Seed Funding FAQs
Find answers and general information about the Education Research Seed Grant Program
1. What is education research?
2. What advice is available?
3. What is the timeline?
4. How do I determine funding start and end date?
5. What can funds be used for?
6. What cannot be funded through this grant program?
7. What kind of research does the CFE seek to fund?
8. Is IRB approval required?
9. What kinds of projects are not appropriate for this mechanism?
10. How are proposals reviewed and selected?
11. What kind of resources can the Program provide?
12. Whom should I contact for further information?
1. What is Education Research?
Education research is the scientific field of study that examines education and learning processes and the human attributes, interactions, organizations, and institutions that shape educational outcomes. Scholarship in the field seeks to describe, understand, and explain how learning takes place throughout a person’s life and how formal and informal contexts of education affect all forms of learning. Education research embraces the full spectrum of rigorous methods appropriate to the questions being asked and also drives the development of new tools and methods.
Source: American Educational Research Association
2. What advice or help is available?
The CFE offers a consultation services with both group and individual consultations.
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3. What is the timeline?
- Six weeks after proposal is submitted: Principal investigators will be notified of the status of their proposal.
- Grant start date: The principal investigator identifies the start and end date for the grant, generally a maximum of two years.
- Generally, within two years of start date: All reimbursement requests must be submitted to CFE.
4. How do I determine funding start and end date?
Generally, two years from start date: Final report due, preferably in the form of a manuscript.
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5. What can the funds be used for?
Funds are only for education research and not for curriculum development. Funds can pay for expenses incurred to do the research. Examples include research assistant time, transcription, participant incentives, materials, equipment (except computer hardware), software, and travel needed to conduct the research. Cost of preparing a poster may be included.
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6. What cannot be funded through this grant program?
Funds cannot cover computer hardware, faculty salary or faculty expenses such as travel to conferences, registration fees, and memberships or subscriptions.
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7. What kind of research does the CFE seek to fund?
The focus is on education research. Preference will be given to research that is theory-driven and/or coincides with current CFE research priority areas. These priority areas are:
- Bridges Curriculum
- Clinical and procedural teaching
- Educational theories and frameworks
- Cognitive load theory
- Situated learning/Communities of practice
- Identity development
- Workplace learning
- Effect of teaching and curriculum on patient care
- Faculty development
- Innovative assessment approaches
- Interprofessional education
- Professionalism
- Reflection
8. Is IRB approval required?
Yes. To be funded, studies must receive IRB approval at UCSF as well as at other institutions where data collection may take place. PI must notify CFE of the IRB approval number before making expenditures.
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9. What kinds of projects are not appropriate for this funding?
This program will not fund curriculum development such as on-line modules or classroom or clerkship educational programs. Such projects that are innovative or novel may be eligible for funding through the Academy of Medical Educators Innovations Funding program.
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10. How are proposals reviewed and selected?
The proposal, with the principal investigator identified, is reviewed by three individuals using the review criteria. The final decision will be a consensus based on the evaluation by the reviewers.
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11. What kind of resources can the CFE provide?
The CFE may have affordable and convenient services and equipment that can be used for research study i.e., laptop or voice-recorder loan, transcription services, survey development and processing, etc.
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12. Whom should I contact for further information?
Please contact Raquel Rodriguez, raquel.rodriguez@ucsf.edu for further inquiries.
