PSC-CUNY Research Award Program

The Office of Research and Sponsored Programs corroborates PSC-CUNY as one of the premier sources of reinforcement to the York College Faculty and Staff.

The Professional Staff Congress- City University of New York (PSC-CUNY) Research Award Program is an internal grant program. PSC-CUNY has been established as a major vehicle for the university's encouragement and support of senior faculty research with external funding.

PSC-CUNY seeks to enhance the university’s role as a research institution, further the professional growth and development of its faculty, and provide support for established and young scholars.
Awards granted by PSC-CUNY are distributed by the University Committee on Research Awards, a faculty committee, and administered by the Research Foundations of CUNY (RF CUNY).
There is a preference for Junior Faculty in the allocation of funds.
The application process is completed with the PSC-CUNY electronic system on the Research Foundations Website.
Funding supports activities in the creative arts and all research in the natural sciences, social sciences, and humanities. Including but not limited to, research related to curriculum development, improvement in teaching, the adaptation of standard educational techniques to special clientele, and lastly, the relationship between technical occupational training and the liberal arts curriculum.

All full-time members of the instructional staff and untenured members of the faculty, who are on the regular university payroll processed through the Office of Comptroller of the City or State of New York, are eligible to apply.

To have access to this funding opportunity, a proposal must involve original research or creative activities by the principal investigator (PI). Grants will not fund the following activities:

Those that support the fulfillment of degree requirements of the PI.
The writing of textbooks.
The development of a curriculum for specific courses or programs.

There are only three categories of grant awards:

Traditional A Awards of up to $3,500
Traditional B Awards of more than $3,600 up to $6,000
Enhanced Awards of more than $6,500 up to $12,000

Further Information on PSC-CUNY Awards

Traditional A and B Awards

To maximize funding opportunities, approximately 80% of the funds available for these two categories of awards will be allocated to Traditional A Awards.

For Traditional A Awards: a maximum of $3,500 may be requested. Please note that Traditional A Awards will not support requests for reassigned time.

For Traditional B Awards: a maximum of $6,000 may be requested.

Note: Both Traditional A and B Awards are subject to review only by the discipline-based review panel to which they are submitted. The review panels are not permitted to modify budget proposals; Successful applications will be fully funded.
Therefore, the appropriateness and relevance of the budget to the proposal is an important review criterion.
The grant period will last for one year, from July 1st to June 30th.
If a six-month extension is required, the period to use the funds will be granted. Awardees must submit the extension request by email to the program administrator before the end of the grant period.
Please be aware that Only One Extension Period Will Be Granted.

Enhanced Awards

As part of the three-year pilot program, the university and the union identified new sources of funding to support up to 40 Enhanced Awards per year.
In this category, which is the most competitive among the three categories, a maximum of $12,000 may be requested.
Applications for Enhanced Awards should be significant scholarly or creative projects that require more than $6,000 to be completed. Applications in this category must include a detailed budget justification.
Successful applicants will be fully funded, therefore the reviewers will seriously consider the appropriateness of the budget and budget justification. Enhanced Awards will undergo two expert reviews in addition to the review conducted by the discipline-based panel to which they are submitted.
The grant period will last for one year, from July 1st to June 30th.
If a six-month extension is required, the period to use the funds will be granted. Awardees must submit the extension request by email to the program administrator before the end of the grant period.
Please be aware that Only One Extension Period Will Be Granted.

PSC-CUNY Awards Post-Award Information

Award Extensions

PSC-CUNY Awards have a grant period of one year from July 1 to June 30.
One six-month extension (until December 31) may be granted upon request to PSC_CUNY@rfcuny.org.

Budget Changes

All PSC-CUNY Award funds granted to a PI must be spent as delineated in the research project abstract.
To reallocate awarded funds PIs must email a request to PSC_CUNY@rfcuny.org.

Final Reports

All faculty members receiving a PSC-CUNY award are required to complete a PSC-CUNY Research Award Final Project Report. The Final Project Report must be emailed to PSC_CUNY@rfcuny.org.

Acknowledgement of Grant Support

Publications, performances, and presentations including visual and electronic media should contain the following acknowledgment of support: "Support for this project was provided by a PSC-CUNY Award, jointly funded by The Professional Staff Congress and The City University of New York."
For more information regarding award expenditures, please see the Award Expenditures Instructions for Payment document.

For more information regarding PSC-CUNY please visit the PSC-CUNY Award Program Webpage; for more on Post-Award requirements please see the Post-Award PSC-CUNY Research Program webpage. For help regarding Grants and Contracts please contact the RF Grants & Contracts Key Contacts Alexis Davis or Daphne Karawita.