UM Faculty Funding Opportunity:

Yamaguchi Opportunity Fund

Support from Mr. Akira Yamaguchi allows UM to offer modest annual support for Asian Studies through the Yamaguchi Opportunity fund.  Applications may be made to the fund under the following guidelines, however, the application period for 2012 has closed.  Please check back in the future. The next expected application deadline is March 2013:

• Available annual revenue from the fund should go primarily to support faculty research and, to a lesser extent, for curriculum development related to Asia.[1]  Fundable activities might include research-related travel; expenses related to scholarly publication; the cost of books and materials essential to applicants’ research, and costs related to relevant workshops or academic conferences where a paper will be presented.  Proposals for support for conference/workshop participation must include a detailed summary of the paper to be delivered.

• Preference will be given to junior (full-time, but pre-tenure) faculty members, although other faculty will be considered.  More limited support may also be made available for outstanding research proposals from UM graduate students.

• To maximize the number of people who receive assistance, awards will typically be limited to an average of $500, and thus will necessarily supplement other sources of funds. The maximum award will generally be limited to $1000.  Faculty may of course request less than $500 in support.

• Proposals will be evaluated by a small committee of UM faculty/staff approved by the provost who represent diverse disciplines and have expertise in different regions of Asia.  Their recommendations will go to the Provost, who will make final decisions in consultation with the Director of the Mansfield Center.   Particularly in cases in which a significant number of meritorious proposals are received, an effort will be made to balance support among the diverse regions of Asia.

• Interested faculty/students should submit a simple (1-2 page) proposal detailing the nature and amount of their request and the impact it will have on their research or teaching.   All faculty proposals must be accompanied by a letter of support from a colleague in the field who is familiar with their work and able to assess the merits of their proposal.  Student proposals should include a letter of support from the student’s principal advisor.

• Those granted support will be asked to provide a short (one paragraph) written summary of the benefit(s) they derived from their grant, with that report submitted to the Mansfield Center director.

Please submit to:

Terry Weidner
Mansfield Center
MLIB 4th Floor
Campus

Or email:  terry.weidner@umontana.edu

Please call 243-2281 with questions.