07/27/2022
By Sandra Savage

The Donahue Center for Business Ethics & Social Responsibility invites submissions for interdisciplinary research proposals by UML faculty.

Specific research projects to be undertaken Sept. 1, 2022 – Aug. 31, 2023 by tenure-track and tenured faculty. Funding available for this cycle includes up to three faculty research grant awards totaling up to $3,000 per grant. The mission of the Donahue Center includes supporting faculty research in the broad domains of business ethics and social responsibility. These domains are fundamentally interdisciplinary and benefit from diverse perspectives, contextual and conceptual expertise, and empirical approaches.

To be considered, grant proposal submissions must:

  • Demonstrate a connection to areas of organizational research aligned with the Donahue Center for Business Ethics & Social Responsibility (e.g., business ethics, social responsibility, ethical decision making, sustainability, responsible leadership, humanistic management, governance, accountability, transparency, etc.).
  • Include tenure-track or tenured faculty from at least two Colleges at University of Massachusetts Lowell to meet the grant objective of leveraging and advancing interdisciplinary knowledge.
  • Include, in 2-3 pages (maximum):
  • Complete contact information of submitter: name, title, department, college, email address, phone number.
  • Identification of additional research project team members, including UML or other affiliations.
  • Title of research project.
  • Brief research project description.
  • Statement connecting the research project to the Donahue Center mission and domains.
  • Requested funding amount, including brief description and details (in bullets, tables, or figures) for both:
    • Specified planned expenditures (e.g., student research assistance, research-related equipment or supplies, study participation incentives, data collection-related expenses, transcription, coding, travel for research purposes, etc.)
    • Anticipated steps and timeline for successful project completion.
  • Note: Grant funding of up to $1000 may be applied to research-related conference travel at this time.

Faculty who receive grants will be expected to:

  • Acknowledge support of the Donahue Center for Business Ethics & Social Responsibility at the University of Massachusetts Lowell in future publications associated with the research project and related presentations.
  • Provide an abstract or brief synopsis of the research project for inclusion on the Donahue Center website.
  • Present a brief (up to 5-10 minute) research project overview in College faculty meetings (2022-2023 academic year).
  • Present a Lightning Research Talk at the UML Faculty Symposium (Spring 2023).
  • If collaborating with student researchers, students present an overview of the project in a Business Ethics class and/or associated course offering (2022-2023 academic year).
  • If collaborating with student researchers, students present a research poster or talk at the Student Research & Community Engagement Symposium (Spring 2023).

Awards are competitive and evaluated based on the following criteria:

  • Alignment with the mission and areas of organizational research associated with the Donahue Center.
  • Interdisciplinarity of research topic and team.
  • Potential to generate a high-quality scholarly outcome.
  • Potential to enhance teaching and learning in meaningful ways.

Additional: Tenure-track faculty are encouraged to apply. Faculty utilizing student research assistants are encouraged to apply. For a given cycle, faculty members may apply for and receive up to one grant. Specific projects may receive up to one grant per cycle. Grant-supported project expenses should be incurred in the Sept. 1, 2022 – Aug. 31, 2023 time period. Requests for conference travel support must budgeted for and submitted within this time period, but may include travel dates beyond the grant period to accommodate conference cycle scheduling.

Submission is electronic only. Word or PDF files should be sent via email attachment with subject line “2022-2023 Donahue Center Interdisciplinary Grant Proposal” to DonahueCenter@uml.edu no later than end-of-day Aug. 15, 2022.

Proposal submissions will be evaluated by a Grant Awards Committee. Grant determinations will be announced to recipients by Sept. 1, 2022.