Faculty-Student Collaborative Project Grant

CSCC Faculty-Student Collaborative Project Grant (Max. 2,000 USD)

Submission Deadline: the third Friday of February
Award Notification Date: within six weeks

Program Description:

The CSCC Faculty-Student Collaborative Project Grant aims to support faculty-student research teams at DKU, fostering meaningful mentor-mentee relationships and collaborations that contribute to the advancement of contemporary China studies. This grant provides funding of up to 2,000USD for projects that demonstrate potential for significant learning experiences for students while aligning with the CSCC’s mission. Faculty members are required to submit the proposals on behalf of the collaborative team. Approximately 7 awards are granted annually. The project duration should not exceed two years from the submission deadline.

Eligibility:

  • Faculty applicants must be employed full-time by DKU for the current academic year and have a contract (or formal agreement of full employment with the university) for the two academic years following the grant period.
  • Student participants must be enrolled at DKU during the grant period.
  • Faculty members are ineligible for this grant if they have received the award for two consecutive years.
  • Faculty may not receive more than 7,000 USD in research grant support in total within one academic year, combining CSCC Faculty Research & Creative Activity Grant, Faculty-Student Collaborative Research Grant, and Faculty Research Product Workshop Grant.
  • Priority will be given to projects where applicants do not have existing funding support from other sources. If applicants have or are actively applying for other support, they must mention this in their proposal.

Application Materials:

Proposals must include the following components in one PDF file.

  • Proposal Narrative (Not to exceed three pages, single-spaced)
  • Project timeline, budget, and, where appropriate, bibliography (Not to exceed two pages, single-spaced).
  • Current Curriculum Vitae of faculty member(s) (Not to exceed three pages).
  • Resume(s) of student(s) involved in the project (Not to exceed two pages each).
  • Submit all required components as one PDF file.

Evaluation Criteria:

Each proposal will be evaluated based on the following criteria:

  • Fitness and Importance
    • Does the research generally fit with the CSCC’s mission?
    • Is the research question important and relevant to contemporary China studies?
  • Educational and Long-Term Impact
    • Will the research experience provide significant learning benefits for the student(s)?
    • Are there potential long-term and/or career goals for the student(s) resulting from this project?
    • Is there potential for impacts within the DKU community and beyond?
  • Student and Mentor Preparedness
    • Do the student(s) demonstrate adequate academic preparation for the proposed work and show potential for success?
    • Does the faculty mentor have the capacity to provide quality mentoring support and a conducive research environment for the student(s)?
  • Project Design and Feasibility
    • Can the student-mentor team complete the research project within the allotted time?
    • Is the project methodologically sound?
    • Is the proposal well-written, demonstrating clarity and depth of ideas?
  • Well-Justified Budget
    • Does the study represent value for money?
    • Are the costs realistic and reasonable? If not, what changes will you suggest?

Institutional Review Board Approval:

If selected and working with Human Subjects, awardees must obtain an approval to the Institutional Review Board (IRB) for the acceptance of the grant to be completed. Consult with your mentor.

Acknowledgement:

All publications, conference posters or presentations, or other means of dissemination resulting from work supported by a CSCC research grant should acknowledge funding from the Center for the Study of Contemporary China, Duke Kunshan University.

Final Project Report Requirements:

Each grant recipient is required to submit a final project report. This report should be no more than 2 pages long (single-spaced) and detail the progress and outcomes of the project within the specified time frame. The final project report must be submitted by the stated deadline and should provide a comprehensive overview of the project’s results and achievements.

Using CSCC Grant for Sponsor Student Traveling to A Conference: 

CSCC supports students attending conferences, but the funding threshold needs to be appropriate to ensure effective resource allocation. Students may be sponsored for conference attendance under the following circumstances:

  • Conference within China or Asia with a small budget (e.g., <$500).
  • The student has made a substantial contribution to the conference, either as a co-author of a research presentation or as the primary presenter.

For international conferences, each case will be dealt with individually. In such cases, the faculty member or the student must articulate the reasons why additional funding is needed.

It’s important to consider liability issues associated with conference travels. Therefore, consultation with the student affairs office may be necessary before finalizing the sponsorship decision.

Important Dates:

Submission Deadline: the third Friday of February

Award Notification Date: within six weeks

Final Project Report Deadline: Two years from the award notification date

Fund Closing Date: Two years from the award notification date

Spending Authorization Approval Request:

All spending authorization approval requests must include the following:

  1. Final Project Budget:
    o Attach the final project budget that was submitted during the grant application process and based on which the grant was awarded.
  2. Supporting Documentation:
    o Provide supporting documents that clearly demonstrate the alignment between the proposed spending and the objectives of the awarded project. This documentation may include, but is not limited to, invoices, quotations, and detailed descriptions of the expenses.

Please ensure that all required documents are complete and accurate to facilitate the approval process.

CSCC Grant Budget Modification Policy:

Grantees are allowed to modify up to 10% of the total grant award for expenses not originally outlined in the approved budget. Requests for modifications exceeding this limit, due to extraordinary circumstances, will be considered on a case-by-case basis. To request a budget modification, grantees must submit an updated budget and a rationale for the changes, which will be reviewed by the CSCC co-director for approval.

All grant proposals and inquiries should be sent to Chi Zhang, the program coordinator for the Center for the Studies of Contemporary China.

List of CSCC  Research Grant for Faculty-Student Collaborative Projects

  • Yuan Wang & Jiahua Yue | Regulating Global China
  • Robin Rodd | The metabolic circuit of soy from Argentina to China: A DKU – Casa Rio Collaborative Research Project 
  • Lingyu He & Jiahua Yue | Bridging Multiple Worlds: Incorporating Insights from Tibetan Buddhism and Culture to Inform Biodiversity Conservation Policies with a Focus on Avian Species
  • Jiahua Yue | Understanding China’s Three-Child Policy: Public Expectation and Local Government Response
  • Fangsheng Zhu | Education, Inequality, and Parenting in China
  • Chen Zhang | Empowerment or Alienation: The Impacts of Smart Urbanism on Citizenship in Chinese Cities
  • Zairong Xiang & Tianyu Zhang | How Yin and Yang Came into Being in Ancient China: A Case Study of Yellow Emperor’s Four Classics 黃帝四經
  • Yitzhak Lewis | 100 years of Yiddish Literature in China 
  • Wen Zhou | The effect of cross-cultural contact at DKU in shaping undergraduates’ intergroup attitudes
  • Seongkyung Cho & Jiaxin Shi | Enhancing public policy learning experience: Lessons from a student policy competition at a Sino-US Joint University
  • Luyao Zhang | From “Code is Law” to “Code and Law”: A Comparative Study on Blockchain Economics for China and the World
  • Jiahua Yue | Diversionary Diplomacy? The Weight of US-China Relations in the 2022 US Midterm Elections
  • Fan Liang | Algorithmic Sovereignty and Data Localization
  • Austin Woerner | Intersections: A Journal of Language, Culture, and Ideas
  • Robin Rodd | Casa Rio, Biocultural Citizenship, and Extractivist Mapping
  • Fan Liang | When Machines Talk: Chinese Users’ Trust and Emotions in Human-Machine Interactions
  • Annemieke van den Dool | Soil Pollution in China: Problems and Policy Solutions
  • Jiahua Yue | Chinese Public Opinion Toward the Three-Child Policy and Women’s Rights
  • Nellie Chu | Live Broadcasting (Zhibo): Spectacle, Speculation, and Migrant Labor in Guangzhou’s Fast Fashion Industry
  • Minjoo Joo | Cultural Differences in Why We Do Not Forgive: Unforgiveness Motives in China and US
  • Yachao Sun | Undergraduate research: Exploring an interactive and problem-oriented tutorial system
  • Fan Liang | Algorithmic imaginaries: How Chinese cultural creators negotiate with personalization systems
  • Gergely Horvath | Co-authorship and productivity in Chinese academia: economics as a case study
  • Kim Hunter Gordon | Kunqu Skills Program
  • Yitzhak Lewis | 100 years of Yiddish Literature in China
  • Caio Yurgel | Looking for Valerii Pereleshin
  • Austin Woerner | Intersections: A Journal of Language, Culture, and Idea
  • Zairong Xiang | Where are the Homeless People in Shanghai?
  • Kaley Clements | Kunbei Folk Music
  • Xiaochen Zhang | Do reward programs affect customer ratings? Evidence from China’s online business
  • Andrew Field | Kunshan Soundscapes: Filipino and Chinese Musicians in a Third-Tier City
  • Jeffrey Nicolaisen | Multi-Species Ethnography: Animal Protection, Indigenous Hunting, and the Golden Apple Snail
  • Charles Chang | Religious Philanthropy and Official Patronage: an Integrative Data Science Approach
  • Ming Gu | Information and College Major Selection
  • Annemieke van den Dool | Crisis and Emergency Risk Communication: A comparative study of China, Europe, and the USA during COVID-19
  • Jiang Long | How do social media impact individual’s diet behavior? – A case study from a WeChat experiment
  • Megan Rogers | Faith and Fortunes: Religion and the Professional Middle Class in Urban China
  • Mengqi Wang | Displaced Fishermen in Suzhou’s Urban Expansion
  • Yitzhak Lewis | 100 years of Yiddish Literature in China
  • John Ji | The effect of biophilic classroom environment on stress reaction and cognitive function: a randomized crossover study in virtual reality
  • Chenkai Wu | Level and Sources of Stress among Young Teachers in High School in China
  • Zhaojin Zeng | Business Transitions and Growth during the Pandemics: The Case of China’s Digital Economic Booms under SARS and Covid-19
  • Wanggi Jaung | Feasibility analysis of blockchain technology application to sustainable consumption in China
  • Luyao Zhang | Sustainability in Company Evaluation: Comparative studies for China and the World
  • Austin Woerner | Intersections: A Journal of Language, Culture, and Ideas
  • Kolleen Guy | Degrees of Freedom: German and Austrian Refugees in China, Singapore, and Australia, 1939-45 
  • Jung Choi & Honey Huang | Critical Analysis of the 7 Affects in Embodied TCM Practices
  • Coraline Goron | Individual Carbon Footprint in China by 2050
  • Annemieke van den Dool | Online crisis communication in China: Lessons from COVID-19
  • Ben Van Overmeire | Zen and the Art of Detection