialization funding, and providing mentorship services.

FEAT will support things like prototype builds, market surveys, business plans, CEO support, mentoring assistance, special facility or equipment access -whatever your specific needs are to obtain your next commercialization funding (MII, MIPS, SBIR/STTR, Momentum Funds, etc.).  This program will also enable UMBC, through OTD and bwtech, to identify for faculty existing resources, as well as provide new resources (like Market databases) based on faculty requests.

Proposal and Award Requirements:  UMBC PI eligible applicants must submit a one-page proposal which details the following:

• A non-confidential summary of the idea and its value proposition. What sets you apart from the competition?
• Describe how the funding will result in the project receiving additional internal or external funding [ABCE CENTRE fund, OTD Technology Catalyst Fund, TEDCO Maryland Innovation Initiative, UMD I-Corps , Maryland Industrial Partnerships (MIPS), SBIR/ STTR program basics ] or advancing the technology to disclosure, licensing, or the creation of a start-up company.
• A list of goals you hope to achieve. What specific threshold(s) will you cross?
• The amount of funds needed for the project using a budget table.
• When you will need the funds and when you expect the work to be completed.

• Deliverable – After the project is completed, awardee will provide a brief summary of how the funding assisted in the advancement of the technology. This can be relatively short (MII requirement satisfied, proposal submitted, award received, technology licensed, start-up formed).

Deadlines: Rolling submission, due the first Monday of the month, monthly reviews. Submit your one-page proposal to Wendy Martin at wmartin@umbc.edu. Reviewed monthly, proposals are funded at the level deemed necessary to achieve the goals outlined in the proposal.