Just in Time Funding

The Cato College of Education “Just in Time” Funding program is designed to provide necessary financial support to faculty and staff to launch a new project or to complete research projects that would otherwise go unfinished or be significantly hampered. Investigators can apply to receive a maximum of $2,000 toward the purchase of supplies or core services not supported by departmental research overhead funds or other external or internal funding sources (e.g., start-up funds, research incentive funds). The funding is intended to support faculty-led projects, rather than student-led projects in which faculty are involved. Documentation of IRB approval is necessary prior to obtaining funds for any research that includes Human Subjects.

Submission Deadlines

Recognizing that funds may be needed at various points throughout the year, applications are accepted on a rolling basis. The number and size of awards are contingent upon funding and may fluctuate annually.

September 15, 2023
January 19, 2024
April 11, 2024

Eligible Applicants. While applications from early career faculty and faculty with research expectations will be prioritized, all faculty and staff in the Cato College of Education may apply. Applications are limited to one per investigator per academic year. Previous awardees are eligible to receive additional funding, but to share limited resources broadly, may only be funded once during the same academic year.

Eligible Purchases. Costs may include materials, supplies and/or services. Awards may not be used to pay for investigator stipends, release time, memberships, publication costs, food, or to disseminate research at conferences. Costs will be paid directly by administrative support personnel in the Dean’s Office to the vendor or can be reimbursed to the investigator. All costs must be pre-approved by the Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Education. Items can only be reimbursed if the purchase was made after the award date. Eligible expenses may include, but are not limited to the following:

Data analytic software to support research
Research participant incentives
Travel to collect data
Transcription services
Technology required to complete research that is not already readily available*
Supplies to support research
Access to data
Funding to support the hiring of a Graduate Assistant or temporary student employee to support research

*Technology purchases must be approved and processed by OneIT.

To be eligible for Just in Time funding, in the application process, applicants must upload documentation (1 paragraph letter or email) from their Department Chair or unit head indicating that he/she is aware and approves of the request, but cannot support it using departmental or unit research overhead funds. Just in Time funding is intended to support projects where other financial sources have been exhausted or are not available.

Post-award Expectations

Upon completion of a funded project, award recipients are asked to submit to the Associate Dean of Research and Graduate Education a brief (1 paragraph) description of how the funding impacted the research project. Failure to submit this documentation will result in ineligibility for future Just in Time funding opportunities.

Review Process

All requests will be reviewed by the Cato College of Education Research Advisory Council. The Council provides its feedback on each proposal to the Dean of the College, and the Dean makes the final decision based on availability of funds. Applications will be evaluated on 1) the need for funding; 2) potential impact of the proposed project; 3) appropriateness of the research design or steps to complete the project; 4) relevance to the applicant’s research agenda and career trajectory, and 5) alignment with the College’s Strategic Plan (see scoring rubric below). Applicants will be notified of a funding decision within 2 weeks of the submission deadline.

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