COLLEGE OF APPLIED & NATURAL SCIENCES
Mini & Travel Grants
Innovative Instruction in Undergraduate Courses Mini-Grants
The College of Applied and Natural Sciences funds a mini-grant program for all ANS faculty who teach undergraduate courses. The purpose of the grants is to improve the undergraduate education and the undergraduate learning experience in the College. The College has dedicated funds to be used to finance activities, supplies, or equipment that will improve the faculty member’s ability to provide a superior learning environment for students. Funds will be awarded through a competitive process with selection by the Faculty Advisory Council to the Dean. Award Requirements and Priorities:
- All ANS faculty who teach undergraduate courses in the College of Applied and Natural Sciences are eligible to apply for funds (individual or group projects are eligible.)
- Requested funds must promote development of innovative classroom (including online), laboratory, or field experiences that lead to improved instruction and student learning at the undergraduate level. Once developed, the new activities or approaches must be sustainable. No funds will be provided for classroom projects that would require on-going funds to continue.
- Funds may be requested to support such things as purchase of supplies or equipment to be used to improve instruction, laboratory supplies or equipment, or supplies for use in interactive lecture demonstrations or student activities. Requests for cash incentives or gifts of any kind for participants in a project will not be funded.
- Funding to support faculty salaries, student labor, or support for others who are not students will not be considered. Requests for support of travel to meetings, short courses, or conferences involving education issues will be considered (travel will be funded only if the proposal contains a clear description of how information gained will be incorporated into undergraduate courses).
- A maximum level of support per proposal has not been established, however it is anticipated that several proposals will be funded. Proposals may receive partial funding.
- Priority will be given to projects that demonstrate a commitment to innovative strategies that promote student learning, problem solving, and critical thinking.
- Priority will also be given to proposals that describe evaluation of the effectiveness of the techniques and use of the results.
Application Guidelines:
- Fill out the application completely. Failure to do so will result in the immediate denial of funding for the project.
- The Budget and Justification section should include explicitly and in detail how funds will be used. Requests for funding to pay salaries, or for gifts or incentives will not be supported. Awarded funds may only be used for items requested and approved in the proposal budget.
- When preparing their proposal, faculty should keep in mind that the review panel may not be experts in the faculty’s field of research. As such, clarity in writing the proposal and budget is important.
Dissemination Expectation: Award recipients are required to share their project and outcomes with other faculty in the College with a presentation at the annual ANS Research Symposium. The deadline for applications to be considered for the current round of funding is November 7 at 5 p.m.
ANS Project Minigrant
Funds are available from the College of Applied and Natural Sciences to support research and service-learning projects. To receive funding, project groups must satisfy eligibility criteria and proposal guidelines. This Minigrant program will replace what were previously Faculty, Undergraduate, and Graduate Student Minigrants.
The deadline for applications to be considered is 5 p.m. on Thursday, November 7, 2024. All applications must be submitted using this form. Decisions will be announced no later than December 1, 2024. Be sure to use your Louisiana Tech google account to access the form (name@email.latech.edu).
Project Teams: All teams must have at least one faculty member from the College of Applied & Natural Sciences and one student, undergraduate or graduate student, who meets the eligibility requirements described below.
Faculty Eligibility:
- Any member of the ANS faculty (instructors, lecturers, tenure-track professors) may submit 1 application as Project Director
- Faculty members may be collaborators on more than one Project Minigrant
Student Eligibility:
- Undergraduate students must be academically in good standing and enrolled as a full-time student in an undergraduate degree program in the College of Applied and Natural Sciences for at least fall and winter quarters during the current academic year.
- Graduate students must be enrolled within the College of Applied and Natural Sciences and be unconditionally accepted into an ANS graduate degree program (MS in Biology, MS in MSNT, PhD in MSNT, MS Nutrition & Dietetics, MS HIIM). Students must maintain full-time student status (6 graduate credit hours per quarter) for at least fall and winter quarters of the current academic year.
Application Guidelines:
- Fill out the application completely. Failure to do so will result in the immediate denial of funding for the project.
- Be sure to clearly describe the role of each team member.
- The Budget and Justification section should include explicitly and in detail how funds will be used. Requests for funding to pay salaries, travel, or for gifts or incentives will not be supported. Only supplies, and equipment directly associated with research or service-learning activities will be considered for funding. Awards will be in the range of $500-$2,500 depending on strength of proposal and available funds.
- Awarded funds may only be used for items requested and approved in the proposal budget.
- When preparing their proposal, please keep in mind that the review panel may not be experts in the student’s field of research. As such, clarity in writing the proposal and budget is important.
Selection Criteria:
- Proposals will be reviewed by the ANS Research Council. Funding of proposals will be based on satisfying eligibility criteria and following proposal guidelines, appropriateness of project team, relevance of the project, clarity of communication, completeness of proposal budget, and overall suitability for funding. Proposals may be awarded partial funding.
Post-Award Expectation:
All funds will need to be spent by April 1 to be covered by the Minigrant. Recipients of Project Minigrants are required to report progress by presenting their research at the College of Applied and Natural Sciences Research Symposium. Projects that are not present at ANS Day and do not provide appropriate justification will not be eligible to apply for ANS Minigrants for the next two award cycles. Faculty who do not spend the student Minigrants and do not provide appropriate justification will not be eligible to apply for ANS Minigrants for the next two award cycles.