How to Apply

Eligibility

In keeping with our goal of supporting early-career faculty, eligibility is open to faculty members who, at the time of application, have a tenure-track Assistant Professor appointment or are no more than five years beyond tenure and promotion at the Associate Professor level.

The proposed work must be basic research that is discovery driven and creates new knowledge. Research that is primarily translational in nature (i.e., seeks to apply existing knowledge) or that has been funded in the past is not eligible.

For all PIs, a two-page C.V. and list of current and pending grant and/or contract support (both using standard NSF format) must be submitted along with the concept paper. Proposals exceeding two pages will be returned without review.

Present your two page proposal concept paper in the following format:

Proposal title:

Principal Investigator(s):
Name
Title/rank
Department
Phone number/email
Official start date of Asst Prof appointment or promotion to Assoc Prof.

Concept:  
What is your idea and how does it revolutionize your field?

What is the gap in knowledge or paradigm you are seeking to address?

Approach:
How would your research fill the gap or move knowledge forward?

What is your experimental or novel approach for addressing this question?

Broader Significance:
How will your findings change our understanding not only of your field but also other sciences and/or society at large?

Why is your research so unique that it is unlikely to be supported by funding agencies?

Applications consisting of the above items must be submitted electronically in pdf format by September 6, 2016 to Kathryne Piazzola, OVPR, Kathryne.Piazzola@stonybrook.edu.

Applications that do not follow these guidelines will be returned without review. 

Key Dates

Concept Papers due: September 6, 2016  

Invitations to submit full proposals issued: October 7, 2016

Full proposals due: November 4, 2016

Oral presentations by finalists: TBD

Award announcement and reception: TBD

Project start date: TBD

Review Process

The Office of the Vice President for Research will lead the proposal review process. Review of concept papers will involve a multidisciplinary panel of SUNY Distinguished Professors from SBU. Following review of concept papers, a subset (no more than five) will be invited to submit full proposals. Review of full proposals will involve both written and oral presentations (i.e., TED-style talks) to be judged by a second panel of distinguished external and SBU scientists. Names of panelists will be posted on the Discovery Prize website prior to the proposal deadline.