IAMU CALL FOR PROPOSALS & GRANT GUIDELINES

Call for Proposals PDF Format

Downloadable Guidelines [.pdf]

Application Form [.doc]

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Submission of Proposals

Before submitting a proposal for consideration, the following should be noted:

a. The budget ceiling for each proposal is U.S. $30,000.

b. The project must be completely original and not duplicate any other work being undertaken on behalf of or funded by any other entity.

c. Proposals will only be accepted from faculty and/or staff who are employees of IAMU member institutions. All proposals must be accompanied by a letter from the president/rector, signed and dated, that states that the institution fully supports this research project.

d. Special consideration for funding will be given to proposals that address maritime educational issues of international importance and which include a collaborative effort of two or more IAMU member institutions.

e. Proposals must be responsive to the program announcement/solicitation. Proposed work must be appropriate for funding by IAMU, and must not be a duplicate of, or substantially similar to, a proposal already under consideration by IAMU from the same submitter.

The proposal should include the following:

a. Completed application form

b. Cover sheet

c. Project title

d. Project summary

e. Project description

f. Project budget

g. Project timeline (Gannt chart)

h. References cited

i. Full details of all the academic works completed during the past 3 years

j. Indication of which Working Group topic the proposal addresses (See Working Group section of IAMU by-laws under "What is IAMU" section of web page)

k. Name and title of primary researcher. For rank or title, please use one of the following categories to describe your current status: Postdoctoral Researcher, Instructor, Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Professor, Other (explain).

l. Names and titles of participating researchers, together with the same information as the primary researcher.

m. Name of sponsoring IAMU member institution

n. Signature of principal officer of institution. (In case of multiple member participation, the signatures of all the participating institutions are requested. Proposals will not be considered without a signed authorization page).

o. Signature of primary researcher

p. Curriculum vitae for the primary researcher as well as each of the participating researchers and all participating academicians.

q. A signed statement assuring IAMU that this project is not being funded by another foundation or organization.

The proposal narrative should be no longer than three to six pages in length (12pt in Times New Roman font). The Project Selection Committee will not consider any pages beyond the sixth. The proposal should be submitted electronically to the IAMU secretariat no later than Friday, February 3, 2006. The signature page must thereafter be faxed to the Secretary's Office by Friday, February 10, 2006 (fax number: +81-3-5251-4134).

Selection Process

The chair of IAMU shall forward all applications that satisfy the basic requirements to the Project Selection Committee(s) to be further scrutinized. These will later be discussed at the IAMU International Executive Committee for a final decision. The IAMU secretariat provides administrative support only and does not vote during final selection.

The IAMU secretariat provides administrative support only and does not vote during final selection.

Selection Criteria (not in order of importance)

1. Does the proposal fall within IAMU guidelines for topics to be addressed during this grant year?
2. Significance. Does this study address an important problem? If the aims of the proposal are achieved, how will knowledge or education be advanced? What will be the effect of these studies on concepts, methods and technologies in the maritime industry?
3. Innovation . Is the project original and innovative? For example: Does the project challenge existing paradigms or accepted practice; address an innovative hypothesis or critical barrier to progress in the field? Does the project develop or employ novel concepts, approaches, methodologies, tools, or technologies for this area?
4. Clarity and importance of research objective and methodology.
5. What will be the outcome of the proposal? Will it be a book, article, paper, computer software or other tangible result?
6. Demonstration of serious preparatory work.
7. Strong reference.
8. Time Frame. The intended time for completion of the project should be clearly stated in the application. It is anticipated that most projects will have a timescale of six to twelve months. A longer period will be considered on a case by case basis, solely depending on the contents of the proposed project.
9. Feasibility of budget. In all cases the proposal should include a detailed projection of activities, and budgetary breakdowns clearly indicated in the application.
10. Need for research.
11. Plans to collaborate with international colleagues.
12. In order for a proposal to be considered, the member institution's dues must be current.

Program Timeline

All applicants will be notified of their status by the end of March, 2006. Grants may begin in April, 2006 and may be completed by March, 2007. Secretary's Office will keep the awardees informed.

Conflict of Interest

It is the intention of the IAMU that all decisions made are fair, impartial and based solely on the merit of the project proposal. To that end, members of the Project Selection Committee are asked to recuse themselves from any discussion or decision making process in which there might potentially be a conflict of interest or conflict of commitment. For example where a Project Selection Committee member is employed by the same institution, is a family member, or has previously collaborated on a research project with the proposer or a member of his/her research team.

Extensions

Awardees may authorize a one-time extension of the expiration date of the award up to 6 months if additional time beyond the established expirations date is required to assure adequate completion of the original scope of work within the funds already made available. A single extension which shall not exceed 6 months, may be made for this purpose and must be made prior to the originally established expiration date. Awardees shall notify the secretariat, providing supporting reasons for the extension request and the revised extension date, at least 30 days prior to the expiration date specified in the original award. A decision on whether or not to grant an extension will be made by the International Executive Committee, either at a regularly scheduled meeting or by an email vote.

Equipment

Financial support will not cover the purchase cost of equipment that would be expected to be provided by the member university, i.e. personal computer, simulators, etc.

a. Title to equipment Title to equipment purchased or fabricated with IAMU funds shall be decided on a case by case basis by the International Executive Committee.

b. Conditions for acquisition and use of equipment and software The grant proposal must include a section that briefly, but sufficiently describes why the equipment is:

i. necessary for the research or activity supported by the grant and provide a full description and specifications including manufacture of the equipment or software along with an explanation of why it is needed

ii. not otherwise reasonably available or accessible

iii. of the type normally charged as a direct cost to sponsored agreements

c. All equipment must be acquired in accordance with organizational practices

d. General Purpose Equipment.Expenditures for general purpose equipment are unallowable unless the equipment is used primarily or exclusively in the actual conduct of the research

e. Right to transfer title. IAMU may identify items of equipment with an acquisition price of $5,000 or more where IAMU reserves the right to transfer title at any time during the grant period. In cases where IAMU elects to transfer the title, disposition instructions will be issued no later than 120 calendar days after the expiration date of the IAMU funded project for which it was acquired

Materials and Supplies

The proposal budget must indicate the general types of expendable materials and supplies required, with their estimated costs. The breakdown should be more detailed when the cost is substantial.

Direct Costs

Any costs charged to an IAMU grant must be reasonable and directly allocable to the supported activity. The budget must identify and itemize other anticipated direct costs not included under other headings, including materials and supplies, publication costs, computer services and consultant services. Reference books and periodicals may be charged to the grant only if they are specifically required for the project. Prior approval must be obtained from the IAMU secretariat.

Travel

Travel and its relation to the proposed project activities must be specified and itemized by destination and cost in the original project application. Funds may be requested for field work meetings with collaborators. Wherever possible, every effort should be made to conduct collaborative meetings by telephone and/or by email. Allowance for air travel normally will not exceed the cost of round-trip, economy airfares, based on lowest market economy rates. Funding for such travel, while authorized in the original project proposal, must be requested in writing from the IAMU secretariat no later than 30 days prior to the anticipated date of departure for each specified trip. Payment for authorized travel will be made by the IAMU secretariat no later than 30 days following the receipt of all required documentation (tickets, vouchers, hotel bills, etc).

Funding for travel to attend the annual general assembly to present a preliminary report or a final report will be paid for by IAMU only for the primary researcher according to a pre-determined schedule of costs for each country published each year by the hosting institution.

Payments

a. Payment will be made by the IAMU secretariat, quarterly, in arrears, upon receipt of a quarterly progress report and a quarterly budget report accompanied by all necessary receipts for expenditures made. Said reports are to be submitted by the primary researcher. Continuing funding is contingent on:

i. availability of funds

ii. satisfactory scientific/technical progress

iii. any special conditions of the grant

Reporting Requirements

a. Quarterly reports must be no more than 2 pages in length (exclusive of budget report) and must include the following information:

i. a paragraph briefly describing the intended objective

ii. progress to date

iii. identify problems encountered, if any

iv. expected progress during up coming quarter

b. Unless otherwise specified, a final project report must be submitted in the form of a printed booklet and presented by the primary researcher at the first annual general assembly of the IAMU following the completion of the project. Costs for this printing should be included in the original proposal budget

c. The awardee must also provide to the IAMU secretariat, within 90 days following the expiration period of the award, any unique reports or other end products specified in the award.

d. Additionally, the primary researcher is required to submit to the IAMU secretariat a quarterly budget report as well as a final budget report. For reimbursement, receipts must be included.

e. The awardee may be asked to make a preliminary report on the project at the first AGA following the awarding of the grant. If so requested, funding to cover the costs associated with making this report will be made through the IAMU secretariat.

Copyright

Rights to the publishable work resulting from proposal grant will vest with the author(s) only after the final report is presented at the Annual General Assembly of the IAMU and printed in either the IAMU Journal or the IAMU News.

Publications

a. Acknowledgment of support. The awardee is responsible for assuring that acknowledgment of support is made:

i. in any publication (including World Wide Web pages) of any material based on or developed under this project, in the following terms: "This material is based upon work supported by the International Association of Maritime Universities and sponsored by the Nippon Foundation"

ii. IAMU support must also be acknowledged orally during all news media interviews, including popular media such as radio, television and news magazines

iii. Copies for IAMU. The primary researcher is responsible for assuring that two copies of every publication of material based on or developed under this grant, clearly labeled with the award number and other appropriate identifying material, are sent to the IAMU secretariat promptly after publication

Publicity

All successful applications and their interim as well as final reports may be publicized through IAMU Journal or IAMU News at the discretion of IAMU. Final reports must first be presented in an IAMU publication (IAMU News, Journal, or web-site) prior to appearing in any other public medium.

Suspension or Termination

The award may be suspended or terminated by the International Executive Committee, in whole or in part, in any of the following situations:

a. When the awardee has materially failed to comply with the terms and conditions of the award.

b. When the Steering Board has other reasonable cause

c. By IAMU and the awardee by mutual agreement, or unilaterally by IAMU if a mutual agreement cannot be reached

Publication/Documentation/Dissemination

The proposal budget may request funds for the costs of documenting, preparing, publishing or otherwise making available to others the findings and products of the work conducted under the grant. This generally includes the following types of activities: reports, reprints, page charges or other journal costs (except costs for prior or early publication); necessary illustrations; cleanup, documentation, storage and indexing of data and databases; development, documentation and debugging of software; and storage, preservation, documentation, indexing, etc.

System of Compensation

IAMU has elected to follow the Big Mac Index (see below) in determining levels of compensation for researchers with varying levels of expertise in different countries. Acceptance of an IAMU grant implies acceptance of the Big Mac scale for remuneration. An example of this scale is listed below. The most updated scale will be published on the IAMU website at the same time as the annual Call for Papers by the IAMU chair and all budgetary requests are expected to follow this index.

The Big Mac Index

[The Economist, May 29th, 2004 PP69-70]

www.economist.com/markets/Bigmac/Index.cfm

"The first column [which is listed below] converts the local price of a Big Mac into dollars at current exchange rates. The average price of a Big Mac in four American cities is $2.90 (including tax). The cheapest shown in the table is in the Philippines ($1.23), the most expensive in Switzerland ($4.90). In other words, the Philippine peso is the world's most undervalued currency, the Swiss franc its most overvalued"

Formula:

1. Base: U.S. Academies (See paragraph entitled Cost Sharing below)
2. Base Remuneration: The level used for the Project System No.1 (FY2003) is applied.
   The highest level is @U.S.$25 per hour for a Full Professor.
3. The highest level is @U.S.$25 per hour for a Full Professor.
4. The Big Mac Index: This objective and practical Index is applied.
   (The Economist reports this index at a regular interval)
5. Suggested remuneration scale:

   [A] category: Full Professor - @US$25 per hour

   [B] category: Associate & Assistant Professor - @US$15 per hour

   [C] category: Research Assistant - @US$10 per hour

Country	Big Mac Price in US dollar (at current exchange rate)	$/local parity	IAMU Remuneration scale
			[A]	[B]	[C]
U.S.	$3.06	1.00	$25	$15	$10
Australia	$2.50	0.82	$21	$12	$ 8
U.K.	$3.44	1.12	$28	$17	$11
Canada	$2.63	0.86	$22	$13	$ 9
China	$1.27	0.41	$10	$ 6	$ 4
Denmark	$4.58	1.50	$38	$23	$16
Egypt	$1.55	0.51	$13	$ 8	$ 5
Euro Area	$3.58	1.17	$29	$18	$12
Japan	$2.34	0.77	$19	$12	$ 8
Poland	$1.96	0.64	$16	$10	$ 6
Russia	$1.48	0.48	$12	$ 7	$ 5
Korea	$2.49	0.81	$20	$12	$ 8
Sweden	$4.17	1.36	$34	$20	$14
Turkey	$2.92	0.95	$24	$14	$10

Cost Sharing

Because the IAMU is a group of member institutions banded together for the betterment of world education as it pertains to seafarers, it is understood that projects are not always funded at 100% of all costs involved. Occasionally, the Big Mac Index will fall short of the compensation levels normally expected in a given country or at a given level of expertise. Proposals submitted in response to IAMU solicitations may be subject to "cost sharing" requirements. IAMU has determined that proposals submitted in response to the solicitation for proposals provide a tangible benefit to the award recipient(s) (normally beyond the immediate term or scope of the IAMU-supported activity). Benefit is defined in terms of capacity building, potential dollar revenues, time frames, or third party users.

The Chair would like to express gratitude on behalf of IAMU for your valuable contribution to the knowledge and understanding of all of our members and of the seafaring industry.

Example Budget Narrative

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