FAQ: Internal Grants

With good justification. Awards are intended to support research activity leading to initiation or expansion of self-sustaining research programs. Applicants are asked to identify current barriers to becoming self-sustaining and to propose a work plan that will lower or remove those barriers. With justification, modest expenditures for equipment may be among the items needed to complete the work that is planned.

Those who propose to use a significant portion of their budgets for purchase of equipment must describe how acquisition of the equipment serves the same purpose – enabling sustenance and growth of the research program – that is more typically served by completing research activity.

“General purpose” equipment such as laptop computers, software, cameras, etc must be carefully justified for research usage and will require a process to document such.  The review panel will consider a compelling case should the faculty member indicate why the proposed research project would not be feasible without the requested equipment. If the panel considers the proposal itself fundable, but not the general equipment, this will be removed from the budget and the recipient will be offered a partial award.

Indirect costs are not charged on internal grants. 

Generally speaking, reviewers would like to see internal grant funds be used to support Lehigh faculty and if necessary graduate student support for a faculty research project. However, internal funds have been used to cover outside services essential to the research project such as editorial services, translations, manuscript preparation, studio fees etc. 

If you intend to hire someone to assist with your research, it is critical that you follow proper procedures for verifying employment eligibility before any work may begin.  Please contact your Business Manager and/or Financial Administrator to initiate the process.

Faculty summer salary of up to $5,000 is an allowable budget request for Accelerator grant submissions. It is not allowable on FRG, FIG, or CORE grants. 

No. While your budget can include purchased services, academic collaborators at other institutions must separately fund their portions of the project.

Internal grant fund usage should follow the budget outlined in the originally proposed work.  Requests to use funds differently than proposed should be approved by the VPR office. Please contact us at vpresearch@lehigh.edu.  

Unused funds will be reverted to the internal grant funding pool for future awards.  

If the assistance provided is to further the faculty member’s research project, the budget can include student support in the form of hourly wage or stipend.  However, student research projects are not eligible. The extent and justification for student support should be included in the project narrative. 

Students may not perform any work until the employment eligibility is approved by the Payroll department. Contact your Business Manager and/or Financial Administrator to initiate the process.

The Minimum Stipend Rate Policy provides the current minimum rate for GA/TA/RA monthly salary and hourly compensation information.  Rates will vary by college and program. Please consult with your College's Associate Dean and Graduate Program Manager for details.

No, Lehigh internal grant funds cannot be used to cover tuition costs. Department and/or college administration should be informed so that they may sign off on waiving tuition.  Please contact your Associate Dean of Research/Graduate Studies for college-specific requirements.

All Lehigh tenure track and tenured faculty and research faculty are eligible to apply. Professors of Practice, postdocs and staff may be team members on grants where a faculty member is the PI.

Faculty are eligible to apply for a FRG every semester but may only hold one award per academic year.

There is no limit on the number of FRGs a faculty member can receive. However, faculty who have received three awards within the last five-year period are not eligible to apply.

Yes, you can apply for more than one internal grant at the same time. However, for each submission, the proposed research activities must be different and the budget should be distinct. 

An individual or team is limited to one FIG award every two years.

A faculty member with a current Lehigh internal grant may apply as a member of a team, provided that team composition is different and the project goals and scope of work are significantly different from those of the current award.

The proposed project must involve at least three tenure-track faculty members, including at least one tenured member of the faculty, as co-Principal Investigators.

Yes. External partners, however, must cover all costs of their portions of the project.

You must ask for what you really need to meet the goals of the grant. 

No. The sole purpose of the list of any current and pending support is to support judgment of how the proposed project differs from any current project. Your ability to compete for external support will be judged by your vision for the project and its fit with the missions of potential sources, how well you identify criteria for success with potential sources and the plan you describe for meeting those criteria. Of course, other material, including your CV, and your narrative concerning the relationship between your personal research agenda and the proposed project, serve to document your capabilities as a researcher.

Yes, and you will not be discredited for having attempted to go straight for extramural funding. You may paraphrase or quote the review in your application and provide a copy of the critique as an addendum.

You may target one or more foundations that support work in your field or has interest in a topic to which your work can be applied. Conduct of work that demonstrates the merits of a new project or application of an existing line of work to a new area that is of interest to a foundation is excellent use of a FIG award. A FIG award can support initial work with a colleague for that purpose.

FIG awards are for up to 12 months, and you may expect to be ready to pursue external funding in less time. Of course, if you plan a submission very near the start of the FIG grant, it must be clear why the FIG support is needed, remembering that the FIG should be supporting new work.

It depends. You would need to make a case that, at the end of the FIG project, you will show promise of contributing to the "destination" field in a manner that would be appreciated by people in that field. A FIG grant can provide a means to show some initial accomplishments and establish a record of publication in a new area. You should consider consultation or collaboration with someone who works in the "destination" field.

The Review Committee meets approximately two weeks after that grant deadline.  Award decisions are usually made within a week of the review meeting, and grant funds are usually available within a month of award notification.

To account for processing time, faculty are encouraged to apply for IRB or IACUC approval as soon as they decide to apply for internal grant support. Research activities using animal or human subjects cannot begin before receiving IRB or IACUC approval, which may impact your ability to complete the project within the 12 month award period.

University policies regarding animal and human subjects can be located on the Research Integrity site. There you can select the appropriate information for animal and human subjects.

Simply note that an existing protocol is already in place along with the date approval was given in the narrative section of your proposal.

General administrative support, such as account balances, invoice payments, purchase orders, OneCard approvals, and Payroll set up requests are conducted at the College level with your coordinator and business manager.

Questions related to graduate student stipends should be directed to your Associate Dean for Graduate Studies and Graduate Programs Manager. 

Award-specific matters including final reporting, account closure, budget modifications and extension requests should be directed to the Office of VP Research at vpresearch@lehigh.edu.

To request a budget modification or extension of an award, the recipient should submit the request through the Internal Grants Extension Request Form in Infoready.

Unused funds will revert back to the OVPR for later use. 

If you have a compelling reason why the project cannot be completed during the award period, you may submit a request for an extension through the Internal Grants Extension Request form.. 

If circumstances prevent you from completing the research completely, the award can be returned without penalty or consequence for future applications. 

Your index number is accessible in the following ways:

1. View it in your award letter.
2. View it in Argos
3. View it in LIRA:

• Select Finance/Payroll
• Select Campus Users
• Select Finance Dashboard
• Then choose the indexes starting in 4 or 6

• Go to View Award
• Go to Financial Setup
• Click the word "VIEW" word next to it (letters are very small)
• Scroll down to item #10.

For internal grants awarded from Fall 2022 on, please make sure to cite the ID number provided in your award letter.  For example, "This work was funded by Lehigh grant FRGAWD001

For internal grants awarded prior to Fall 2022, list the type of grant that supported your work. For example, "This research was funded by a FIG grant from Lehigh University"