Emeritus Academy grant program

Call for Grants

The Emeritus Academy awards small grants on a competitive merit basis through the support of the Office of Academic Affairs. Each individual grant may be up to $2,500.00. The number of grants is limited by the total availability of funds.

Qualifications for Grants

Applicants must be members of the Emeritus Academy at The Ohio State University. There are two grant competitions each year. Members are eligible to receive a grant only once per academic year. A final report is required within 90 days of the end of the grant period.

To receive a grant, applicants must follow University rules, including fulfilling the following requirements:

• For travel requests, airline reservations must be made through the Travel Office as required by the Travel Initiative enacted August 1, 2018. For details of how to request a booking, see the Travel Office FAQ page. Personally purchased airfares cannot be reimbursed by the Academy grant program.
• “Workday” is the newly implemented Ohio State software for management of purchases, personnel, travel, etc. Please consult your department or appropriate academic unit prior to writing your proposal, in order to understand what Workday requires in order to conduct research or creative activities for an Emeritus Academy grant.
• Projects that involve human subjects must adhere to Ohio State requirement for CITI training (completed within the past three years). To update the training, go to: http://orrp.osu.edu/irb/training-requirements/citi/
• Projects that involve research must adhere to the Ohio State requirement for RCR (Responsible Conduct of Research) training. To complete the training, go to: http://orrp.osu.edu/irb/training-requirements/citi/

Grant Description

These grants are designed to support research, scholarship, and creative activity by Emeritus Academy members. Grants may be used for research-related travel and receipted expenses (e.g., fieldwork for a research project); presentation of research at an academic conference; research or administrative assistance specific to your personal research limited to not more than 50% of the request; reproduction of documents and data processing costs; research services; payment to human subjects; purchase of relevant materials, software, small equipment, creative instruments, and supplies; and other related activities. Due to limited resources, this program cannot provide annual funding to support continuing projects. Grants may not be used for the faculty member's salary, office computers, travel from an out-of-state residence to Ohio State, reimbursement for funds already spent, or blanket support for student stipends and student research at either the undergraduate or graduate level. Grants for travel may cover transportation and hotel but not a per diem. Applications are evaluated by the Emeritus Academy Steering Committee.

Grant Period

There are two grant periods, each lasting one year. They begin on December 1 and June 1. Funds will be disbursed to departmental fiscal officers for management. Only expenses incurred during the grant period are eligible. All unused funds will revert to the Emeritus Academy at the end of the grant period. In the case of travel to conferences or other events, members may apply more than a year in advance; the grant period in this case is the year including the travel.

Evaluation Criteria

All applications will be evaluated by (1) reasonableness of the proposed activities to the overall project and its impact; (2) feasibility of the proposed activities including timeline and budget; (3) timeframe appropriate to the upcoming grant period (except in the case of travel to events, as stated above); (4) demonstrable benefit to The Ohio State University; and (5) availability of funds. Benefit to the university might take a variety of forms, such as a lecture on campus, collaboration with active faculty, or identification of the awardee as a professor emeritus or academy professor at The Ohio State University on a publication or conference program. Funds will be awarded only for approved expenses, as noted above.

Continued Commitment and Expectations

Acceptance of the grant represents a commitment to abide by its rules and to prepare a brief final report evaluating the impact of the grant on the recipient's work. The report, due ninety days after the end of the grant period, should indicate what was achieved as a result of receiving the grant, including any publications, products, or presentations that resulted or other grants obtained. Reports are used by the Academy to account for fund use during audits and to support requests for continued funding of the grant program. Awardees may also be invited to speak at an Emeritus Academy meeting.

Timeframe

The fall deadline this year for grant applications will be November 1, 2024 with funding announcements made by mid-December.
 
The spring deadline for grant applications will be May 2, 2025 with funding announcements made by early June. Awards depend on the availability of funds, typically more limited in spring than in fall. The spring competition exists mainly to cover opportunities that present themselves too late for consideration in autumn.

Application Requirements