Seed Money Projects

Instructions for Submission of Smart Living Collaborative Research Seed Proposal for 2017-2018

As part of the Center for Smart Living (ISC SMRT),faculty is encouraged to submit seed money funding proposals. Seed money is seen as critical to bringing new people into Smart Living. The goal of all seed money is to leverage it against Federal, State, and Industrial external funding. To create winning proposals, preliminary research is key.

 

 To stimulate research we propose three types of funding. 

1) Graduate/Undergraduate/Postdoctoral support: In Science and Engineering departments, time is built into the workload for research. What is needed is graduate student support for the entire year to create the needed preliminary research. This type of funding includes a GRA stipend $24,000 plus partial tuition support up to $7500. Also needed is support for undergraduate research, hourly funding from $11-15/hr for up to 20 hours/week. Postdoctoral support is needed in the form of a 50% match on other funding (up to $24000).


2) Faculty Release Time/Student Support: In certain CASE departments, release time is not built in and there may not be graduate programs. This type of funding includes release time + fringe of $10,000 plus the undergraduate support of $5000.


3) Specialized equipment support and special initiatives: In particular, Smart Living involves Internet of Things devices that are generally small and of diverse technologies interlinked in potentially complex networks. This type of funding allows for initiatives of up to $10,000 for the purchase of such equipment. Once purchased, it will be maintained as part of the laboratory maintenance budget proposed below.

Proposals must be interdisciplinary and may mix and match different funding types. The proposal must address one or more specific funding programs that it will address. Proposals will be solicited from campus-wide. Special effort in the form of ideation sessions and other outreach is made to solicit proposals from researchers who have not traditionally sought external funding. Decisions on awards will be made jointly by the Smart Living Center co-directors and the associate deans of CEC and CASE. 

 Each proposal should consist a 2-page narrative of sections 1-7 (plus a 3rd page containing an itemized budget and explanation):

1. Project Title

2. Relevance to Smart Living Thrust Areas: (please check the relevant ones) 

  •  Decision Making and Governance
  • Smart Grid and Transportation
  • Privacy and Security
  • Enviorment and Health 

 3. Names of Faculty Members in the Collaborative Project

4. Research Objective

5. Project Description

6. Targeted Funding Programs

7. Results from Prior Smart Living Support

8. Budget and Explanation

Notes:

a. In the Project Description, describe the motivation/significance, approach, and tasks.

b. In the Results from Prior Smart Living Support, provide 1) title of Smart Living funded collaborative project in the past academic year, 2) summary of project results in one or two paragraphs, 3) list of project publications that have credited ISC SMRT, and 4) list of related proposals that have been submitted for external funding (proposals should credit the ISC SMRT center on the PSRS).

c. The text style and page layout are Times New Roman 12 point, single spacing, and 1” margin on all four sides.

d. During the coming academic year, the student working on the project will be asked to give a Poster Presentation in the fall 2017 semester and to present the project results (in both writing and oral presentation) at SMRT Graduate Research Symposium in the spring 2018 semester.

e. Your proposal needs to be submitted electronically in .pdf format to Andrea Harris (harrisad@mst.edu ) by October 16, 2017, at noon Central Time.

 The decision metrics are as follows:

  • Does the proposal relate to the smart living vision?
  • Is the proposal interdisciplinary?
  • What is the investment potential?
  • Are there identified funding agencies?
  • Is this a departure from existing work?
  • What is the need for the funding?   

2017 Seed Money Projects 

Missouri S&T researchers model ‘smart’ decision making.

Building better homes, one origami fold at a time.