News for CHSS Researchers (New!)

George Mason University is an institutional member of the Consortium of Social Science Association (COSSA). Employees can subscribe to their members-only email, and gain access to members-only resources and events like webinars, training, and opportunities to engage with policymakers.

Universities nationwide are currently reporting technical hurdles with the new SciENcv biographical sketch requirement for federal applications. CHSS Pre-Award has provided some guidance to ensure your NIH application doesn't run into any issues!

Faculty interested in pursuing a novel research project in conjunction with colleagues at one of the other 4-VA schools in Virginia are encouraged to respond to the annual 4-VA@Mason Collaborative Research Grant (CRG) call for proposals. Applications are due February 13.

The National Humanities Alliance (NHA) and the Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) will be hosting their annual meetings and advocacy events in March. Any CHSS faculty interested in attending advocacy day events should contact CHSS research.

CHSS Faculty Research Development Awards (FRDA) provide seed funding ($10,000–$15,000) for projects that position faculty to be more competitive when applying for external grant or fellowship funding. The project period is May 1, 2026–August 31, 2027. Complete applications must be submitted no later than 5 p.m. on February 13, using the Submittable (formerly WizeHive) platform.

CHSS Pre-Award is excited to kick off 2026! The new PRA form has been updated and is now live, and the Finding Funding Opportunities (FFO) form is available for any faculty who would like some extra help finding alternative funding opportunities.

The National Science Foundation recently announced upcoming changes that may impact grant submission, including research security training modules and supplemental policy changes to the Proposal and Award Policies and Procedure Guide.

Every year Congress provides funding through the annual Appropriations Bill. Congressional earmarks are provisions in spending bills directing federal funds to specific projects for a particular congressional district, locality, or state. The projects should address a community's need and must include letters of support from the community demonstrating the need, engagement, and support.

There are several NIH changes coming in 2026 including adoption of the Common Forms for all Biosketches and Current and Pending (Other) Support, new Research Security Training requirements (available in Mason LEAPS), and the removal of requirements for Letters of Intent (LOIs) and requirements for $500k or more in direct costs on unsolicited applications.

As we approach the end of 2025, the CHSS Pre-Award team would like to thank the faculty, students, and staff who have partnered with the CHSS Pre-Award team with proposal submissions.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has published a notice on their website that anticipates a late spring application deadline for their fellowship programs: NEH Fellowships and NEH Fellowship for Advanced Social Science Research on Japan.

The Research Affiliate Program at the Center for Advancement of Well-Being (CWB) offers a collaborative community for George Mason University faculty, research staff, and graduate students to share new knowledge and opportunities relating to well-being research. Fostering this network of scholars enables CWB to better advance, support, and celebrate interdisciplinary well-being research across the university.

COSSA will be hosting its 2026 Social Science Advocacy Day March 23-24, 2026, in Washington, DC. Social Science Advocacy Day brings together social and behavioral scientists and science advocates from across the country to engage with policymakers in Congress about issues important to our community, such as federal funding.

CHSS Research has partnered with University Libraries to provide an easily understandable "Guide to Navigating the Public Access Policy and How to Post Publications to PubMed Central." This guide provides important information on the new requirements for publishing articles that are federally funded.

Do you need to be added to the Research Development listserv? The Research Development listserv is a great tool created by George Mason's Research Development Office where you can find out about limited submission funding opportunities.

Mason Enterprise will be hosting From Lab to Market: Navigating University Technology Licensing, an online practical workshop designed to help faculty members, researchers, and aspiring entrepreneurs understand how academic innovations move into the marketplace on November 19 at noon. Registration is required.

The Office of Research, Innovation and Economic Impact (ORIEI) Research Development Services, in collaboration with George Mason University Libraries, is developing a central resource of successful grant applications for all academic units. These grants will be stored on a private Open Science Framework platform. Only users approved by Research Development will be allowed to access grant documents.

The updated National Institutes of Health (NIH) public access policy (NOT-OD-25-047) officially went into effect on July 1 (NOT-OD-25-101), for all applicable manuscripts, reflecting NIH's commitment to advancing public access to its funded research.

Effective October 10, all faculty who plan to submit grant proposals to the NSF must complete research security training modules before submitting a proposal. The Research Security Training is designed to raise awareness of, and protect against, external threats and risks to U.S.-funded research that supports research activities at George Mason.

As we start a new year, we want to remind faculty to please use the CHSS Pre-Award Request for Proposal Assistance Form to start your proposal process.

Are you looking to elevate your research but struggling to find the right funding opportunities—or not sure where to start? Don’t let funding challenges hold back your innovative ideas! Fill out our Finding Funding Opportunities Meeting Request Form or check out our website to start working with our Pre-Award Research Administrators today.

Faculty Research and Development Awards (FRDA), funded by CHSS, are short-term awards that are designed to help tenured and tenure-track faculty initiate new programs of research and scholarship or enhance existing ones. NEW in AY 2024-25, FRDA applications will be submitted online using Mason's new internal grants platform from WizeHive. Applications must be submitted no later than 5 p.m. on February 14.

The Institutional Review Board (IRB) from the Office of Research Integrity and Assurance (ORIA) has announced a new initiative to populate records in RAMP called "RAMP Transition by IRB." This new process, created based on feedback from researchers, involves the RAMP/ORIA team automatically transitioning the most recently approved documents from IRBNet on behalf of PIs.