The Risk Institute at The Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business invites area-specific and inter-disciplinary proposals for research covering all areas in risk and risk management. Priority will be given to topics of the Risk Institute's 2017-2018 risk series:
- Fraud & Ethics
- Protectionism
- Macroeconomic Consequences of Demographic Change
- Weather and Climate Risk
- Longevity Risk
- Digital Risk

The main focus of the research proposal should be understanding or managing risks with respect to any of these topics. Funding will be up to $10,000 cash or research support per person with a maximum of $30,000 per project. Proposals are due January 31, 2018, and should be limited to five pages plus necessary appendices.

PROPOSAL COMPONENTS:
Introduction: This section should identify the topic area and the research question you propose to study. Briefly describe the significance of the research proposed; specifically, the contribution of the research to the creation of new knowledge and its particular relevance to risk management. Specify if you plan to do theoretical, exploratory empirical, or confirmatory empirical research. Also list the journal(s) at which this research is targeted.

Literature Review: This section should briefly summarize previous work in areas related to your proposed research question. Please address the following questions. What related research have you undertaken in the area, and why are you particularly suitable to conduct the proposed research? What interesting questions are outstanding in light of extant work? Provide sufficient details regarding the literature to show how your proposed work relates to prior work and will potentially add to the accumulated body of knowledge.

Methodology: Clearly state the approach, data needs, and analytic procedures. The testable form of your question should be clearly spelled out if your research intends to be confirmatory in nature. If you propose a theoretical contribution, please describe the nature of the model or conceptual framework you propose to develop. Make sure to address the strengths and weaknesses of your selected methodology.

Expected Results: Describe your a priori expectations as to the possible nature of findings and their implications for knowledge in general and for risk management in particular.

Implications for Risk Management: Highlight the potential implications for risk management in this section, even if it repeats information provided elsewhere in the proposal. This is an important criterion in the selection process.

Bibliography: Provide an annotated bibliography.

FUNDING REQUEST:
(a) Provide a timeline for the major steps of your proposed research (e.g., (1) further formulation, (2) data collection, (3) analysis, (4) preliminary draft, and (5) journal submission or a corresponding scheme if doing theoretical work). If human subjects are involved, you may be required to obtain exemption or approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) at OSU. This can be a lengthy process, but must be addressed.
(b) Identify the Principal Investigator who will be main contact with the Center, as well as all other researchers involved in the project. Provide resumes for all investigators.
(c) Describe the extent of use of Graduate Student Assistants (GSA), or other student help. You are encouraged to engage doctoral students if it enhances their research careers. Funding of doctoral students will be decided after consulting with the appropriate department chair.
(d) Your co-authors may be from other institutions. Compensation of co-authors from other institutions will be set on a comparable basis to that for Fisher faculty, except that benefits will not be covered.
(e) Provide detailed information for the following questions regarding data needs for your proposed project: Are the required data available through standard databases and what are the anticipated costs? If data must be collected, what are the steps you plan to take to collect data, and what are the anticipated costs?
(f) Provide information about your anticipated needs in respect to conference travel related to the project, as well as other miscellaneous costs.
(g) Provide a detailed breakdown of all anticipated costs. Funding will be up to $10,000 cash or research support per person with a maximum of $30,000 per project.

PAPER SUBMISSION PROCEDURE: Please email your proposals as attachments to the Risk Institute at RiskInstitute@fisher.osu.edu no later than January 31, 2018.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS:

I SUBMITTED A PROPOSAL, WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Review Process: The Academic Research Committee (ARC) of the Risk Institute will review the proposals. The ARC consists of faculty representatives and a representative of the Risk Institute's Advisory Board. If a member of the ARC puts in a research proposal, they will be asked to recuse themselves (an alternate, may be added for area expertise). Area-specific and inter-disciplinary proposals are welcome. Recommendations from the ARC will be forwarded to the Advisory Board of the Institute. Priority will be given to works in progress and early-stage working papers.

Selection Criteria: Among the selection criteria, the following preferences should be especially noted. 1) Proposals that contribute significantly to a better understanding of risk management. 2) Proposals whose investigators have demonstrated a record of publishing in pertinent top journals. Junior researchers may want to co-author proposals with accomplished senior faculty colleagues for this reason. 3) Proposals that involve a co-author from another top-100 research school, based on the University of Texas, Dallas, worldwide list, found here: http://jindal.utdallas.edu/the-utd-top-100-business-school-research-rankings/worldRankings#20082012

WHAT HAPPENS IF I GET SELECTED FOR A GRANT?
Monitoring of Progress: Approved funding will be released based on the researchers' ability to demonstrate sufficient progress in their work. For this purpose, one page reports will be due on a quarterly basis with the final product due one year from the date of acceptance. Extension of the project completion date must be requested in writing. Risk Institute would encourage authors to share with the Institute any preliminary findings, especially if they are time sensitive, which could be used for marketing purposes or publication in practitioner-oriented outlets.

Disbursement of Funding: Fifty-percent of approved funding will be paid upon approval of the proposal. The remaining fifty-percent will be paid conditional on the completion of a well-developed working paper.

Obligations of Researchers: In accepting funding, researchers will be asked to agree to be (a) named a Fellow of the Risk Institute for the period of the research grant, (b) provide a summary of your research proposal, and later your working paper, to be made available on the Risk Institute website, (c) make an academic presentation in a suitable setting, and (d) help write a summary of your research appropriate for dissemination to executives. The Risk Institute has the right to request to distribute material findings of your research.

You may be asked, with compensation based on rates used by Fisher Executive Education, to present your findings to executive audiences through in-class teaching, webinars, or other format.