1 2019 USF Nexus Initiative (UNI) Awards Request for Proposals Program Goals and Description The University of South Florida Nexus Initiative (UNI), administered through the Office of the Provost at USF, offers tenured/tenure-track and full-time research faculty members the opportunity to collaborate with global and national partners in research, scholarly, and innovative efforts with the potential to significantly advance current human understanding and address pressing societal needs. UNI has the following goals: (1) to enhance the research and scholarly activity of faculty members at USF by enabling a variety of partnerships that provide both intellectual and infrastructure stimulus to catalyze and extend ongoing work at USF; (2) to provide avenues for the exploration of joint research and scholarship with external partners and initiate activities currently not possible at USF; (3) to enable opportunities for developing sustained research and scholarship programs with high-impact researchers at other institutions through the submission and funding of joint grant proposals; and (4) to create opportunities for our best graduate students to expand the breadth of their research and scholarly experience through participation in multi-investigator (potentially interdisciplinary) inquiry. Proposals are requested for two avenues offering awards responsive to the broad goals of UNI: The USF Faculty Global Collaboration Initiative offers tenured/tenure-track and full-time research faculty members UNI Awards of up to $15,000 in annual support for travel and expense funds to collaborate with a colleague at an institution of higher education outside the U.S. to engage in research and scholarly activities. The USF Faculty National Collaboration Initiative offers tenured/tenure-track and full-time research faculty members UNI Awards of up to $10,000 in annual support for travel and expense funds to collaborate with a colleague at an institution of higher education within the U.S. to engage in research and scholarly activities. 2018 UNI award winners are ineligible to apply for continued project funding but may submit new interactions for consideration. Priority will be given to first-time UNI application proposals. Budget Details The Global and National Collaboration UNI Awards of up to $15,000 and $10,000 in annual support, respectively, are sufficient to defray the cost of travel, room and board for two trips, each including a week-long stay at the collaboration site for the USF faculty member and a graduate student. The faculty member may choose to use a portion of the funds to invite their collaborator for one trip (including travel and up to a week-long stay at USF for research). A maximum of $1,500 of the total award amount may be used for expenses directly related to the research collaboration including materials, supplies and facility/equipment user fees at either institution. Submission and Evaluation of Proposals Proposals for UNI Awards through these two initiatives may be submitted by full-time tenured/tenure-track and research faculty members at USF following the instructions below. Eligible proposals will include documentation of contact with the global/national partner and an invitation to collaborate. The proposal will also provide a coherent plan of research intended to be pursued during the project, a statement of anticipated outcomes, and an itemized budget. 2 The following materials are required for each application: 1. Cover Sheet (signed by Department Chair and College Dean) 2. Proposal of Research/Scholarly Activity (not to exceed five [5] pages, single-spaced) A. Description of proposed research B. Access to instrumentation and infrastructure at collaborating institution (if applicable) C. Potential impact of the proposed work D. Synopsis of research/scholarly record of USF faculty member E. Impact and reputation of proposed collaborator and collaborating institution F. Anticipated outcomes of proposed activity and plans for sustainability 3. Proposed Budget A. Cost of travel (inclusive of room & board) B. Research expenses ($1,500 maximum) 4. CV(s), USF Faculty Member(s) 5. CV(s), Faculty Collaborator(s) 6. Documentation of Collaboration Agreement Applications must be submitted as one (1) PDF document to Thelma Cote ([email protected]) with a copy to Dr. Pritish Mukherjee ([email protected]). A faculty member may submit multiple applications for separate collaborations, but a separate application must be completed for each intended collaboration. Each application must be endorsed by the Department Chair and the College Dean related to the faculty member’s academic affiliation. The deadline for proposal submission is April 26, 2019. A limited number of proposals will be funded upon evaluation of the submissions based on the following criteria: quality of proposed research and potential impact, research/scholarly record of the USF faculty member, impact and reputation of proposed collaborator and collaborating institution, extent of anticipated outcomes from the proposed work, and plans for sustainability of the collaboration beyond the first year. Although all collaborations will be considered, awards will prioritize proposals which incorporate a preferred collaborating partner (see Appendix). It is anticipated that award announcements will be made in May 2019 for immediate research activities and travel thereafter through the end of the award period, June 30, 2020. Project Reporting Expectations for UNI Awardees Awarded funds must be utilized no later than June 30, 2020. It is anticipated that UNI awardees will communicate any project successes such as publications, conference presentations, creative work, press releases, grant funding, etc. as soon as possible so that they can be disseminated and posted on the UNI website. Documentation of ongoing activity via videos or blogs will also be displayed on the website, as appropriate. A midterm status report detailing ongoing work/work accomplished is expected at the end of calendar year 2019. When possible, awardees should recognize the UNI Award as a funding source. A final report detailing the work accomplished, highlighting significant achievements and outcomes, and a plan for future work will be submitted by each awardee at the conclusion of the project period. 3 Appendix – List of Preferred Collaborators Africa University of Canberra* Alexandria University University of Canterbury*^ American University in Cairo^ University of New South Wales*^ Benha University University of Newcastle^ Beni-Suef University University of Queensland*^ Cairo University^ University of South Australia*^ Covenant University University of Sydney*^ Fayoum University University of Tasmania*^ Kafrelsheikh University University of Technology Sydney*^ Makerere University University of Waikato^ Mansoura University University of Western Australia*^ Stellenbosch University^ University of Wollongong*^ Suez Canal University Victoria University of Wellington^ University of Bejaia Victoria University* University of Cape Town*^ University of Ibadan Asia University of Johannesburg Abai Kazakh National Pedagogical University ^ University of KwaZulu-Natal Al-Farabi Kazakh National University^ University of Pretoria Auezov South Kazakhstan State University (SKSU) ^ University of the Western Cape Bandung Institute of Technology (ITB) ^ University of the Witwatersrand*^ Bauman Moscow State Technical University ^ Beihang University (former BUAA) ^ Australia/Oceania Beijing Institute of Technology ^ Auckland University of Technology*^ Beijing Normal University ^ Australian National University*^ Catholic University of Korea ^ Bond University^ Chang Gung University ^ Curtin University*^ Chiba University ^ Deakin University*^ Chinese University of Hong Kong*^ Flinders University*^ Chulalongkorn University^ Griffith University*^ Chung-Ang University (CAU) ^ James Cook University*^ City University of Hong Kong*^ La Trobe University*^ Dongguk University ^ Lincoln University ^ East China Normal University ^ Macquarie University*^ Ewha Womans University ^ Massey University ^ Fudan University*^ Monash University*^ Gadjah Mada University ^ Queensland University of Technology*^ Gwangju Institute of Science and Technology*^ RMIT University^ Hankuk (Korea) University of Foreign Studies ^ Swinburne University of Technology^ Hanyang University*^ University of Adelaide*^ Harbin Institute of Technology ^ University of Auckland*^ Hiroshima University ^ AAU Member Top 525 QS World University ^ Russell Group Member Top 300 THE World University * Also Included: Top 20 THE Universities in Each Region Top 100 USNWR National University ~ 4 Hitotsubashi University ^ National Sun Yat-sen University ^ Hokkaido University^ National Taiwan Normal University ^ Hong Kong Baptist University^ National Taiwan University of Science and Technology Hong Kong Polytechnic University*^ (Taiwan Tech) ^ Hong Kong University of Science and Technology*^ National Taiwan University*^ Huazhong University of Science and Technology*^ National Tsing Hua University ^ Indian Institute of Science^ National University of Science and Technology MISIS ^ National University of Sciences And Technology Indian Institute of Technology Bombay^ (NUST) Islamabad ^ Indian Institute of Technology Delhi^ National University of Singapore*^ Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IITG) ^ National Yang Ming University ^ Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK) ^ Novosibirsk State University ^ Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur (IIT-KGP) ^ Okayama University ^