Mershon Center for International Security Studies
Faculty Individual Research Grant Competition
Fiscal Year 2026 (July 1, 2025 - June 30, 2026)
Due date February 15, 2025
For a general understanding of the Mershon Center for International Security Studies' mission, funding goals, and categories of funding, please review the overview of Mershon funding on our website.
Scope and eligibility
Mershon offers a limited number of grants for individual faculty research projects relevant to our mission. The funding range depends on the nature of the activities. Funding for the current competition will be made available starting in May 2025. Please note that FIRG applications for 2025-26 are reviewed twice a year, with deadlines on October 1, 2024 and February 15, 2025.
Regular Ohio State faculty (tenure-line or clinical/associated) from any department are eligible. Post-doctoral and visiting scholars are not eligible for these individual grants. Junior faculty who have exhausted their start-up funds are particularly invited to apply.
Fieldwork and other research activities are supported. Requests for course release funding require a statement of approval from the applicant's chair.
Faculty expecting to apply for external funding or initiate collaborative projects after the granting period are invited to discuss the possibility of Mershon hosting with Business & Operations Manager Kyle McCray (mccray.44@osu.edu). Mershon is available to administer external grants; if so, it will expect inclusion in the F&A distribution in reasonable proportion to its commitment and/or other appropriate financial consideration in the proposed budget allocation.
Submission Instructions
All application materials should be sent via email attachments (coversheet saved as a Word document) to mershon.faculty@osu.edu. All other items can be sent separately or as one combined PDF. Please identify each electronic document with your last name, the grant, and document type (i.e., smithFIRvita.doc or smithFIRproposal.doc).
For questions regarding the application process or budget, allowable expenses, travel, or disbursement of funds, please contact Kyle McCray, Business & Operations Manager at the Mershon Center, at mccray.44@osu.edu or 614-292-3810.
Proposal Requirements
Proposals must contain the following elements:
- Standard coversheet including a 100-word abstract (available below).
- Research proposal describing the scope and significance of the overall project and its anticipated products. Limit 3-5 pages, double-spaced, excluding figures and references.
- The specific activities to be funded and how they fit into the larger project plan. Limit 1 page.
- The project's relevance to Mershon's mission and the applicant's interest in Mershon as a context for their work. Limit 1 page.
- If applicable, plans for external funding, follow-on collaborations or partnerships, etc. Limit 1 page.
- Itemized budget. Please explain if additional funding will cover essential expenses.
- CV.
Review and Response
Applications will be reviewed by a multidisciplinary faculty committee, and applicants are invited to request feedback on both successful and unsuccessful applications. Applicants will be notified of the result by November 1 in fall and March 15 in spring. Funds will be available for a full academic year with any extension to be approved on an as-needed basis.
Criteria for evaluation include
- the intellectual excellence and originality of the project, and the applicant's qualifications for undertaking it
- the project's potential impact and follow-ons
- the specificity, viability, ethics, and relevance of the activities proposed for funding
- the project's relevance to Mershon's mission and interdisciplinary constituency
- the applicant's commitment to engaging with the Mershon community
- the importance of Mershon funding for advancing the project
With limited funding available, the committee will also need to balance grants across departments and disciplines.
Grant Requirements
Faculty grantees become Research Associates of the Mershon Center and are expected to participate in its intellectual life. Collegiality and curiosity, objectified by a reasonable level of showing up, are essential to cross-disciplinary learning. Associates are also called upon for specific forms of service, taking their schedules into account. For example, during a funding year, you might be asked to serve as discussant to a postdoc presentation and sit on a grant review committee. Mershon grantees are invited to retain their affiliation with Mershon after the granting period and to continue to collaborate with us.
Specific granting requirements include
- If requested, present the project to Mershon colleagues on a Mershon Monday or other occasion for interdisciplinary feedback
- Submit a brief public-oriented post on the project, with appropriate photos or graphic material, for the Mershon newsletter and website. Grantees should also keep the Mershon Center communications specialist abreast of publications or other research updates and discuss ways in which the center can assist in promoting or supporting research
- Submit a close-out report, including any follow-on plans for external funding
- Credit the Mershon Center for International Security Studies as research funder in all relevant publications and professional activities and list it as an associated org on the ePA-005 form if you apply for external funding
Grantees who do not fulfill the grant requirements will not be eligible for future funding.