A single $5,000 grant will be awarded to a researcher or research team for practice-based research. Proposed research should be relevant and of interest to interior design practitioners and their clients.

Eligibility

• Applicants are NOT required to be a member of IIDA.
• IIDA Members who are interested in submitting a research proposal may also refer to Cultivate, where additional funding for members only is available. If submitting a research proposal through Cultivate, please follow the criteria outlined here.
• Primary or secondary research proposals will be considered, though empirical, primary research will be rated more favorably than secondary research proposals.
• Research must be practice-based. The primary researcher is not required to be employed by a firm, but the research must be based on actual interior design practice, with a client or stakeholder group.
• Academic researchers are not eligible.
• Current board members are not eligible.

Submission Criteria

• Proposal (maximum 8 pages, PDF), including:
  • Proposal title and abstract (250 word maximum)
  • Significance of proposed research, including any knowledge gaps your proposed research would fill, and how you expect the outcomes of your research will impact the targeted population(s)
  • Client(s) or research subjects, including whether they have been approached for approval prior to the proposal being submitted to IIDA Northland
  • Research question(s)
  • Methodology
  • Projected outcome(s)
  • Budget, including estimated hours if the grant will support researchers’ time and expenses if any are anticipated
  • Timeline (research must be complete within a 6-18 month period)
  • Dissemination plan for sharing the results of your research with the chapter community
  • If the research will involve in-person interaction, outline the COVID-19 safety measures that will be taken
• Research Team
  • Primary investigator(s) and company (if applicable)
  • Additional investigator(s) if applicable
• Description of any additional funding
  • If the research will be conducted with a client through a design firm, will the firm be matching funding? Will the client?
  • Are there any other sources of funding that you will seek for this study?

The selection committee will select one grant recipient based on the following criteria:

• • Relevant & timely
  • Related to HSW
  • Primary or secondary research (primary empirical studies will be rated more favorably than literature reviews or other secondary research)
  • Demonstration that the research will advance professional knowledge and/or elevate interior design practice
  • Equitable and inclusive study design
  • Innovativeness of research questions
  • Strength and validity of research methods
  • Feasibility of budget and timeline
  • Strength of projected outcomes
  • Overall quality

• Avoid unnecessary jargon. It can distract from conveying the importance of the work.
• Be specific with detail about the project in order to add credibility to the proposal. Detailed project methodologies, metrics, outcomes, and processes will help the project be viewed as well prepared and credible.
• Be clear and substantive about any collaborative aspects of the project. How will you and your partner(s) work together? Describe the stakeholders involved or who benefit.
• Consider the values of equity and inclusion when designing your study. If stakeholders are from communities not typically served by the commercial interior design industry, how will you ensure you are adding value to those communities, responding to what they are asking for (vs. what you may think they want or need)?
• Consider and articulate both the immediacy and the longevity of the impact of the work.
• Demonstrate the universality of your proposal.
• If specific to one building type or sector, note how the project may be applicable to other building types or sectors.
• Be innovative. Advance a new concept. Alternatively, demonstrate specialization that is unique and adds to the body of knowledge.
• Where appropriate, clearly recognize and articulate how your research is contributing to and founded on a prior body of knowledge.
• If studying an older material or technology, be specific as to the history of that product and its current state as well as how it is being advanced.

Check back for more details in the late summer of 2021.

Apply for a Research Grant