Research

Research Bridge Funding

Portland State University and AAUP PSU share interests in stability for employees, retaining high-quality research faculty and staff, and maintaining productive research programs. Tenure-related and non-tenure-track research faculty occasionally experience breaks in external funding, which can result in loss of employment to personnel critical to the continuation of their research programs at PSU. Access to short-term bridge funding assists such faculty members in maintaining adequate levels of staffing, so they can work to secure new funding and thus maintain their research program.

Portland State has established a Research Bridge Fund for FY 2024. Limited funds are available, to be used at the discretion of the Vice President for Research & Graduate Studies, to support the continued employment of non-tenure-track research faculty and staff who would be terminated or experience a significant loss of FTE without such funding.

PSU Research Bridge Funding Program

What are bridge funds?

Bridge funds are available on a competitive basis from Research & Graduate Studies to provide temporary salary and fringe benefit support to non-tenure-related employees critical to sustaining research programs and sponsored activities. Bridge funds are meant to address instances where an external research grant or funding source has expired, where a hiatus in funding would jeopardize the research, and where renewal of funding is expected in the near future. The funds are for one-time support only in cases where the Principal Investigator (PI) has experienced a significant reduction in extramural funding. The Bridge Funding Program is not intended for 'pilot' or 'seed' funding.

Eligibility

A PI is eligible to apply for Bridge Funding, provided that individual:

  1. Has lost, or will lose, most of their extramural funding within six months of the Bridge Funding application deadline (see Cycle section below) and will not have sufficient funds from other sources available to sustain the work.
  2. Has a record of accomplishment as a first-author or senior author on publications.
  3. Has made substantial and documented efforts to re-establish funding, and in the opinion of the Dean or Dean-equivalent is likely to be funded again in the next six months.

Note: A funding reduction or shortfall is insufficient by itself to establish eligibility. The Vice President for Research & Graduate Studies may make exceptions to eligibility under unusual circumstances.

Considerations

  • Funding is competitive, and not all applications may be funded.
  • Consideration will be given to need, assessment by the Dean or Dean-equivalent, and the strength of the overall research program.
  • Because a primary objective is to keep experienced research teams together, priority will be given when project staffing will be lost without a temporary infusion of funds.
  • Funding of awards will be made in consultation with academic Deans.
  • Individual grants cannot exceed $25,000 per year.
  • Funding of awards will be available for grantees for a maximum of one year or until the grantee re-establishes funding from other sources, whichever comes first.
  • A financial commitment for support by the college or the department is not required but will strengthen an application.
  • When extramural funding is re-established, all unspent funds must be returned to the Bridge Funding Program to assist other investigators.
  • A PI receiving a Bridge Funding award in one year will not be eligible to reapply for at least two years from the initial/last award.
  • Any requests for exceptions to eligibility or other elements of this policy must be made in writing and may be granted by the Vice President for Research & Graduate Studies.

Bridge Funds cannot be used for:

  • Salary for tenure-related faculty
  • Travel
  • To cover budget overdrafts
  • Graduate student tuition
  • Administrative costs

Cycle

Applications will be considered three times per year. For the current cycle, applications must be received by 5:00 p.m. on October 30, 2023; January 31, 2024; and April 30, 2024. Applications will be accepted on the next business day if the deadline falls on a weekend or holiday.

Application Process

  1. Submit all required forms and documents (listed below under Application Materials) to Research & Graduate Studies, via research@pdx.edu.
  2. RGS will forward the information to the faculty member's Dean for review.
  3. The Dean will forward their recommendation to the Associate Vice President for Research (AVPR) in the Office of Research & Graduate Studies for consideration.
  4. The AVPR will make the final decision in consultation with the Dean and the Vice President for Research & Graduate Studies.
  5. Applicants will be notified of decisions within 30 days of receipt of the complete Bridge Funding request.
  6. There is no appeal process.

Return on Investment and Assessment

Recipients of Bridge Funding are expected to resubmit their grant or contract applications promptly and aggressively seek other extramural sources of support.

Recipients of Bridge Funding are required, 30 days from the end of the Bridge Funding period, to provide the following information:

  • Final accounting of expenditures from the Bridge Funding Program and matching fund sources
  • A summary of the research that was carried out during the funding period and any publications that resulted
  • Any grants that were awarded or are pending

The reports will measure the success of this program and inform program effectiveness. The Office of Research & Graduate Studies will issue a report each September to the Academic Leadership Team (ALT) and to AAUP on the awards made and outcomes.

For Faculty Requesting Funds

Application Materials

Your submitted application should include the following seven required sections in the order listed:

  1. Bridge award eligibility statement. Please provide one of the two eligibility statements below (whichever applies to you) to affirm that you are eligible for a bridge award. If neither applies to you but you believe you are eligible, please contact Research & Graduate Studies (research@pdx.edu) to request a waiver.
    • I will not have more than $30,000 funding from any source for carrying out any research in my laboratory (either as PI or as a co-investigator on another PI's grant) by six months after the due date for this application. E.g., I am applying Dec 1 and I have a grant expiring on May 15. I am eligible.
    • I am an NTTF Research Faculty and will not have funding for more than 50% of my salary from any source by six months after the due date for this application. E.g., I am applying Dec 1 and by May 15 I am losing my main grant so my salary will drop to 40%. I am eligible.
  2. Curriculum vitae.
  3. Current and Pending Support Documentation for the past five years with dollar amounts and funding periods listed for each grant.
  4. Demonstration of attempts to obtain funding (e.g., abstracts of submitted grants, panel summaries, priority scores or other evaluations and comments); do not send complete grant applications. This should include pending research grant(s) with anticipated award date(s) and amount(s).
  5. Description of proposed research (maximum of three pages including bibliography).
  6. Budget and Budget Justification, including the money requested through the Bridge Funding Program and any matching funds provided by your department or dean. Contact your assigned SPA Team if you need assistance with budget development.
  7. Statement of how this funding will increase chances of future funding.

Deadlines: October 30, 2023; January 31, 2024; and April 30, 2024.

Submit all application materials as one PDF file to research@pdx.edu. Contact research@pdx.edu if you have submission questions.