Institutional Research Fund
What is the Institutional Research Fund (FIPI)?
The Institutional Research Fund (FIPI, for its Spanish abbreviation) is a program subsidized with institutional funds granted to the Río Piedras Campus through the Dean’s Office of Graduate Studies and Research (DEGI, for its Spanish abbreviation).
FIPI has a main goal of contributing to the development of educators by engaging faculty and students—graduate and undergraduate—in research projects or creative activities. The expectation is that these projects will contribute to the enrichment of the disciplines and the country through the active collaboration between faculty and students in projects that propose solutions to problems specific to the discipline and the country. Particularly, FIPI seeks to contribute to the development of the faculty and its ability for original research and creation; to increase the intellectual productivity and the Campus’ international exposure; in addition to increasing the ability to request and attract external funds.
FIPI seeks to encourage creative and innovative exploration from diverse angles of the social and economic problems that affect Puerto Rican society. The results of said exploration must have the potential to translate into a direct impact on our society’s quality of life. Up to a maximum of 70% of the funds will be allocated to the projects of newly recruited researchers or those who are resuming research activities.
Any Campus projects in which human beings participate as study subjects must be authorized by the Institutional Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects in Research (CIPSHI, for its Spanish abbreviation). Meanwhile, those investigations that involve the use of vertebrate animals must have authorization from the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC). In order to receive the approved funds, applicants must provide a copy of the approval letter from the appropriate committee. Furthermore, all researchers participating in the proposal must complete the statement of financial conflict of interest, as described in the application.
Once the proposal is complete, please follow the instructions provided in this manual. Any proposal that does not follow the specified format and instructions will be returned and will not be reviewed. For more information, contact DEGI’s Assistant Dean of Research at (787)-764-0000 ext. 86719, or the Research Development Projects Officer at (787)-764-0000 ext. 86774 or by emailing investigacion.degi@upr.edu.