Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of Rochester

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation awarded the University of Rochester a five-year grant in 2004 as part of the Kauffman Campuses Initiative (KCI). Rochester's proposal was characterized by a broad definition of entrepreneurship as "Transforming Ideas into Enterprises that Generate Value," where the value could be economic, cultural or social. One important goal of the grant was to encourage and support research that would help us better understand how entrepreneurship thus defined may play out in different fields. A small fund of up to $50,000 annually was allocated to support this kind of activity, and it was decided that faculty members could submit research grant proposals for projects that will serve to enhance our understanding of entrepreneurship.

Research proposals will be solicited and reviewed on a semi-annual basis, with a deadline for submitting proposals of April 1 and November 1. Faculty research proposals should clearly articulate the purpose of the project and how it could advance our understanding of entrepreneurship as defined by the University of Rochester. All proposals should also include established research questions and methodology, a current c.v., and a detailed budget for up to two years of financial support (Attachment C). The University of Rochester Center for Entrepreneurship (URCFE) will fund a number of projects each year and, therefore, does not anticipate providing full funding to proposals with annual budgets in excess of $25,000. Multi- year projects will be considered, but they must be completed before the end of the KCI grant (2009). Faculty with funded projects must submit an annual report (2 pages) and a final report to the URCFE for inclusion in the Annual Report submitted to the Kauffman Foundation, and will present a talk on their project during EntrepreneurshipWeek USA (2008). Projects involving collaborations across units are particularly encouraged.

Proposals should be submitted to one's Dean, with an additional informational copy to the URCFE administrator, Eleanor Sparagana, at eleanor.sparagana@rochester.edu. Each Dean will evaluate the proposals coming from his/her unit, and then present a list of viable proposals to the other deans on the CFE committee. Funding decisions will be made by the members of the CFE Deans Entrepreneurship Committee, based upon the attached rubrics (Attachment B). Faculty will be notified of funding decisions in mid-December and mid-May.

Faculty members with questions regarding research funding or the University of Rochester Center for Entrepreneurship are encouraged to contact Eleanor Sparagana at 276-3410.

cc: Department Administrators