Graduate student assistantships RFP – Madison & collaborative
Q: What expenses are allowable in the $7,500 annual budget?
A: The annual budget can be used for research (lab, field, farm) supplies or consumables, undergraduate hourly expenses, travel to farm or research station, travel to conferences where research will be presented, publication fees, or technology or computing (hardware or software) needs that are specific to the project. Expenses should be justified within the budget justification.
Q: How will the funds be dispersed?
A: An account will be setup for use by the PI. Funds will be allocated on an annual fiscal year basis and should be spent within the fiscal year allocated.
Q: Can I use this graduate fellowship to fund a student already in the laboratory?
A: No, this aspect of the DIH mission is to train new students. Students can be undergraduates finishing at UW or elsewhere who will be funded for graduate school on this fellowship, but this funding cannot be used for an individual who is already a graduate student in your laboratory.
Q: Do I have to have the prospective graduate student identified within the proposal?
A: No, you do not. After proposals are selected for funding you will be able to recruit a student. You will have to provide a student name and CV prior to fund disbursement.
Q: This funding is for 2 years, does that mean it can only be used for a master’s student?
A: No. The proposal can be written for a PhD student if you have complimentary funds to leverage for a longer degree program. If this is the case, please indicate that funds for additional years of graduate study are available in the budget justification.
Q: If other funds are leveraged to fund a student for longer than 2 years, can I extend the funding period for this proposal? In other words, can I pay half of the student each year off of each grant?
A: No. The total timeline will be 2 years from September 2021 to July 2023 and cannot be extended.
Q: Can I submit the same proposal to both this call and to the Hatch call?
A: We intentionally plan to make funding announcements by August 1st so that proposals not funded by DIH can be submitted to the Hatch call.
Q: Are there expectations that come with this funding?
A: As with all funding, there are reporting expectations. The DIH has to report financial and research outcomes on a fiscal year basis. Researchers will be asked to complete an online submission for twice a year. The form is brief and very similar to Hatch reporting so to minimize administrative burden on the PI. You and/or the graduate student will also be asked to participate in the Dairy Summit which is anticipated to be an annual event (in Wisconsin) which will include opportunities to present research (travel to this can be included in the budget).
Q: Can I be a PI on a collaborative grad student proposal and a “Madison” grad student proposal?
A: You can submit and be funded for a collaborative grad student and a “Madison” grad student. They are different RFPs and will have a broader review panel. The science proposed within the two projects should still be unique. This is consistent with the Hatch program where a PI can be featured on an interdisciplinary proposal and an individual proposal at the same time, but not the PI on two individual proposals.
If you have remaining questions, please contact Maria Woldt or Heather White.