The Dean's Office administers the General Research Fund to support expenditures essential to individual research and scholarly projects. The Research Committee advises in the awarding of grants. Eligibility is described in the Faculty Handbook. Last year, grants awarded ranged from $500 to $10,000. Grants cover costs associated with work leading to a planned end product (e.g., publication, performance). Normally, expenditures fall into the categories given below.

  1. Preparation of grant proposals or manuscripts, including camera-ready copy
  2. Photocopying of source material
  3. Page charges or reprints of articles
  4. Research equipment and supplies
  5. Research assistance
  6. Travel essential to the gathering of material

It may be helpful to know the types of requests that are unlikely to be funded:

  1. Travel to a sabbatical site
  2. Meals at  research site
  3. Travel to site for professional contact that can be accomplished in other ways
  4. Professional books and subscriptions
  5. Professional society membership fees
  6. General clerical help
  7. Maintenance contracts
  8. Computer hardware and software
  9. Overspending an external or internal grant
  10. Preparation expenses of more than one version of a manuscript
  11. Lump sum subsidies to publishers
  12. Research assistance that should be covered by department student wage account
  13. Long-term rental of studio or laboratory space

Deadlines

Applications for small grants up to $1000 may be submitted at any time during the year and are normally decided upon promptly by the Associate Dean. Applications for larger grants exceeding $1000 are solicited twice a year. They are considered together so that comparisons can be made and the fund divided fairly. The deadlines for these larger grant applications are October and February each year

Policies

The following guidelines and procedures have been developed by the Dean's Office and the Research Committee over recent years:

  1. Persons on sabbatical leave are eligible to apply for research grants; those on leave without pay are not normally eligible.
  2. Applications must be complete, including necessary signatures, in order to be considered. Please answer all questions on the application.
  3. Expenses related to writing a textbook are not normally covered. Requests for grants for the preparation of books or textbooks requiring considerable scholarly investigation will be considered, but Pomona College has first claim royalties resulting from sales.  Similarly, grants for materials used in the production of a work of art will be considered, but Pomona College has first claim on profits resulting from sales of artworks.
  4. Research grants must be used or returned by June 15, the end of the fiscal year. The return of funds will happen automatically and without prior notification.
  5. Please submit receipts as they are incurred, and before June 15.
  6. The Committee may call upon outside referees for advice, especially on applications for larger grants. In such instances, the applicant may be invited to name one or more of the referees, but the Committee may also name consultants as the occasion requires.
  7. Information governing the use of research grants will be sent with the notice of awards.
  8. Since funds are limited, the Committee hopes that those faculty members who can personally afford or whose department can afford small research expenses will not apply for such grants.
  9. For grants that would support student research wages, please include payroll considerations such as workers' compensation, and state and federal tax deductions in your calculations representing the total cost to the College for this expense.  For student wages during the academic year add 5.91% (workers' compensation and state and federal taxes) and during the summer work period add 13.70% (worker's compensation, state and federal taxes, FICA, SS, and MEDI) to the wages student researchers will earn.

Apply for a Large Research Grant

Apply for a Small Research Grant

For questions contact Pierre Englebert (pierre.englebert@pomona.edu, x72496 ).