Funding Your Research

Sources of Funding

Overview

All Biology 500 students are required to prepare a budget detailing their expected project expenses.   This budget is due within the first three weeks of the semester.  See the Deadlines section of the website for the exact deadlines each semester.

There are several sources of funding that you will be expected to use:

• The Senior Work Fund (up to $350) and Senior Research Fellowship ($1500), administered through the Dean of the College's office.
• Seniors who expect to incur expenses in excess of $350 as well as non-seniors can apply for additional support from the Biology Department.
• There are also several external funding sources to which you can apply.

There are two reasons why we are requiring you to prepare a budget. First, the process of preparing a budget will allow you to practice the skill of designing research budgets. If you continue on in research, you will at some point find yourself writing a grant proposal and proposing a budget for a research project. The agencies and foundations to which you send those proposals are not particularly receptive to requests for  increased compensation for unplanned expenses, so knowing how to design a solid budget is an important part of successful grant-writing and research. Second, the process facilitates the department’s budget planning, and insures that the money available to support student research lasts throughout the academic year.

Senior Work Fund / SENIOR RESEARCH Fellowship

The Senior Work Funds and Fellowships should be your first source of support.  You may apply once (and only once) during your senior year.  Applications are accepted in both fall and spring semester.  View the full details, including deadlines and applications.

The Senior Work Fund offers assistance (up to $350) to students doing independent senior work with expenses such as photocopying, materials and supplies, travel for interviews or to use specialized library collections, or travel to professional meetings to present their work.

The Senior Research Fellowship, is a competitive grant program designed to support research projects requiring an unusually high degree of financial support.  Any student who needs more than $350 (the maximum amount available through the Senior Work Fund) should consider applying to this program. The upper limit for these grants will be $1500.

Note that in the Spring, you can only apply to the Senior Work Fund (and not the Senior Work Fellowship).  Also, if you have already received a Senior Work Fund or Fellowship in the Fall, you may not apply again.  This is a once-in-your-senior-year opportunity.

Biology Department Funding

You are required to submit a budget to the Biology Department by the aforementioned deadlines even if you anticipate receiving all necessary funds from the Senior Work Fund.  We recognize that unexpected expenses do arise, and so we will try to accommodate emergency budgetary requests, however, we can not guarantee that we will be able to meet all non-budgeted requests, so you should make every effort to prepare a complete budget. The section that follows describes the categories of expenses that are normally reimbursed, and should give you some guidelines as to the kinds of expenses you should consider. You should be sure to consult with your advisor to develop a comprehensive research plan and list of likely expenses.  Students may re-apply to the Biology Department in J- and Spring terms but awards at that time will be highly dependent on the availability of departmental funds.

External Funding Sources

• Sigma-Xi Research Grants:
  The deadline for Sigma Xi Grants-in-Aid of Research applications is October 15 of each year.  Applicants will be notified of funding by the end of December. There is also a March 15 deadline, however successful applicants will not be notified until the end of May. Sigma Xi Website.
• Lake Champlain Research Consortium: 
  The Lake Champlain Research Consortium (LCRC) has funding available for students attending LCRC member institutions who are conducting research on Lake Champlain and its basin. LCRC Website.
• Other:
  American Society for Microbiology 

Preparing Your Budget

General Instructions for Preparing Your Budget

USE THE PRACTICE BUDGET EXCEL SHEET AVAILABLE BELOW (see “All Funding Downloads”) TO HELP PLAN YOUR BUDGET

1. Funds can not be spent until your budget is approved by the Dept Chair.
2. A complete budget should be developed in consultation with your advisor.
3. A final copy signed by your advisor is due to the Department Chair by noon on Friday,September 24 (Fall), February 25 (Spring).  Budgets that are turned in to the Department Chair without an Advisor’s signature will be returned to the student without review.
4. This budget must itemize all of your anticipated expenses, including those that will be funded by the Senior Work Fund or other funding source.
5. If you have questions about the budgeting process, don’t hesitate to ask the course director or Joanna Shipley (the Biology Department Coordinator, x 5438).  Your advisor can also help.

Filling in Your Budget Form

1. Make a complete list of expenses that you expect to incur. Call vendors to obtain estimates of costs & shipping. Your budget must be based on real estimates, not fabricated ones! Catalogs are available in the Biology common room, but please do not remove them from the common room for more than a few minutes!
2. Group the expenses into the categories identified below List expenses on the budget form provided, with a sufficiently detailed description that Joanna will be able to match an invoice to your budget form.
3. Prepare a brief (approximately 1 page) budget justification.  You must justify ALL items on the budget!
4. Indicate in the appropriate column of the budget sheet whether the item will be funded by SWF (which has a separate application & budgeting process) or by the Biology Department or by other funding sources. We know that you will not receive word about SWF budgets until October for the Fall deadline, so this is simply an indication of what you will be requesting from the SWF. If you do not receive funding for your full SWF request, the Biology Department will cover those expenses that can be reimbursed under departmental guidelines. To determine which source should cover an item, please use the following guidelines.
1. The first $350 of expenses should be requested from Senior Work Fund. If your costs are <$350, your entire budget will therefore be requested from the Senior Work Fund. If this is the case, however, you STILL must fill out a Biology Department budget form just in case SWF decides not to fully fund your request.
2. The Biology Department budget will cover, within reason, expenses in excess of $350. Please note that the pool of available funding is not infinite, so work with your advisor to keep costs as low as possible. Although we have tried to cover all research costs in the past, we can not guarantee that this will be possible every year, so you may be asked to reduce your budget if costs are excessively high.
3. Photocopying of journal articles will only be paid by the SWF (not the Biology Department), so if you have >$350 of expenses make sure that photocopying journal articles is included in the SWF portion of your budget.
5. Budgets that do not meet these guidelines will be returned to you for revision before they are approved by the Dept Chair.
6. You must still fill out and submit the SWF application separately, but this application is very similar to that used to apply for departmental funds.

Categories of Expenses

Make sure to consult the SWF page for restrictions on expenses.

Use these categories in the “Category of expense” column in your itemized budget.

• photocopying journal articles - 0.10/page; Biology will not cover photocopying of journal articles so this must come from SWF.
• photocopying other - 0.10/page; includes primary data, required thesis copies, transparencies
• color photocopying - $1.00/page
• color printing - 0.50/page for 8.5 x 11 up to $8/page for posters
• shipping - Biology will cover standard shipping only unless Express is required.  You must include an estimate of shipping costs in your budget.
• supplies
• Supplies associated with student research efforts will be covered/reimbursed. This includes, but is not limited to, such things as: chemicals, glassware, flagging tape, and inexpensive pieces of equipment (e.g., tape measures). Please note that we will not reimburse express shipping charges except in cases where items can only be shipped by express mail, so place orders early!
• Supplies includes the cost of film & film developing if you need pictures of your study sites or organisms, or data slides for a seminar. If you wish to produce data slides for a seminar, consult your advisor or Dave Guertin (x 3143) for an estimate of the most cost-effective way to do this.
• reimbursement of research subjects
• travel
• Gas costs for travel to field sites or other research-related activities will be reimbursed. * Save your gas receipts in order to be reimbursed.* To estimate gas costs, calculate the distance traveled (miles), divide by your car's fuel efficiency (mpg) and multiply by the current price per gallon of gas. 
• Overnight camping fees for fieldwork will be reimbursed.
• Additional costs (e.g., meals) incurred while conducting fieldwork will be reimbursed.
• Other transportation costs (trains, buses, rented cars) will be considered. If you anticipate having unusually high travel costs (i.e., you need to take a charter air flight to Fiji on short notice) associated with your research, consult your advisor about seeking additional funding sources.
• long distance phone charges - only if directly related to research

Expenses that will not be reimbursed by the department

• Photocopying of journal articles will not be reimbursed, as those articles are available free-of-charge (to the student) in the library. Note that Senior Work Fund DOES reimburse photocopying, so if you anticipate needing to photocopy articles, please include that expense as part of your senior work fund budget.
• Long-distance phone calls that are not directly related to the research (for example, calls about future employment doing research similar to thesis/independent study research) will not be reimbursed. 
• Express mail costs will not be reimbursed unless the item ordered can only be shipped express mail (i.e., some perishable supplies). Hence, express shipping of last minute supplies orders or submission of abstracts to meetings will not be reimbursed.