OAR Funding Opportunities

The Office for Advancement of Research (OAR) promotes faculty success through several funding programs.  Applications to all programs are accepted on a rolling basis (with the exception of the Senior Scholar Release Program, the Mid-Career Support program, the Scholarly Excellence Award, and the Donal E. MacNamara award - due dates for these awards are announced publicly).  Applications are reviewed during the first full week of each calendar month, with decisions returned to applicants by the second Thursday of each calendar month. 

Funding is offered through the following programs:

Seed – Funds are available to support pilot or preliminary work necessary to pursue a major grant application to an external funding agency. Funds may be requested to undertake a pilot study to gather background data toward supporting a major proposal. Funds may also be requested to conduct planning activities or support the writing of a major proposal. Funds are limited to $4,000 per request. Faculty requesting Seed Funding will need to submit to an external funding program within one (1) year of receiving funding, and must revise and resubmit the proposal at least one time (to the same or an alternative external funding program) if the original proposal is not funded. To make a request to the Seed Funding program, faculty must submit a two page project summary to OAR. This summary should justify the seed request, detail the funding agency being targeted and the nature of the planned proposal, and provide a detailed budget. Requests should be submitted in electronic form to OAR (oar@jjay.cuny.edu) with Seed Funding clearly indicated in the subject line.

Faculty Scholarship – Funds are available to support efforts related to the publication of a significant work of scholarship or the mounting of a creative work such as a performance, art exhibition, musical composition, etc. Funds are limited to $3,000 per request, and can be used for the purpose of travel to libraries, archives, or other sites for data collection; purchase of software or equipment required for analysis; costs related to the mounting of creative works, etc. Funds are not intended to support release time or conference travel. Faculty requesting Faculty Scholarship Funding must publish (as a book or in a peer-reviewed journal) or produce the results of the funded work within one (1) year of receiving funding. To make a request to the Faculty Scholarship Funding program, faculty must submit a two page project summary to OAR. This summary should justify the need for funding, describe the intended scholarly outcome, and provide a detailed budget.  Requests should be submitted in electronic form to OAR (oar@jjay.cuny.edu) with Faculty Scholarship Funding clearly indicated in the subject line.

Proposal Pre-Review ­– To improve the quality of external grant proposals and their likelihood of success, OAR makes funds available for faculty to obtain external reviews of grant proposals, prior to their submission to an agency or funding organization. Requests must be made in writing to OAR (oar@jjay.cuny.edu) with Proposal Pre-Review clearly indicated in the email subject line.  Please include a summary of the grant application to be reviewed, along with a potential reviewer's name, title, affiliation(s), and a brief (one sentence) description of her qualifications. Faculty are responsible for identifying and handling all communications with the peer reviewer, and the request must be sent at least 5 weeks before the grant deadline in order to be considered. OAR will provide an honorarium of $300 (limited to one review per grant application), which will be paid directly to the peer reviewer to incentivize her work. The PI must submit a copy of the external review to OAR at least two weeks prior to the grant application deadline in order for the honorarium to be paid.

Open-Access Publication – Funds are available to faculty who wish to publish articles in open-access format in major, peer-reviewed, scholarly journals. Once a manuscript is accepted for publication, faculty must submit a request to OAR with the journal name, a copy of the acceptance letter, and a brief description of the journal quality and reach. Requests should be submitted in electronic form to OAR (oar@jjay.cuny.edu) with Open-Access Publication clearly indicated in the subject line. Funding is limited to $3,000 per request.

Book Publication – The Office for the Advancement of Research wishes to support faculty authors who are in the process of publishing books (as a single-author/editor or first-author/editor) with high-quality, reputable presses.  OAR will reimburse the author up to $1,500 to pay page fees, indexing fees, image rights, etc. Once a book proposal is accepted for publication, faculty must submit a request to OAR with (1) the original proposal, (2) a copy of the publication contract, (3) a brief description of the publisher's quality and reach, and (4) copies of receipts or invoices for the services to be funded.  Please note that contracts in which the author receives a lump sum advance are not eligible for this funding program.  Requests should be submitted in electronic form to OAR (oar@jjay.cuny.edu) with Book Publication clearly indicated in the subject line.

Community Event – The OAR will fund scholarly or creative events to be held at John Jay College that are free of charge and open to faculty or the John Jay Community as a whole.  Faculty requesting funding should submit a 1-2 page proposal in electronic form to OAR (oar@jjay.cuny.edu) with Community Event Funding clearly indicated in the subject line.  Successful requests will include either (1) a description of the collaborative project, planned scholarly outcomes and external funding applications, and a detailed budget with justifications for why funding is needed; or (2) a detailed description of the planned events or opportunities, along with a budget and a clear rationale for how the John Jay community stands to benefit.  Average funding is $3,000.

Enhanced Travel – The OAR will fund major travel opportunities with the potential to have a significant impact on a faculty scholar's trajectory.  Examples include personally invited talks, special workshops or trainings, keynote addresses at major conferences, etc. Travel to present papers accepted as part of a public call or invitation to a standard academic conference is not eligible. Requests are limited to $2,000 per faculty member.  In order to apply, please submit requests in electronic form to OAR (oar@jjay.cuny.edu) with Enhanced Travel Funding clearly indicated in the subject line.  Successful requests will include (1) a justification for the funding need that clearly differentiates the travel opportunity from the general round of academic conferences in your discipline; (2) a personal letter of invitation detailing the expected parameters of your participation; and (3) an accompanying explanation from your department chair as to why they are unable to fund the opportunity through the departmental travel allocation.

Conference Reception – The OAR recognizes that academic conferences, conventions, and annual meetings play an important role in networking, scholarly collaboration, hiring, defining disciplinary culture, setting research agendas, influencing public policy, and more. In order to enhance the College’s institutional presence at mission-related academic and professional conferences (or analogous events), the OAR will provide support for a limited number of receptions or other formal gatherings, sanctioned by the conference organizers and included in the conference agenda, that formalize the involvement of John Jay faculty with the larger event, sponsoring organization, and discipline as a whole.  Average funding is expected to range from $3-5,000. In order to apply, please submit requests in electronic form to OAR (oar@jjay.cuny.edu) with Conference Reception Funding clearly indicated in the subject line. Successful requests will include:  (1) An outline of the relevant details of the conference in question (including title, date, location, and sponsoring organization mission); (2) A brief (2-300 word) description and rationale for your planned reception, including how the larger event relates to the College’s mission, how the reception will enhance John Jay faculty involvement and benefit the John Jay community as a whole; (3) a list of the John Jay faculty presenting/participating in the conference; and (4) an event budget, detailing line items, and including explicitly how much funding the department or other sources will contribute, and how much you are requesting from the OAR.

Emergency – Support is available for research or other scholarly activities that specifically address a need that is urgent and/or time sensitive in nature. This may include support for research on disasters or other unanticipated events for which a rapid response is critical. Emergency funds may also be requested for events that could not be anticipated in the normal course of research, for example, new legislative funding priorities that are time-sensitive in nature, cuts to a grant budget that may severely impact performance, etc. Emergency Funds are not appropriate for needs that could have been anticipated in the normal course of research. To make a request to the Emergency Fund, faculty must submit a one-page project summary electronically to OAR (oar@jjay.cuny.edu, with Emergency Funds clearly indicated in the subject line) detailing the nature of the research planned and the reason the project qualifies for emergency funds, and including a detailed budget.  Average funding is expected to be $6,000.

Annual Programs

Mid-Career Support – This program is intended for Assistant and Associate Professors who are within three years post-tenure, are working toward a major scholarly outcome or creative project, and have no other sources of course release. Applications are due on March 31 of each year. The fund provides 1-2 courses of release time or the equivalent in direct research funds (currently $7k) to be used in the subsequent year. These funds cannot be used for summer salary. Applicants must have received tenure within the past 3 years, and new applicants will receive priority over repeat applicants (especially in the case of repeat applications for the same project). Faculty must submit a two- to five-page project summary to the Office for the Advancement of Research, detailing the nature of the scholarship planned and the reason the project requires the requested amount of course release time. Requests should be submitted in electronic form to OAR (oar@jjay.cuny.edu) with Mid-Career Release clearly indicated in the subject line.  All applications will be reviewed by the Research Advisory Council and decisions will be announced by OAR. Up to six courses will be awarded annually.

Senior Scholar Release – This program is intended for tenured Associate and full Professors who are working toward a major scholarly outcome or creative project and have no other sources of course release.  Applications are due on March 15 of each year.  The fund provides 1-2 courses of release time to be used in the subsequent year.  These funds cannot be used for summer salary or any support other than course release time. Applicants must be at least 3 years post-tenure, and new applicants will receive priority over repeat applicants (especially in the case of repeat applications for the same project).   Faculty must submit a two- to five-page project summary to the Office for the Advancement of Research, detailing the nature of the scholarship planned and the reason the project requires the requested amount of course release time.  Requests should be submitted in electronic form to OAR (oar@jjay.cuny.edu) with Senior Scholar Release clearly indicated in the subject line. All applications will be reviewed by the Research Advisory Council and decisions will be announced by OAR.  Up to ten courses will be awarded annually.

Funds in each category listed above are limited and available on a first-come, first-serve basis. The Office for the Advancement of Research will try to post, in an ongoing manner, what program budgets have been exhausted for an academic year. However, faculty are advised to consult our webpage or send an inquiry email to oar@jjay.cuny.edu before writing a proposal to confirm that a specific program is still accepting invitations.

Annual Research Awards:

The Office for the Advancement of Research (OAR) is dedicated to working with faculty in the pursuit of their research and scholarly goals, and is available to assist faculty in grant-seeking and publication activities.  Faculty members are encouraged to consult with OAR on any aspect of these processes. For a list of the most recent awardees, visit here. OAR recognizes faculty achievement through several award programs, including:

The Faculty Scholarly Excellence Award – Up to five tenure-track or tenured faculty who have demonstrated exceptional scholarship in the previous three calendar years will be awarded two courses of reassigned time during the following academic year.

The Donal EJ MacNamara Junior Faculty Award – An award of $2,000 is given to an instructor or assistant professor who has made a significant scholarly contribution in the preceding two years to the fields of criminal justice or criminology.