Research, Scholarship, and Engagement Fund

Overview

The Cincinnati Ethics Center announces funding for university faculty, staff, and students for ethics related research, scholarship, curricular innovation, creative works, and ethics related community engagement. Faculty and staff are eligible for funding up to $8,000. Graduate and undergraduate students are eligible for funding up to $5,000.

Funding Opportunities

Undergraduate Summer Research

Awards for summer fellowships for undergraduate students to pay for their time to conduct summer research/scholarship/engagement. Undergraduate students may apply for up to $4,400 to pay for their time. They may apply for up to $2,000 additional to support research expenses.

Faculty Summer Stipends

These stipends are for faculty to work on an ethics related project in one of the primary categories listed above. Awards up to $8,000 will be offered.

Open Proposal

Faculty, staff, and students might have an ethics related project that does not clearly fit into any of the above categories. We encourage proposals that would advance the mission of The Cincinnati Ethics Center in ways that are not outlined above. Feel free to reach out first to determine if your idea fits with the mission of The Cincinnati Ethics Center

Funding Priorities

Proposals that closely align with key priorities of The Cincinnati Ethics Center’s will receive special consideration. Here are some of our intuitional priorities:

Moral Reasoning/Dialogue Skill Development

We believe that giving people in the Greater Cincinnati Area tools and experiences to develop critical moral reasoning and dialogue skills is central to how we can improve the lives of Greater Cincinnatians. Moral reasoning skills include:

Moral Awareness – the capacity to identify ethical/moral issues

Moral Reasoning – the capacity to identify all of the different opinions (and reasons for those opinions) that people might have on a moral issue. This includes awareness of different values/perspectives/opinions that might be relevant.

Moral Decision Making – the capacity to thoughtfully and systematically weigh competing moral reasons, values, and perspectives to make well-reasoned moral decisions.

Moral Dialogue – the capacity to engage in civil, thoughtful dialogue around moral/ethical issues – particularly with people who might have a differing opinion and value framework.

We encourage proposals that connect with our mission and vision to cultivate these skills for individuals throughout Greater Cincinnati.

Interdisciplinary Projects

We believe that solving critical ethical issues we face as a society is a highly interdisciplinary process. Projects that bring together different disciplines will be given special consideration.

Community Engaged Research/Application

The Cincinnati Ethics Center exists to serve the entire community and community engagement is a significant focal point for the center. Projects that serve our community focused mission and/or apply ethics-related research that helps the Greater Cincinnati Community are strongly encouraged.

Research Questions of Interest

There are several research questions and areas that are of interest to The Cincinnati Ethics Center. We encourage researchers interested in these areas to submit proposals:

Assessing Ethics Education and Moral Reasoning Development
Research that explores best practices in ethics education, with the aim of helping people develop the moral reasoning skills mentioned above.
We are also interested in research that empirically assesses the effectiveness and impact of traditional (and non-traditional) ethics education interventions.

Connections between Moral Development and other Traits
There is a growing literature that explores the connections between moral development and moral reasoning abilities with other positive traits and behaviors. Proposals that promise to add to this growing body of research are strongly encouraged.

Moral Psychology and Metacognition
Research that advances our understanding of moral psychology, moral decision making, and metacognition (which is an awareness and understanding of one’s own moral thought processes) are strongly encouraged, particularly if the outcomes of the research have the potential to be developed into a professional development workshop that could be offered to members of the Greater Cincinnati Community.

New Humanistic Challenges for Society
Humanities based research and creative works that explore new areas and societal challenges where critical ethical thought needs to be applied (e.g., Artificial Intelligence, Misinformation, Environmental Injustice) are also strongly encouraged.

Eligibility

All University of Cincinnati faculty, staff, and students are eligible to apply. Students must have a faculty or staff sponsor for their project. Faculty and staff will need to provide a letter of support from their chair or immediate supervisor prior to receiving funds. Staff might also be able to use funds for additional compensation subject to HR and su pervisor approval.

Application Cycle

The Cincinnati Ethics Center will review proposals at the very beginning of the Spring semester. This year proposals are due by Friday, January 15. Applicants will be notified of the advisory committee’s decision in early February.

How to Apply

Fill out the form below: