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2009-10 Seed Grant Program RFP

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SEED GRANT PROGRAM 2009-10

THE MARYLAND POPULATION RESEARCH CENTER

Updated September, 2009

 

With funding from the National Institutes of Health, the Maryland Population Research Center invites proposals for projects that will enhance research activity bearing directly on the Center’s population research mission.* Priority will be given to research projects that build on current research strengths and facilitate multidisciplinary research linkages. The principal aim of this program is to assist in the development of research ideas that have the potential to significantly enhance scientific knowledge in the population sciences and to garner external research support.

Grant proposals may be one of two types:

  • Small-scale pilot research that is likely to lead to increased competitiveness of Center Faculty Associates in obtaining extramural funding.
  • Research aimed at proposal development and submission.

 

Eligibility

All Center Faculty Associates are eligible to apply for grants under the Seed Grant Program. In addition, UMCP faculty who are not Center Associates, and graduate students, may apply for Seed Grant funding if a Center Faculty Associate sponsors their proposal. These applications must include a letter of support from a Center Faculty Associate sponsor.

Proposal Format

Proposals should be no more than five (5) single-spaced pages in length, exclusive of title page, abstract, timeline, references, budget pages and appendices. Proposals must include an Abstract, Specific Aims, Background and Significance, and Experimental Methods and Design. Investigators must also submit current curriculum vitae. In addition, the proposal must discuss how the project will lead to increased competitiveness in obtaining extramural funding, will enhance scientific knowledge in the population sciences, will further the Center’s mission of developing restricted use data bases, or will solidify ties with other institutions. All pilot project research proposals that are approved for funding and involve the use of human subjects must obtain appropriate human subjects approval through the University’s Institutional Review Board. Successful applicants are required to cite the center’s seed grant program as a source of support and acknowledge NIH funding for the seed grant program. In addition, grant recipients will file any papers that emanate from this support with the Center. Applicants who request funding to increase their competitiveness in obtaining extramural funding are expected to prepare and submit a grant application within 12 months following the end of seed grant funding.

Budget Guidelines

Proposed projects will be for a one-year period. Project budgets can not exceed $15,000 in direct costs and investigators may request support for any activity that directly relates to the successful conduct of the project. There are no indirect costs paid on MPRC Seed Grants. Budget items may include support for data entry, interviews, data acquisition, access to restricted-use data, travel costs related to data collection or meetings with collaborators, release time during the academic year, summer salary support, and graduate research assistance. Graduate student support is especially encouraged. Summer salary is limited to 11% of a faculty member’s academic year salary. The center will not pay for computer equipment when that computing can reasonably be accomplished with the existing equipment at the Center.

Review and Selection

The Center Director will screen all submitted proposals to determine whether the proposals meet the program’s goals. Faculty whose proposals are deemed to be outside the scope of the Center’s mission will be removed from further consideration and the investigators will be notified. Proposals that pass this initial screening will undergo formal review by the Center’s Executive Committee. After reviewing the proposals, the Committee will rank them and forward their recommendation for funding to the Director. The Director will make final funding decisions, within budgetary limits.

The following prioritized criteria will be used in evaluating the proposals:

1)      The overall quality of the proposed research;

2)      The potential of the proposed research to be expanded into an externally funded (e.g. NIH R01) grant application, or to significantly enhance the research capabilities of Center researchers to secure external funding;

3)      Proposed research that crosses disciplines and solidifies ties between departments or other institutions, especially in the Washington, DC area;

4)      Proposed research for which other sources of funds are not available;

5)      Proposed research by applicants who are junior faculty or who have not been previously funded under this program;

6)      For proposals aimed at grant writing, priority will be given to researchers whose plans include seeking funding from NICHD or other NIH divisions.

Monitoring

The Center’s Administrative Core will monitor progress on seed grant projects and will provide an expense report to each project principal investigator on request.

Proposal Deadlines

Highest priority will be given to proposals submitted by November 1, 2009. Proposals submitted at another time during the year will be reviewed as received. Please allow several weeks for the review process. You are encouraged to contact Center Director Sandra Hofferth about your idea prior to submission.

Send completed proposals to: Barbara Hillinger, Administrative Core Coordinator, Maryland Population Research Center, 0124N Cole Student Activities Building, College Park MD 20742.

 

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* The Center’s Mission Statement

The Maryland Population Research Center draws together leading scholars from diverse disciplines to support, produce, and promote population-related research of the highest scientific merit. The Center’s research focuses on four key areas: (1) social and economic inequality, (2) gender, work, family and fertility, (3) life course analyses of health and disability, and (4) data development for population research. The Center strives to develop young scholars and to encourage scholars from allied fields to engage in population-related research through research support, training and mentoring. The Center’s proximity to Federal statistical agencies allows scholars access to under-utilized or restricted-use government data for their research. This university-government partnership allows Center faculty members to conduct innovative academic research while contributing to the improvement of data collection at the Federal statistical agencies, thereby enhancing the public infrastructure for population research. The Center's proximity to Washington, D.C. also strongly positions its faculty to provide non-partisan, scientific evidence on population-related issues of importance to policy makers.

 

 

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