Seminar Proposal Instructions
The deadline to submit proposals for 2013–2014 has passed.
Applications for seminars to be held in academic year 2014–2015 will be accepted in fall 2013.
Scope: Please note that we do not fund larger, more formal meetings like conferences under this program, and Exploratory Seminars are not public events.
Subject matter: Your proposal should convey an early vision of proposed research and is not expected to be entirely polished. It may reflect any subject matter or disciplinary concentration and may involve single disciplines or multidisciplinary groups. You are welcome to submit proposals with topics that cross departmental, divisional, or school boundaries.
Preferred date for seminar: Please submit your preferred date, knowing that the actual date will be negotiated with Radcliffe Academic Ventures after the proposal is accepted. Seminars must be held between July 1, 2013 and June 30, 2014.
Description of topic, seminar, and its structure: Give a two to three page outline of the topic, including an explanation of its significance or potential for exciting scholarship, desired outcomes, and a rough plan (subject to revision) for each day of the meeting.
A note on desired outcomes: We are flexible about desired outcomes, for we want the structure and goals of the Exploratory Seminars to reflect the aspirations of the organizers. The results will differ depending on the topic, participants, and plans of the seminar leaders, and may range from the development of new ways of thinking about a set of intellectual questions to a more focused, product-oriented approach. The latter (which could include planned future research collaborations, outlines for publications or funding opportunities, or other work product) is as welcome as the former; all we ask is that these goals be stated clearly.
Participants: Seminars generally involve 10 to 18 invited scholars, including at least three or four Harvard faculty, with the remaining participants coming from other universities in the United States and around the world. Proposals are given special favor when providing opportunities for junior faculty to participate alongside senior faculty.
Please provide a one-page list of the participants, annotated to include a brief discussion of the special expertise or perspective each would bring to the seminar. Put an asterisk before the name of any prospective participant with whom you have already discussed the possibility of participation. Put a “J” before the names of any junior faculty. Please allow for the possible inclusion of an additional person or two whom the review committee might suggest.
Budget: The maximum funding for an Exploratory Seminar is $18,000. Permissible costs include participants’ travel and accommodations, meals for the seminar, and miscellaneous expenses such as rental of special equipment. Administrative support such as staffing should not be included. Submit your budget using the following expense guidelines:
Hotel: Please estimate costs as $235 plus 14.45% tax per night from November through March and $285 plus 14.45% tax otherwise. Since traveling participants usually arrive the day before a seminar begins and often leave the morning after a seminar concludes, a two-day seminar would often need three hotel nights per traveler.
Ground transportation (taxi) costs en route should not exceed $200 per traveler.
Airfares: For estimating these costs, which should be the lowest coach class fares, please call Harvard Travel Center at 1-800-610-5640 or e-mail harvardtravel@bcdtravel.com. Air fares may be lower if they include a Saturday stay-over. Include a $42 administrative fee for each traveler.
Food: For estimating food costs per person: $20 continental breakfast; $24 lunch; $13 each break; $61 dinner. For a dinner at the Harvard Faculty Club, add $160.
Extraordinary expenses, such as a deaf participant needing a signer, should also be included, along with an explanation for the cost.
Miscellaneous expenses, such as rental of special audiovisual equipment or duplication of seminar materials, should be limited to $200.
Weekend costs: Add $155 for weekend costs if the seminar will occur on any part of a weekend.
IMPORTANT NOTE: Please be prepared to complete your online application in a single sitting as our system does not allow us to save partial applications. To make the submission process as easy as possible for you, we suggest you draft and finalize your responses to the questions in a document off-line and then copy and paste or upload your answers when you have 10–15 minutes to spend on the actual submission. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause but we would not want any of your hard work to be lost.
