Small grant to fund undergraduates

[Tone L]

I am working on developing and building an Earth science related instrument, the instrument characterizes aerosols in the atmosphere. The instrument is for my master's thesis, at the Univ. of Maryland. I work full time and I am attending graduate school part-time. My company is funding the materials and my education. My advisor has no $$ to give out at the moment.

I am mainly working on the instrument design and integration, along with the science (making sense of the raw data it retrieves). It is was the pre-established plan for me to also develop the embedded electronics of the instrument. However, this is going to be a large task! At the moment there is no free money to hire an outside EE with my company and the university.

Has anyone went about applying for state and local grants? I would use the funds to hire/fund a couple undergraduate (upper-level) EEs for a couple semesters. The project is environmental based you could say, I could leverage it that way for grants?

Cheers guys!

 

[Vanadium 50]

You can start with searching grants.gov

 

[Vanadium 50]

Also, UMD offers undergraduate research for credit. Why do you need funding?

 

[ZapperZ]

I am working on developing and building an Earth science related instrument, the instrument characterizes aerosols in the atmosphere. The instrument is for my master's thesis, at the Univ. of Maryland. I work full time and I am attending graduate school part-time. My company is funding the materials and my education. My advisor has no $$ to give out at the moment.

I am mainly working on the instrument design and integration, along with the science (making sense of the raw data it retrieves). It is was the pre-established plan for me to also develop the embedded electronics of the instrument. However, this is going to be a large task! At the moment there is no free money to hire an outside EE with my company and the university.

Has anyone went about applying for state and local grants? I would use the funds to hire/fund a couple undergraduate (upper-level) EEs for a couple semesters. The project is environmental based you could say, I could leverage it that way for grants?

Cheers guys!

There are two issues here:

1. It will take time for you to get such funding, assuming that you're successful. For example, you have already past by most of the DOE/NSF/NIST/etc. funding proposal cycle. So the earliest you can submit your proposal is middle of next year, and you won't see any money till later in the year. Can you wait that long with your Masters program?
2. What should happen here is that you advisor (presuming he's also your research supervisor) should be the one seeking the funding, since he should already be in the system (hopefully). No one off the street can send in the proposal to NSF/DOE/etc.. You have to be in the system first, and this has to be done via the external funding office at the institution that you are at.

Zz.

 

[Vanadium 50]

It will take time for you to get such funding, assuming that you're successful. For example, you have already past by most of the DOE/NSF/NIST/etc. funding proposal cycle.

True, but DOE has what they call the "general call" DE-FOA-0002181 which is technically asynchronous. I assume the other agencies have something similar. However, we're at the end of the fiscal year. There is no time to write and submit a proposal, have it reviewed, have the decision made and the award processed in 5 weeks. So as a practical matter, what you say is true - it is too late.

.. You have to be in the system first

Anyone can get a PAMS account (DOE) and I am pretty sure the same is true of Fastlane. DE-FOA-0002181 does not even require university affiliation, and it collects all sorts of wackiness ("I have a perpetual motion machine that almost works - please send me ten million dollars" ) in addition to what it is intended for.

Quibbles aside, your point is completely valid. The OP should be going through the university via his advisor rather than striking out on his own.

 

[Tone L]

There are two issues here:

1. It will take time for you to get such funding, assuming that you're successful. For example, you have already past by most of the DOE/NSF/NIST/etc. funding proposal cycle. So the earliest you can submit your proposal is middle of next year, and you won't see any money till later in the year. Can you wait that long with your Masters program?
2. What should happen here is that you advisor (presuming he's also your research supervisor) should be the one seeking the funding, since he should already be in the system (hopefully). No one off the street can send in the proposal to NSF/DOE/etc.. You have to be in the system first, and this has to be done via the external funding office at the institution that you are at.

Zz.

1. Right, this is the reason I mentioned state and local grants rather than large NSF/DOE grants. However, I am sure the length of the process is quite similar, if not worse! I am not too familiar with details of NSF, DOE, NIST, etc grants. I am under the impression they are large sums of money, 30k+/yr. I was thinking about having someone work 7 - 12 hours/week for 30 weeks, or something equivalent. And no, I don't think I have the time for that.
2. Thanks for the insight on that.

 

[Tone L]

Also, UMD offers undergraduate research for credit. Why do you need funding?

Good point, maybe I could turn it into a capstone or research credit. Thanks.

 

[Vanadium 50]

I was thinking about having someone work 7 - 12 hours/week for 30 weeks, or something equivalent.

It's probably more than you think.

Say 10 hours at $13/hour - call it $4000. Then there are fringe benefits, which is typically a 40% escalation, whether the employee receives the fringe or not. So $5600. The indirect rate is about 55%, so just under $8700.

The UMD SRO will have exact numbers, but the general theme - students are more expensive than they look - is true.

 

[Vanadium 50]

I am not too familiar with details of NSF, DOE, NIST, etc grants. I am under the impression they are large sums of money, 30k+/yr.

There are grants as small as $500. Howeverm you really should be heeding ZapperZ's advice and talk to the relevant faculty member rather than striking out on your own.

 

[Astronuc]

DE-FOA-0002181

Update since that funding program ended September 30, 2020. It has been continued with a successor, DE-FOA-0002414. Don't delay in lining up funding. Bear in mind the federal fiscal year (FY) ends September 30 of the calendar year and begins October 1. My institution responded to various calls before the end of the FY. When I worked in private industry, we usually submitted a proposal by August for the following FY. We usually did not see a contract until December of the same year, or January, and even March, of the following year.

https://science.osti.gov/ascr/Funding-Opportunities