Program Requirements

Investigators interested in applying to this program are required to submit the application form and a descriptive mini-proposal (maximum of five pages of text) with a brief curriculum vita (maximum of two pages) for each principal investigator.

The order of pages should be:

1. Application form (electronic signature is satisfactory)
2. Mini-proposal
3. Bibliography
4. Maps, Figures and Tables
5. Curriculum vita

Proposals must describe an anthropological research project for which chemical analysis is essential. The proposal should state the important questions in the research project for which answers are sought. The number, type, and contexts of samples must be discussed in the proposal. Maps are strongly encouraged.

Deadlines for Submission

Proposals are accepted two times per year on either April 15 or December 1. Completed proposals must be received before these dates. Late or incomplete submissions will be either held until the following acceptance date or returned to the applicant. Electronic submission as a single PDF file is encouraged.

Application Forms and Example Proposal

Applications for the NSF-support program can be downloaded in either PDF or RTF format. The PDF format will work with the Adobe Acrobat software, and the RTF format will work in most word-processing programs (e.g., MS Word, WordPerfect, etc.).

• In Portable Document Format (*.PDF)
• In Rich Text Format (*.RTF)

To aid in the preparation of high-quality proposals, the laboratory has made available a previously accepted application. This is a well-designed proposal, and applicants may benefit from reading it.

• Download example proposal (in *.PDF format)

Proposal Review Process

The review process for projects seeking NSF support takes about six weeks. An anonymous advisory committee (Table 1) will evaluate each proposal for (1) scientific merit of the proposed research; (2) appropriateness of the proposed analysis to the specific project; and (3) the principal investigator's research record or other evidence of research potential. The evaluations will be used to rate each proposal. Final selection and scheduling of projects receiving support are the responsibility of the Archaeometry Lab at the University of Missouri. Only high-quality proposals will be selected for support.

Table 1. Recent members and affiliations of the proposal-review panel.

Dr. Ronald Bishop (Smithsonian Institution)	Dr. Brooke Blades (National Park Service)
Dr. Geoffrey Braswell (Univ. California–San Diego)	Dr. Andrew Darling (Mexico-North Network)
Dr. Christophe Descantes (Univ. of Hawaii)	Dr. Enrique Rodriguez-Alegria (Univ. of Texas)
Dr. Danielle Parks (Brock University)	Dr. Donna M. Glowacki
Dr. Vin Steponaitis (Univ. of North Carolina)	Dr. Daniela Triadan (Univ. of Arizona)

 

Project Publications and Reports

All publications and reports presenting data obtained through this NSF-sponsored program at the MURR must acknowledge support from our NSF grant and must be considered as collaborative projects with the MURR staff members involved. The University of Missouri is obligated to submit an annual report to the NSF summarizing activities under this program. Therefore, participants are required to send copies of all theses, reports, and publications resulting from this support to Dr. Glascock as soon as available.

Allowable Charge Reductions

If your project is approved, the charges eligible for reduction under this program include irradiation services, equipment utilization fees, and technical assistance by MURR staff. Costs for which investigators must reimburse MURR are those required to recover costs for supplies consumed. The rates for recovery of costs for supplies consumed by NAA (Table 2), XRF (Table 3), and ICP-MS (Table 4) are listed in the table below.

Table 2. NSF-subsidized project rates per sample for NAA.
Please contact the lab to discuss analysis of any other archaeological or geological material by NAA.

Analysis	Charge per Sample	Minimum Project Size
Samples to be analyzed as powders (e.g., pottery, basalt) using both short and long irradiations	25$	500$
Samples analyzed as chips or flakes (e.g., obsidian, chert) using both short and long irradiations	50$	250$
Hematite, Ochre, and Similar Matrices required special grinding	40$	400$
Sourcing obsidian artifacts analyzed by our short-irradiation INAA procedure followed by comparisons to our NAA database	25$	250$

 

Table 3. NSF-subsidized project rates per sample for XRF.
Please contact the lab to discuss analysis of any other archaeological or geological material by XRF.

Analysis	Charge per Sample	Minimum Project Size
Samples (e.g., pottery, basalt) to be analyzed by XRF by converting into powders and pressed pellets	50$	500$
Sourcing obsidian artifacts analyzed by non-destructive XRF followed by comparisons to our XRF database	25$	250$

 

Table 4. NSF-subsidized project rates per sample for ICP-MS.
Please contact the lab to discuss analysis of any other archaeological or geological material by ICP-MS.

Analysis	Charge per Sample	Minimum Project Size
Characterization of sample surfaces (e.g., glazes, paints, glass beads) by LA-ICP-MS	25$	500$
Characterization of bulk samples (e.g., pottery, basalt, soils, rocks, etc.) by microwave-digestion ICP-MS	100$	2500$

Reduced charges for other sample matrices will depend upon a number of factors, including the sample matrix, suitability of the method, and complexity of the analytical problem. As a consequence, the analytical problem(s) must be evaluated before an estimated charge is recommended.

Whom to Contact and Where to Send

By Email:

By Fax:
(573) 882-6360

By Regular Mail:
Dr. Michael D. Glascock
Archaeometry Laboratory
University of Missouri
Research Reactor Center
1513 Research Park Drive
Columbia, MO 65211