General Guidelines

Write your grant proposal

Successful grant proposals will demonstrate gains for both students and faculty members, with a defined role for each.  Faculty and students are encouraged to work closely together on the application, and students should receive mentoring on proposal writing as part of the process. 

The main component of the application will be your grant proposal.  This should be no more than3 pages (double-spaced) in length and should include the following items.

Items in your grant proposal

1. Project Title and names of all students and mentors involved
2. Abstract or creative artistic statement of the presentation or of the setting/context in which you will conduct your research/studies (250 words max)
3. Project description that addresses the following questions:
   1. What is the nature of and what will the students and faculty gain from this collaboration?
   2. How will the student be engaged with the project?
   3. How will the work be disseminated?
   4. What are your anticipated findings?
   5. What modes of inquiry will you employ?
   6. What is the project’s central question?
   7. What is the nature of your research?

You will also be asked to submit these additional items as part of your application (Please check the application materials for a grant you wish to apply for):

• Curriculum vitae (CV) for each participant (including faculty mentor)
• Menter letter of support
• Detailed line-item budget with budget justification
• Approval from Human Subjects Review Council (HSRC) and/or Institutional Animal Care of Use Committee (IACUC) if applicable. You can apply for OUR grants even if you are still in the process of HSRC or IACUC certificates. However, you MUST have these certificates when you interact with humans or animals.
• Completed standard operating procedure (SOP) if applicable.

Prepare your budget and budget justification

A well-considered budget is a very important part of your proposal.  Please show real, total costs in your budget.  Although the amount of funding you can receive from the OUR is limited, the budget should accurately reflect all your expenses.

• We have a budget template for you. Please sue the template for detailed line-item budget with budget justification.
• We also have examples of budet and budget justifications for you.
  • Example 1
  • Example 2

Your budget should include:

• An itemized list of supplied and/or analyses
• If you are traveling to conduct research, include travel as needed
• Other sources of funding received and/or requested

Your budget justification helps us interpret your budget.  It describes why you need what you have asked for and how you calculated the costs.  The budget justification should be written in paragraph or bullet list form, or a combination of the two, and include:

• The purpose of the itemized expenses should be explained and prioritized if you are not fully funded.
• If you are purchasing equipment, describe where it will reside once your work is complete (equipment purchased with grant funds belongs to the university, not to the grant recipient).
• For all expenses, provide the basis for the cost estimated (online catalog links are fine, vendor quote, etc.)
• If your expenses total more than the amount you are requesting from the OUR, describe how you plan to cover those additional expenses.
• If you have applied for other funding, describe what you have applied for and when you expect to hear about your funding status.

Ask for help!

• Office of University Student Research (OUR) has office hours. Please come to Barge Hall #305 for any questions or consultations.  You can also make an appointment for a virtual meeting (Microsoft Team) during the office hours.  Please give us a few time slots you will be available during the office hours (our@cwu.edu).  We will send you a Team meeting invitation via email.