Optimal Aging Internal Grants

The Optimal Aging Institute at BGSU offers small internal grants to BGSU faculty and administrative staff members for innovative and/or collaborative research or evaluation projects focused on helping individuals age optimally. Proposals are accepted quarterly, with deadlines in February, April, September, and November.

Details and Guidelines for Applications

Grant funds through the OAI are designed for original scholarship, seed money, or pilot data.

• Grants can be funded for a minimum of $500 and up to $2000
• Applicants may be full-time faculty or graduate-level students with support from a full-time faculty member
• Grant deadlines are quarterly– February, April, September, November
  •    Applications due first of month (or following workday if 1st falls on a weekend/holiday)
  •    Funding will start the first of following month (e.g., for February deadline, funds available on March 1)
  •    Funding must be spent within one calendar year (i.e., by February 28)
• Within one month of end of funding, recipient will submit report to OAI DirectoroReport to include summary of findings and budget report

Grant Application

Please respond to the following in a Word or PDF document to oai@bgsu.edu by the deadline for which quarterly cycle you wish to be considered for funding.

If a graduate-level student, please also submit a Letter of Support from a full-time faculty member, ideally the student’s advisor.

A. Name(s):

B. Unit/College:

C. Project Title:

D. Project Description:

In this section, please provide an overview of the proposed project. Within this overview, be sure to include background, rationale, and proposed methods. In addition, please address the following:

1. How does the proposed project relate to the mission of the Optimal Aging Institute (OAI); the mission of the OAI is to ‘Support, educate, and engage older adults and those who interact with them through campus and community partnerships with a focus on research and creative activities across the eight dimensions of wellness.’
2. How does the proposed project address the 8 Dimensions of Wellness? The 8 Dimensions of Wellness include Physical, Social, Environmental, Intellectual, Emotional, Spiritual, Occupational, and Financial. Specify which dimensions are addressed and how this project will address them.

E. Budget: In this section, please provide:

1. A detailed (line-item) budget;
2. A clear rationale for how the requested funds is necessary for completion of the project.
3. Please note that Funding may not be used for past projects.
4. Travel to conferences to present findings may not exceed 10% of the funding requested. Applicants are encouraged to use professional development funds, submit applications for Speed Grants and Faculty Development Grants first.
   
5. Describe any additional funding that you have applied for or received for the project.

F. Reporting:

1. In this section, please provide plans for reporting project outcomes with an associated timeline. Please note that it is preferable for outcomes to be reported within 3-6 months of project completion.
2. Project outcomes in this section are separate from the report to be submitted to the Director of the Optimal Aging Institute.