The Office of Sponsored Programs and Research (OSPR) administers applications to the internal grant funding program of the Faculty Development and Research Committee.
Faculty Development & Research Committee Grants
FDRC Application Cycle: Closed
The next application deadline will be the first Thursday of the spring 2024 semester.
The FDRC awards provide funding for faculty members to further their scholarship, advance their research, develop material for publication, and/or support the development of scholarly projects that may garner external funding support. While publication may not occur during the project period, evidence of scholarship as defined by the candidate’s college PTRM document must be a long-term goal of any project.
It is your responsibility to submit a complete proposal that adheres to the guidelines. As such, it is critical that faculty members review the application instructions and guidelines carefully. The FDRC has decided that it will not review proposals that do not confirm with the guidelines including the submission and certification deadline. Drafts can be emailed to the OSPR for early review at least 24 hours prior to the deadline for completeness and formatting; however, OSPR staff cannot be responsible for incomplete or non-compliant submissions.
Application Process
The link to the FDRC Application Form will be posted when the next competition opens. Please review the program guidelines and application instructions carefully to prepare your materials.
- FDRC Guidelines (PDF)
- FDRC Application Instructions (PDF)
- FDRC Budget Template (XLSX), for planning purposes only
For more information about the program and application process, please review the FDRC Award Presentation (PPTX).
Meet the FY23 FDRC Award Recipients
Congratulations to the awardees! The program is a competitive one and this year the committee awarded 25 grants. We wish them every success with their upcoming projects.
| Recipient | Project Title | award Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Tosin Adebayo, Department of Communication Studies | To Disclose or Not: Nigerian Girls' Stories of Sexual Violence | $5,820 |
| Saradha Ananthakrishnan, Department of Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology |
Unraveling New Insights in Central Auditory Processing using Machine Learning |
$5,960 |
| Vicky Cai, Department of Educational Technology & Literacy |
Developing an Instructional Unit on Robotics to Improve Pre-service Teachers' Computational
Thinking and Self-efficacy in Using Robotics Technology |
$5,090 |
| Ryan Casey, Department of Chemistry |
Are Brood X Cicadas a Source of ""Forever Chemicals"" to the Terrestrial Environment? |
$6,000 |
| Jonathan Hensley, Department of Political Science | Amici Curiae Briefs and the Changing Role of Religion in the United States, 1969-2020 | $5,730 |
| Laura Hicken, Department of Music | Gaze Behavior and Verbal Assessments of Music Teachers Watching Music Performances | $6,000 |
| Eric Karikari, Department of Communication Studies | Communicative Dimensions of Resilience: Constructing Normal in Constant Turbulence | $5,993 |
| Casey Keck, Department of Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology | What's ""the tea?"": A scoping review of social competence assessment after adolescent traumatic brain injury | $6,000 |
| Sya Kedzior, Department of Geography & Environmental Planning | Diversity, inclusion, and equity (DEI) initiatives in environmental NGOs of the Chesapeake Bay region | $4,900 |
| Steven Kimble, Department of Biological Sciences | Population genomics of the Maryland state-endangered Northern Map Turtle | $6,000 |
| Ashley King, Department of Speech-Language Pathology & Audiology | Subjective Visual Vertical Judgement in Patients with Chronic Visual Motion Sensitivity | $5,958 |
| Nicolas Knuth, Department of Kinesiology | Evaluation of Metabolic Hormones Related to Metabolic Adaptation and their Association with Weight Loss in Postpartum Women | $5,949 |
| Ming Li, Department of Health Sciences | Perspectives towards Genetic Testing among Young Adults with Autism Spectrum Disorders | $5,996 |
| Juan Liu, Department of Mass Communication | Examining the Effects of Repeated Exposure to COVID-19 Misinformation on Risk Perception, Vaccine Hesitancy and Health Protective Behaviors | $6,000 |
| Pamela Lottero-Perdue, Department of Physics, Astronomy & Geosciences | Using a Simulated Environment to Practice Diagnosing Perceived Social Loafing in Design Teams | $5,985 |
| Susan Mann, Department of Dance | Museum of Accidents | $6,000 |
| Alison McCartney, Department of Political Science | Connecting High School and College Civic Engagement Education | $6,000 |
| Chelsea McClure, Department of Secondary & Middle School Education | Integration of Guardian-Teacher Conference Simulations into Teacher Candidate Education Programs | $5,400 |
| Vicki McQuitty, Department of Elementary Education | Preparing Writing Teacher for Multilingual & Bidialectal Children | $5,400 |
| Wendy Nelson, Department of Physics, Astronomy & Geosciences | New Ideas on the Formation of Old Rocks Beneath Baltimore | $5,982 |
| Jinie Pak, Department of Computer & Information Sciences | Examining the adoption and use of mHealth from a lens of user empowerment | $5,000 |
| Nancy Siegel, Department of Art + Design, Art History, Art Education | Susie M. Barstow: Redefining the Hudson River School | $6,000 |
| Nirmal Srinivasan, Department of Sociology, Anthropology & Criminal Justice | Contributions of Attention and Working Memory to Speech Understanding | $5,965 |
| Ronnie Wang, Department of Computer & Information Sciences | Blockchain-Empowered Secure and Efficient Decentralized AI Systems | $5,914 |
| Bo Kyum Yang, Department of Health Sciences | Psychotropic medication adherence in Medicaid-insured adults treated by nurse practitioners and physicians | $6,000 |
FDRC FAQs
Who is eligible to apply for an FDRC award?
FDRC awards are available to any full‐time faculty member (tenured and tenure-track, clinical, lecturer, visiting). Distribution of the award is dependent upon continued employment at Towson.
Is there a limit on the number of FDRC awards I can apply for/receive?
Applicants may not have an active FDRC award at the time of proposal submission and may receive no more than two awards every five years.
When is the application deadline?
The regular FDRC application cycle requires applicants send their documents to ospr AT_TOWSON no later than 1 pm on the first Thursday of the spring semester.
If additional resources are made available, a second funding cycle will be announced via the OSPR Newsletter and TU Today.
What is the award amount?
The committee will award up to $6,000 for approved projects.
What is the project period?
July 1 - May 31
Other project periods will be announced via the OSPR Newsletter and TU Today as additional resources are made available.
Can I pay myself using an FDRC award?
The PI is eligible to pay themselves a maximum faculty summer stipend of $4,000.
Because FDRC grants limit faculty compensation to the summer months, applications submitted for additional deadlines may not include any stipend payments to faculty members.
What are eligible expenses?
Awards may be used to cover project‐specific reimbursable, state‐allowed expenses such as travel for research purposes, services, materials, equipment (as appropriate), and student wages.
Project expenses must be explained in the budget justification. Special care should be taken to justify items such as computers, laptops, and iPads. The budget justification should explain why the equipment is needed and what will happen to the equipment when the project is complete.
What are ineligible expenses?
Funds may not be used to support conference attendance. This includes conference travel, registration, and any other conference-related costs. Travel requests should be justified in terms of the benefit of the trip to the project.
How do my co-investigators and I "certify and approve" the application for routing? Do I have to do anything to get my chair/dean's approval?
On the day of the deadline, OSPR will initiate a proposal in Kuali Coeus. Once initiated, you and your co-investigators will receive a system-generated email from Kuali no later than 5 p.m. on the day of the deadline. There will be a link in the email that takes you to a page with five certification questions for you to complete as soon as possible. OSPR cannot start the approval process until the questions are answered. After you submit your answers, OSPR will initiate routing. You and your co-investigators will receive a second system-generated email from Kuali prompting you to follow a link to a page for you to approve your application. Your approval is your second and final required action. Both actions must be completed by 1 p.m. on the day after the deadline.
Once you complete your approval, the proposal will move into your chair and dean's queue. They will have seven (7) days after the deadline to complete their reviews and approvals. No action is required on your part for this step in routing.
Are there additional guidelines I should be aware of?
Yes! Please make sure to read the full FDRC Guidelines (PDF) carefully before preparing and submitting your application.
