Eligibility

Ohio State faculty, postdoctoral fellows, and graduate students are eligible to apply. Graduate students and untenured faculty are particularly encouraged to submit proposals. Postdoctoral fellows and graduate students must identify a faculty advisor in the application, and graduate student applicants must also include a brief, one-paragraph endorsement from their faculty advisor.

What Pilot Grants Can Support

Pilot Grant funds may support research-related expenses such as compensation or incentives for experimental or survey participants, research materials and equipment, and datasets. Conference registration and travel expenses are generally not funded. Personnel costs, including undergraduate wages and graduate student support, are also generally not funded. Applicants should provide a budget that identifies all anticipated project costs and explains the purpose of each requested expense.

Proposal Requirements

The project description may be no more than three pages. It should clearly explain the central research question and why it matters, how the proposed work builds on existing scholarship, and how the project relates to IDEA’s mission. Applicants should also describe the anticipated scholarly products, such as published papers or book chapters, and explain the potential for the project to lead to a future external funding proposal.

Applicants should demonstrate a commitment to developing and submitting a related proposal for additional external funding and are encouraged to explain how they would conduct the research in the absence of IDEA funding.

Application Materials

The application asks for information about the principal investigator, faculty advisor when applicable, other collaborators, previous IDEA funding, resubmission status and current or pending support for the proposed research. Applicants must also provide the project description, a budget and budget justification, and current CVs for all researchers. Graduate student applicants must include the required faculty advisor endorsement.

How Proposals Are Reviewed

Proposals should clearly identify the research question and its significance, explain the project’s contribution to existing scholarship and connection to IDEA’s mission, describe the expected scholarly products, and demonstrate the potential for future externally funded research.

📅 Pilot Grant Timeline (subject to change)

Pilot Grants are offered through an annual competition. The call for applications is planned for December, with a reminder during the first week of spring semester classes. Applications are reviewed in February and award notifications are made in March.

• Call for applications: December
• Application reminder: First week of spring semester classes
• Applications close: February 5
• Application review: February 8–26
• Award notifications: March 5
• Grantee presentations: Autumn semester

Award Recipient Responsibilities

Award funds must be used within the grant period. The principal investigator or another member of the research team must present the project at an IDEA Lab Workshop or another agreed-upon session. Presentations should follow a standard one-hour workshop format, with written materials circulated at least one week in advance.

Recipients are also expected to acknowledge IDEA support in relevant presentations and publications and share project data, documents, and publications with the IDEA team. A written report of two to five pages is due at the end of the grant period and no later than 16 months after the award date. The report should summarize the project and its outcomes, document actual expenses, describe plans for future work, and confirm that relevant grant records and materials have been organized and retained.