Applications due January 31, 2020
Proposals should be submitted as a single .pdf file via email to cioccacenter@scu.edu
Ciocca Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship is an interdisciplinary university hub with a mission to enhance opportunities to experience, research and advance innovation and entrepreneurship. As part of its mission, Ciocca Center supports research and promotes thought leadership opportunities relevant to the trends, methods and challenges that exist in this dynamic area. Of particular interest is the intersection of innovation and entrepreneurship with the Jesuit perspective, to include the practice of principled and ethical reasoning, ensuring human dignity, and creating value to enhance society.
We invite faculty to submit proposals for significant projects that address a compelling topic in this area. Possible research themes may include, but are not limited to, challenges such as:
- The economic and humanistic impact of automation on the future of work
- The changing nature of jobs and careers
- Barriers to innovation (cultural, legal, political, etc.) and how they may be overcome
- Strategies to address diversity in the creation of new enterprises
- Ethical challenges in entrepreneurial ventures
- Stimulating entrepreneurial thinking in risk-averse disciplines and environments
- Educational strategies to enhance the success of innovators and entrepreneurs
- The alignment of commercial enterprise with Jesuit values/principles
Significant projects in the range of $10,000-$30,000 for up to one year of effort will be considered. Funds may be used for up to one month of faculty summer salary or an academic year course buyout if approved by the faculty member’s department; funds may also be used for student support, travel, supplies, and publication fees. Proposals may include interaction with non-SCU personnel from industry or other academic institutions if such involvement fundamentally improves the quality of the proposed work; cost-sharing from other organizations is encouraged in such cases. Expected outputs of funded projects will include a publication in the academic literature or works presented in an appropriate creative venue, a thought leadership article/posting in the popular press or on the Ciocca Center website, a presentation to the Santa Clara community, and periodic summary reports to Ciocca Center.
Proposals should be limited to 5 pages and are expected to include sections that motivate the topic, review current literature/practice, describe the methodology/approach to be used, and summarize expected results/contributions. A budget should be provided, itemizing wages and benefits, travel costs, funds for supplies, etc. Proposals will be evaluated by a broad faculty/staff committee and will be judged on criteria to include:
- Appropriateness of the proposed topic;
- The research team’s experience in the topic area;
- Quality of the research plan;
- Anticipated impact of the completed work.
Awards will be approved by the Center’s faculty advisory board and may be subject to review by a university oversight committee. Questions regarding this program may be directed to ckitts@scu.edu.