EIU Office of Research and Sponsored Programs

Council on Faculty Research

Council on Faculty Research (CFR) Fall Competition

Applications are due by noon, Wednesday, September 3, 2025

This internal grant competition funds projects for research and creative activity. CFR’s goal is to fund the best quality research and creative activity at EIU regardless of discipline. The CFR Competition is subject to the availability of annual funding.

Amount: Up to $5,000 per grant

• To qualify as research, the proposed activity must have the potential to generate knowledge. The proposed activity may be either (a) theoretical or empirical research or (b) applied research which relates to specific discipline(s).
• To qualify as creative activity, the proposed activity need not fit the traditional mold (art, music, dance, theater, education, or creative writing) but must involve a new medium or concept and must result in an observable outcome.

Proposals should be submitted as an e-mail attachment to eiugrants@eiu.edu or hand-delivered to the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, 1102 Blair Hall by noon on the due date. Late proposals will not be reviewed.

Application Forms

Click on the form name to download:

Fall CFR Creative Activity Application Packet

Fall CFR Research Application Packet

Departmental Project Evaluation Form

Guidelines for the Research/Creative Activity Fall Competition

All tenured/tenure track University faculty in Bargaining Unit A and department chairs and associate chairs are eligible to submit a CFR proposal.

Applicants may submit only one proposal in which he or she is the principal investigator. 

An individual may receive only two consecutive fall awards, after which the individual will be ineligible for an award in the third fall competition.  

A faculty member who has failed to fulfill all obligations of a completed grant in any other internal funding program administered by the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs is not eligible to apply for a CFR grant. Faculty who have received CFR grants in the past should make sure a progress/final report for that award is on file in the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs prior to their current application being reviewed.

Members of CFR may apply for funding, but may neither deliberate upon nor vote for any proposals during a funding round in which they have a proposal under consideration.  Any CFR member who applies for such funding will be replaced by an alternate from the same college.  Alternates will be selected from among applicants who turn in petitions.  If no applicants are available, alternates from the appropriate college will be recruited by the Faculty Senate or the VPAA according to established selection procedures.

If you have any questions regarding eligibility, please call the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at 581-2125 or e-mail eiugrants@eiu.edu.

Proposal Format

• Fall CFR Application Packet
• Vita
• Bibliography
• Proposed Budget
• Departmental Project Evaluation Form
• Supportive Materials (optional)

• Margins must not be smaller than one inch.
• The font should be 11-point Arial, Helvetica, or Times New Roman.
• This limitation does not include the other components of the application packet (project details, budget summary, submission checklist).

Vita: may not exceed five single-sided pages.  

Budget

• Itemize all expenses that comprise the total in each line item (commodities, contractual services, travel, equipment and student help).
• Include justification for determining these figures.
• If necessary, verify classification of line items with the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs.

The total of each line item and the grand total should also be shown in the Budget Summary section of the Fall CFR Application Packet. Line items must be prioritized in the Budget Summary.

Pre-award expenses will not be funded.

Travel that is necessary to conduct research or creative activity. (The applicant must show that the proposed activity requires travel to the destination specified.)

Student help at wages appropriate to the task, as defined by EIU classifications.

• CFR does not fund graduate assistantships, and students are not eligible for pay from student help funds during any term in which they are being paid a graduate assistant stipend.

Equipment if the applicant can show it is needed for the proposed activity and is otherwise unavailable.

• Equipment purchased with CFR funds is the property of the university.

• Expenses for curriculum development solely for one’s own classes;
• Completing a dissertation;
• Classroom/office equipment;
• Typing and copying of finished manuscripts;
• Publishing expenses, e.g., page charges assessed by journals and publishing subventions;
• Travel to present results of research;
• Shipment of property for the purpose of performance, exhibit, etc.

Proposal Submission

E-mail the proposal as an attachment to eiugrants@eiu.edu. Files must be in Word or PDF format. You may submit the application packet and attachments as separate documents within the e-mail. Proposals can also be hand-delivered to the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs, 1102 Blair Hall by 12:00 Noon on posted due date.

LATE PROPOSALS WILL NOT BE REVIEWED

Review Process

Proposals will be reviewed based on responses to the questions, budget, and credentials of the applicant.

• Sample Research Review Form
• Sample Creative Activity Review Form

• it is submitted late;
• it is submitted by ineligible personnel;
• it exceeds size limitations;
• it lacks any of the following: a cover page, supervisor’s recommendation, vita, budget, bibliography, and if required, copies of the research instrument;
• it is the second proposal listing the same principal investigator during a given funding round.

All applicants will be notified of their proposal status when review is complete.

Requirements and Conditions

The awardee will be required to submit a final report detailing the results of the research/creative activity project by September 15 the fall after which the grant is awarded. The report should be completed using the CFR Final Report Form.

• Failure to complete this requirement may prohibit the researcher from future funding.  

If a proposal is selected for funding, and the project involves human subjects or vertebrate animals, funds may not be released for use by the researcher until the appropriate compliance committee (IRB or IACUC) has reviewed and approved the project.

• The official year-end dates for CFR travel applications and vouchers will be available on the EIU Business Office website: https://www.eiu.edu/busofc/yearend.php. 

Questions regarding CFR Awards should be directed to the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs at eiugrants@eiu.edu or 217-581-2125.