Seng Foundation Endowment for Market-Based Programs and Catholic Values

The overarching objective of the Seng Foundation Endowment for Excellence is to support scholarly and pedagogical projects that utilize market-based principles to promote sound economic growth and movement toward a more just society both domestically and internationally. Central to this objective is the integration of Catholic values as they define the dignity of the human person. The Seng Endowment will support work on market-based economic models designed to increase living standards, encourage ethical conduct, and promote social justice in nations throughout the world. This gift will significantly help Notre Dame achieve its goal of becoming a leader in supporting links between market-based mechanisms and social justice ideals in the Catholic tradition.

Although the Endowment is expected above all to enhance our Department of Economics, faculty and students throughout the University are eligible to apply for a Seng Foundation Grant. The Seng Endowment will support projects that

  • contribute to the understanding of economic aspects of social justice both domestically and internationally (e.g., employment, education, health care, housing, retirement saving, taxation, environment, production and trade, and innovation and technology transfer) using market-based principles;
  • research ways to utilize market-based principles to increase living standards and promote sound economic growth both domestically and internationally;
  • expose students, faculty, alumni, and others to the potential of market-based principles to provide solutions to such issues through guest lecturers, seminars, workshops, articles, papers, books, etc.;
  • introduce new courses to the curriculum, including also collaborative courses, that support the links between market-based mechanisms and social justice and religious ideals, including the philosophical implications of these connections;
  • allow students to develop projects, such as senior theses, that address the broader implications, including the philosophical aspects, of market-based systems;
  • encourage contact with policy makers and experts domestically and internationally to build credibility for market-based solutions;
  • support students who demonstrate a keen interest in market-based economics and government policy and wish to pursue internships in these areas;
  • support collaboration within the University's other colleges and departments with similar goals to broaden and deepen the knowledge and application of market-based principles;
  • and support faculty/student travel to appropriate programs, seminars, workshops, lectures, etc. outside the University to deepen understanding and encourage the cross pollination of research and ideas.

The Seng Foundation Endowment will be administered by the College of Arts and Letters. Applications for these funds should be directed to the Director of ISLA. Although the grant guidelines are oriented to scholars working in the field of economics, the aspirations articulated by the Seng Foundation no doubt will attract broader faculty interest from throughout the College and inspire collaborative endeavors between the College of Arts and Letters and the Mendoza College of Business.

Typical awards will range from $1,000 (e.g., guest lecturers--expenses plus honorarium) to approximately $10,000 (e.g., major conferences, research projects). Higher amounts are possible, for compelling multidisciplinary proposals.

Recipients of awards for $5,000.00 or more are required to submit a one page report, in hard copy to the ISLA office, outlining how their funding was used and what its outcomes were. Please submit your report within one month of the completion of the project for which the funding was used.

Faculty members are invited to submit proposals to ISLA for scholarly projects that fall within any of the parameters defined by the endowment objectives. Submit a hard copy of your proposal to ISLA, 101 O'Shaughnessy Hall.

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