ASIAN STUDIES FACULTY GRANTS

 

The Asian Studies Center annually offers grants to faculty to promote and support faculty research and travel involving Asia as well as to enhance the teaching of Asia throughout the curriculum.  While the application form for each grant category is specific to that purpose, the overall requirements are the following:

• Each proposal should present a concrete research agenda and/or detailed travel plans.
• Each proposal should include a complete budget.
• A curriculum vitae must accompany each proposal, and a report must be submitted upon completion of the project.
• Please note: four (4) paper copies of each proposal complete with curriculum vitae must be submitted.
• All research involving interventions or interactions with individuals, or the collection of identifiable private information concerning living individuals, requires prospective Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval.  Grantees are responsible for obtaining IRB approval when required, and must provide documentation of IRB approval before a grant can be awarded.  For further information, check the IRB website at www.irb.pitt.edu.

Eligibility

Full-time and part-time tenure-stream, tenured and non tenure-stream faculty (including lecturers, adjunct faculty, and contract faculty) at all Schools, Departments, Centers, Institutes and Campuses of the University of Pittsburgh are eligible to submit proposals. See individual grant categories for additional restrictions.

Application Deadline

The deadline for 2009-2010 grants (except the Global Academic Partnership Grant Competition) will be November 2, 2009. The Japan Studies Small Grants Program has a rolling deadline. A faculty oversight committee will award the grants within one month of the application deadline.

Global Academic Partnership Grant Competition

The Global Studies Program (GSP) in the University Center for International Studies is currently accepting applications from Pitt faculty for its annual Global Academic Partnership grant competition. This year, GSP is offering three grants of $20,000 each to support interdisciplinary international research conferences or workshops on global themes. Sponsors, eligibility criteria, and an application with further details can be found at http://www.ucis.pitt.edu/global/gap.

 

The deadline for applications is December 1, 2009.

Asian Studies Small Grants

These grants fund research and travel for faculty studying the areas of South Asia, Southeast Asia, Pacific Islands and East Asia. Grants are for one year, and in 2008-2009 ranged from $1000 to $2000.

>> 2009-2010 Application (PDF)

China Studies Research Travel Grants

These grants support faculty travel to the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Grants are for one year, and in 2008-2009 ranged from $1000 to $2000.

>> 2009-2010 Application (PDF)

Japan Studies Publication Subvention Grant

Grants of up to $3,000 are available for tenured or tenure-stream University of Pittsburgh faculty who are in the process of publishing book(s) related to Japan. The subsidy is paid directly to the publisher to defray the costs of production. It cannot be used by the author to pay for indexing or any other costs of preparing a manuscript for publication. We encourage cost-sharing -- that is, supplementing funds for subsidies received from other funders within the University and without. Limited funds are available in any given year to provide publication subsidies, and not all requests can be met. Preference will be given to 1) single-authored books, 2) followed by co-authored books, and 3) then edited books of essays and translations. In the case of 2) and 3), at least one of the authors, translators or editors must be an eligible member of the University of Pittsburgh faculty.

>> Applications should include the following:
1. A Japan Studies Funding Request Form (PDF) from Asian Studies Center
2. A short description of the book and its scholarly merits
3. A copy of the book contract
4. A letter from the publisher explaining the need for a publication subvention
5. Evidence that the author/requester of a subvention has applied to other funders within the University -- for example, the Dean of the School of Arts & Sciences
6. Submit applications for subvention to the ASC Associate Director

Research-in-Japan Grants

Awards will be made in the following two types of research:
1. Research projects based on a concrete and clearly defined agenda in Japanese studies.

2. Exploratory Japan Studies Research based on well-defined research proposals.

 

The following statement defines the necessary qualifications of University of Pittsburgh faculty and staff eligible to apply for "Research-in-Japan Grants" funded from the Japan Iron and Steel Federation and Mitsubishi Endowments Funds, which are administered by the Strategic Planning and Budget Committee of the Asian Studies Center of the Univesity of Pittsburgh's University Center for International Studies:

 

Any University of Pittsburgh faculty member who meets the following requirements is eligible to apply:

1. Full-time and part-time tenure-stream faculty, whether tenured or not.

2. Members of the university's full-time administrative staff who have joint or adjunct appointments in academics departments.

3. Non-tenure stream faculty who are employed by the university to teach or conduct research on longer than a one-year-contract.

 

Non-contract, part-time faculty hired on an ad hoc basis, even if they have adjunct appointments in academic departments, are not eligible to apply.

 

To Apply:

1. Applicants must present three-page proposals in which they state concisely the scholarly purpose, methodology, and feasibility of their projects.

2. Applicants are expected to have identified field sites, archives, libraries, museums and other research facilities at which they will conduct their research if funded.
3. Applicants are expected to show evidence in their proposals that they have identified the primary Japanese-language informants and sources they will use while in Japan.

 

Grants up to $5,000 can be awarded for a one-year period and up to $10,000 in any 2-year period. This award covers air and ground transportation, meals, and lodging expenses.

 

>> Application (PDF) and Japan Studies Funding Request (PDF) must be submitted.

 

Japan Studies Small Grants

These grants support research and teaching related to Japan Studies. Awards will be made up to $1,500 per fiscal year.  Multiple applications are allowed, up to a total of $1,500 per fiscal year.

>> 2009-2010 Application (PDF) and Japan Studies Funding Request (PDF) must be submitted.

Japan Studies Emeritus Faculty Grant Policy

Contingent on the availability of funds, Japan Studies emeritus faculty members are eligible to receive funding no more than twice within the five years immediately following retirement:

 

1. Up to $2,000 per academic year for research travel to Japan, which is expected to result in a significant publication/creative work.

2. Up to  $2,000 for publication subvention. ** The requirement that the requester seek other sources of funding within the University of Pittsburgh —applicable to incumbent faculty— does not apply to emeriti. 

 

In both cases, endowment funding shall be acknowledged in any creative works that result from the funding. In order to apply for funding, emeritus professors must be uncommitted to teaching at another academic institution during the academic year that funding is requested.

 

The ASC Oversight Committee will look favorably upon applicants who meet one or more of the following conditions:

 

1. Teaching at least one Japan-related course at the University of Pittsburgh during the year that funding is requested.

2. Serving on a graduate thesis committee in Japan Studies at the University of Pittsburgh during the year that funding is requested.

3. Showing evidence of continuing research/scholarly activities.

 

>> Japan Studies Funding Request PDF

 

Updated October 29, 2009