ENHANCE CAS funding program

Objective: The purpose of the ENHANCE CAS funding program is to support the research, scholarship, and creative activities of faculty members from disciplines with less substantial start-up funds and limited extramural funding opportunities. Consistent with the strategic goals of the College of Arts and Sciences, the program aims to help increase the recognition and reputation of Humanities and Social Sciences scholarship. Strategic investments from this program will assist faculty with the goal of enhancing competitiveness for prestigious awards, fellowships, and/or external grant funding.

This program is designed to provide support for research and creative activities that may be more time sensitive and/or otherwise not a good fit with funding opportunities supported by the College of Arts and Sciences Research Advisory Committee or the Office of Research and Economic Development.

Eligibility: Humanities and Social Science faculty (tenure line or Professor of Practice) in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Award Size: Amount requested per application should not exceed $5000.

Program Funding: Funding is limited and awarded on a competitive basis. The number of awards given will depend on the size of awards and the quality of the proposals. There are two rounds of awards considered each year with the following deadline dates: September 30 and March 15. Awardees should work with their department business manager to set up a cost object to fund expenses.

Mechanism and criteria: An individual faculty member may submit one application per review cycle, and may not receive more than one award per year. Applicants may also apply for funding elsewhere for the same project while awaiting an ENHANCE CAS decision, but must choose which award to utilize if both are funded. Funding is valid upon notification of the award and available for one year from the notification date.

Examples of allowable expenses include publication subvention fee, travel to research sites, access to special collections, specialized equipment, software, database access. The program would not typically pay for activities such as travel to professional meetings, graduate student stipends, or standard operating expenses. These would be expected to be covered through existing resources.

Application: The ENHANCE CAS award application will open approximately one month before the deadline date and should be completed in NuRamp by the applicant, endorsed and approved by the department chair and routed to the Associate Dean for Research and Partnerships of the College of Arts and Sciences.

To route a new application:

Access NuRamp, then:

  • Select "Internal Competitions" from the upper left menu
  • Select "Competition Management"
  • Search for ENHANCE CAS
  • Prepare your proposed budget and any other supporting material in the NuRamp application page

Applicants should be aware that if their proposed research involves the use of animals, human subjects, radioactive materials, or activities covered by federal regulations on recombinant DNA technology, appropriate UNL clearance must be obtained before an approved proposal will be funded. Applicable policies and clearance procedures are available from the following offices: Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, Institutional Biosafety Committee and Institutional Review Board.

Please review export control.

Please review allowable/unallowable Expenses.

Write your proposal in clear, non-technical language as the committee may or may not contain reviewers with expertise in your specific area so it is essential to craft your proposal for a general audience while including enough detail to judge the merits within your field.

Each Application Should Include:

  1. Description of Proposed Activities (up to a maximum of 2 pages). This section should describe the proposed research, scholarly or creative activity in sufficient detail to inform non-specialists. It should include:
    1. A brief description of the proposed activity.
    2. A statement of the significance of the proposed activity to career development of the applicant and how it fits into the applicant’s overall career goals.
    3. A timeline for the proposed activities also should be included. It is expected that by the end of the funding period, the project should result in a clear scholarly outcome.
  2. Itemized Budget Appropriate budget categories include equipment, supplies, travel (including accommodations, allowable daily costs), access fees, and publication costs. All items should be explained in a short budget justification.
  3. Abbreviated CV or Biosketch which may be in any format but must include summary of education as well as current and prior support. Applicants should provide information about other internal and external funding for this activity (including University Small Research Grants and Faculty Development Awards programs).

Evaluation: ENHANCE CAS awards will be made upon recommendation of the College of Arts and Sciences Research Advisory Committee (CASRAC). Recognizing the differences that exist among the various departments of the College of Arts and Sciences, latitude is given to the department in setting additional criteria for application and award of ENHANCE CAS awards within their individual unit. Faculty members may, therefore, expect to receive from their department chair a statement concerning eligibility and criteria for award from the ENHANCE CAS funding. In the case of multiple applications from a department, the chair may provide a rank order of the applications based on highest to lowest impact in terms of the activity to the faculty member, the department or research group, and the research field. Proposals will be ranked first by intellectual merit, and then preference will be given to junior faculty. Broad evaluation criteria by the CASRAC would include:

  • Clarity, soundness and completeness of objectives and rationale for the proposed activities
  • Potential importance of the proposed activities to the visibility and reputation of the College/University
  • Importance of the type of proposed activities to the success of the overall project (publication subvention fee, travel to research sites, access to special collections, specialized equipment, software, database access)
  • Potential contribution to the advancement of applicant’s long-term professional development
  • Support of department chair

Travel Requirements: We follow regular university rules for travel. A pre-trip authorization is required prior to all travel. International travel without an electronic pre-trip authorization will not be reimbursed. Additionally, ALL international airline reservations MUST be made through Fox World Travel to be reimbursed. Please refer to the International Travel Registry – Professional (ITRP) process for more information.

Final Report: A one to three page report is required no later than four weeks after the end of the funding period describing activities conducted and any outcomes (e.g., publication, award, grant submitted) with the expectation that the activity will be completed within one year. This report is also a requirement to complete the reimbursement of expenses. The report should be e-mailed to the Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Education William Thomas (wthomas4@unl.edu) and the college’s financial staff, Stephanie Welch (swelch3@unl.edu).

Specifics for Business Staff: Once the report has been submitted by the awardee and approved by the Associate Dean for Research and Partnerships, funds will be transferred from the college to the department.

Please contact Stephanie Welch with any questions pertaining to the business aspects of this award.