Research Resources Faculty Research Fellowship Program

Participation of Faculty from all four Colleges are expected and encouraged in each one of the themes:

• Automation
  • Robotics, automation, sensing, machine learning, cloud computing, Industry 4.0, Society 5.0, Industry 5.0, computer vision, sustainable manufacturing, autonomous vehicles/UAV’s/platforms, AI, evolutionary computing and automation, etc. [Basic and Applied research within all the 4 Colleges]
• Smart Transportation / Smart Cities
  • Autonomy and autonomous transportation, Smart Designs, Design for Smart Communications, biometrics, intelligent systems and AI, Analytics, Data Sciences, sustainability, environmentally conscious design / architecture / automation / manufacturing, innovative health care, connected vehicles, security and cyber security, IT, etc. [Basic and Applied research within all the 4 Colleges]
• Health Sciences
  • Telehealth, Telemedicine, Simulation for health care applications and Education, robotic innovations, Analytics and Data sciences, Space design for health care facilities, bioinformatics, healthcare management, automated recognition and diagnosis / machine perception application, etc. [Basic and Applied research within all the 4 Colleges]
• Diversity, equity and inclusion innovations in STEM curriculum and instruction
  • Strengthening and invigorating enrollment, retention, bridge programming, K-12 Outreach activities, development of the future workforce, and regional economic development.

These are strategically-focused areas of current federal programs that align with LTU’s strengths.  ALL faculty with a basic or application focus in these types of research themes, technologies and creative innovation within the purposefully broad categories are encouraged to apply

Program Descriptions [PDF]

Program workshops will include content and instruction on development of critical areas of presenting the research problem, objectives, methods, assessment, and outreach strategies. As a program requirement, fellows will confer with program officials to discuss funding opportunities and will participate in peer reviews. 

Fellows are required to submit a complete proposal to an external sponsor within 4 months of program conclusion.

• Each selected fellow will receive $2,500 for student assistants, conference participation and travel, specialized training, or other support expenses. 
• Each fellow will receive an honorarium of $2000 upon program completion and successful submission of a competitive proposal to an outside funding source. 
• Applications are due in late September; the program period is from November 1 to April 30.  

In addition to the $4,500 of direct funding and honoraria, the program will invest heavily in the four teams of Faculty Fellows through providing workshops, speakers, potential travel support, grant writing support if needed, and outside reviewing.

The 3 primary goals of this program are:

1. Produce and submit several competitive and successful external funding applications (both as a joint team project for each theme, and in sub-teams as appropriate)
2. Master the skills necessary to continue competitively pursue external funding, and
3. Produce published scholarly work of significant intellectual merit and broader impact through the course of the fellowship as the research endeavor shaped up.

To reap the benefits requires a commitment to actively participate, support peers, and to fully utilize the resources and expertise provided.  Fellows will develop and submit full competitive proposals, strengthened by feedback from peer review, by the end of this program.

Faculty Fellows are expected to work closely together as a team through the duration of the program and commit to:

• Discussing abstract and research ideas with peer faculty and program official(s) for feedback and further development.
• Producing and submitting a full proposal that contains a peer-reviewed research plan. Because application deadlines vary, Fellows and teams will aim for relevant funding program deadlines most close to the conclusion of this program.
• Sharing external peer reviewer’s feedback confidentially with the administration to assist in improving the Faculty Research Fellowship program content.
• Participating in pre- and post-program evaluation surveys.