Faculty Development Grants

COLLEGE OF SCIENCES FACULTY DEVELOPMENT GRANTS 

To support significant professional development experiences

Deadline: January 31, 2025

Rationale and Scope:

These grants are intended to benefit both the Georgia Tech community and the careers of CoS faculty members by fostering and supporting significant new opportunities for professional growth and development. Examples of activities which could be supported by a Faculty Development Grant include: changing research direction by spending time at another institution to conduct research; working on a book or other large creative project; large-scale pedagogical or curricular innovation; or assembling a large, collaborative grant proposal.   

Faculty Development Grants are paid to the faculty member’s School in order to replace the faculty member in the classroom for one semester. Faculty members who take a one-semester leave will retain their Georgia Tech academic salary during this period. Faculty who wish to take leave for two consecutive academic semesters must procure external funds if they wish to receive their full salary during this period. No leaves with pay are available during the summer semester. 

Criteria:

  1. These grants are restricted to those tenured faculty members, senior and principal academic professionals, and senior and principal lecturers who have been at Georgia Tech for at least five years and have not already received a Faculty Development Grant in the previous five years. 

  2. Preference will be given to applications complemented by external funds acquired by the applicant to support the leave. 

  3. The application will be judged based on the significance of the professional opportunity, the potential for impact on Georgia Tech and on the faculty member’s career, and on the recommendation and prioritization of the School (see expectations for the proposal below). 

Application Process:

Applications should consist of the following documents submitted electronically to the CoS office via InfoReady (FDG Application) by January 31, 2025 for leaves proposed for the next academic year (i.e., a leave proposed for fall 2025 or spring 2026 must be applied for by January 31, 2025): 

  1. A completed Faculty Development Grant Application Form signed by the School Chair. 
  2. A proposal focusing on the nature of the activity to be undertaken during the leave, including a description of objectives and plans. The proposal should also explain how the leave will facilitate the faculty member’s professional growth or change of direction. Expected outcomes of the leave should be presented, including anticipated benefits to the faculty member’s career and to Georgia Tech. The maximum allowable length of the proposal is 2 pages, including figures and references. 
  3. A current Curriculum Vitae (in the Georgia Tech format or similar is preferred.) 
Review and Award Process:

Applications are evaluated once per year soon after the January deadline. Grants will be awarded on a competitive basis following a review within the College using the criteria described above. Applications that are highly rated but cannot be supported due to limited availability of CoS funds and/or a substantial excess of applications from one School may be supported by School funds subject to approval of the School Chair. Outcomes of the competition will be provided to each applicant by the end of February of each calendar year. Late applications will not be accepted unless unspent funds remain. Questions concerning the process and proposal status should be directed to Young-Hui Chang, Associate Dean for Faculty Development (yh.chang@ap.gatech.edu) 

After a Faculty Development Grant has been approved by the College of Sciences, the faculty member’s home School HR manager should submit the appropriate paperwork via Tracs so the absence can be approved at the Institute level. For a physical absence exceeding half a semester (8.5 weeks or more), the appropriate paperwork is a Leave of Absence Form plus a spend authorization. For one or more physical absences each lasting more than 10 consecutive business days, but not longer than 8.5 weeks, the appropriate paperwork is the Absence from Campus Form plus spend authorization (SA is submitted separately for each trip). Multiple shorter trips that are less than half a semester in total duration can be put on one Absence from Campus Form.  Multiple shorter trips that are longer than half a semester in total duration should be put on a Leave of Absence form. For individual absences of 10 or fewer consecutive business days, only a spend authorization is required.  

Faculty receiving a Faculty Development Grant are required to return to Georgia Tech for at least one full year after their leave. After returning to campus, the faculty member must prepare a final report describing the activities during the leave and the benefits to the faculty member and to Georgia Tech and submit the report to fdg@cos.gatech.edu 

If a faculty member who has received a faculty development grant wishes to defer their paid leave to a different academic year than was proposed, they should submit a request to the Associate Dean for Faculty Development and be aware that they may be asked to reapply.