As a first step in the process, the appropriate member of the GFC should meet with Vice President Lydia Villa-Komaroff to discuss the feasibility of the proposal. The GFC proposes that the University establish an incentive system to elicit submission of a greater number of successful research proposals. A Research Incentive Fund could be set up and administered by the Vice President for Research. Investigators who submit and are awarded new grants in a given period would receive a specific number of incentive units, which could be indexed to the dollar amount of the award. Depending upon University income from new research grant awards in the previous fiscal year, a specific dollar amount could be allocated per above unit and this would be made available to individual faculty in discretionary accounts.
Discretionary funds are a critical tool for investigators in a modern research university.
For instance, NU researchers are not allowed to charge to sponsored grant accounts many of the costs associated with developing new projects. In many cases, departments charge faculty for such items. Investigators could also use this seed money for developing preliminary data for a new research proposal, for the purchase of equipment or services that cannot be obtained with money from research grants, for travel to scientific meetings and conferences, and for short sabbaticals. When the total amount of money awarded during the year is more than this amount, a percentage of the difference will be returned to the researcher. The discretionary accounts provided through the proposed Research Incentive Fund would have specific limitations.