arts.uchicago.edu

Arts|Science: Graduate Collaboration Grants

• Graduate Collaboration Grants
• In the Crosscurrents
• Sight and Sounds of Science

Call for Proposals

2011–2012 Academic Year

The Arts|Science Initiative, in collaboration with the Office of the Vice President for Research and for National Laboratories, is launching a pilot program of Arts|Science Graduate Collaboration Grants to encourage independent cross-disciplinary research between students in the arts and the sciences. Graduate students from areas such as art history, music, cinema and media studies, theater and performance, creative writing, or visual arts are encouraged to pair up with graduate students from astronomy and astrophysics, biological sciences, chemistry, computer science, geophysical sciences, math, physics, or statistics areas for joint creative projects. Each group may consists of two or more graduate students, with at least one in the arts and one from the sciences, who work together over the course of two quarters to investigate a subject from the perspectives offered by their disciplines. Projects will be conducted between January–May 2012, with a public presentation scheduled at the end of the academic year. The projects may take the form of a publishable paper, photographs, film, music score, performance, theater piece, or documented research experiment, etc. Proposals will be reviewed and selected in the fall quarter by a faculty jury comprised of members from the arts and the sciences.

Projects may, but need not be, part of a larger MA/MFA or PhD or course research endeavor. Applicants must have an endorsement by a faculty member. The objective is to identify and encourage innovative interactions between students from sciences and the arts. The review process will be competitive and the proposals will be evaluated on the basis of a number of criteria, including cross-disciplinary innovation and scholarly risk-taking. Successful proposals may request up to $2,000 to cover costs for materials, use of media labs, computation facilities, and in some cases machine-shop time, as well as costs associated with the design, implementation, literary documentation, specific joint research travel, publication and/or presentation of the project.

Application Review Process

Application deadline: December 5, 2011
Notification of funding: no later than January 6, 2012.

Evaluation Criteria

• Extent of cross-disciplinary innovation.
• Degree of scholarly risk-taking.
• Integration of concept explored and form in which it is executed.
• Feasibility for completion within the academic year.
• Relevance to individual team members’ disciplines.

Eligibility Requirements

• Collaborative team members must be graduate students and in residence during the academic year in which the project is to be funded.
• Each team must have at least one member from the arts and one from a science discipline.
• Each team member must have the endorsement of a faculty member (one arts/one science).
• Each team must agree to a public presentation of his/her project in the spring of 2011.

This grant does not fund food or receptions, University of Chicago faculty and student honorarium, production of CDs, or conferences and symposia.

Application Procedures

The proposal must include the following:

• Completed Graduate Collaboration Grants Application Form (PDF)
• A narrative of the project explaining its cross-disciplinary nature and the method of collaboration, along with a brief schedule for achieving the stated objectives. This should contain a highly focused statement of your project goals. Include a discussion of the significance of this proposal and how it will expand and/or challenge the group members' research/artistic practice.
• Departmental affiliation.
• Faculty members, one arts/one science, endorsement (email statement from faculty member to program manager): jmlemon@uchicago.edu.
• A brief statement about the resources needed and the proposed budget.
• A description of how the project will be presented and documented: such as, publishable paper, musical score, video/film, theater piece, literary reading, imaging process, or performance, etc.

Note: Late or incomplete applications will not be considered for funding. Proposals must be submitted by email.

Requirements of Grantees

• Each team will document their project and provide a final presentation (formal critical responses session).
• Each team will participate in three group discussions during the granting period.
• Each team must agree to allow the University of Chicago to include the final work in publications, websites, or other media forms.

Submit Proposal to:

Julie Marie Lemon: jmlemon@uchicago.edu
Arts|Science Initiative
Reva and David Logan Center for the  Arts
Office of the Provost

Questions about the application process and about finding appropriate collaborators for projects can be directed to Julie Marie Lemon: jmlemon@uchicago.edu.

This fund is supported by the University of Chicago, Office of the Vice President for Research and for National Laboratories and is managed by the Arts|Science Initiative of the Reva and David Logan Center for Creative and Performing Arts. The Initiative and faculty members establish the criteria for submissions, setting the timeline, publicizing the program, and selecting recipients.

Arts|Science Graduate Collaboration Grants Application Form (PDF)