Pilot Project Grant Program
Request for Proposals – Pilot Project Grant Program
May 4, 2012
HWCE Mission
The Healthier Workforce Center for Excellence (HWCE) at the University of Iowa is funded through the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) Total Worker Health Initiative (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/twh/). The HWCE seeks to:
- Research approaches to integrate employee health protection programs (e.g., safety, industrial hygiene, and ergonomics) with employee health promotion programs (e.g., workplace wellness and health benefits) and translate these evidence-based findings into practice
- Collaborate with other organizations interested in designing or implementing effective employee health programs, and
- Disseminate information to employers in Iowa and nationally to improve the health status of the employed population.
Pilot Project Grant Program Objectives and Available Funding
The objective of the HWCE pilot project grant program is to encourage development of new and creative research and research-oriented prevention/intervention and translation projects with promise to lead to more comprehensive studies addressing real health and safety risks of workers. Projects must integrate health protection and health promotion. Awards will cover a one-year period (9/1/12 to 8/31/13) and all funding is conditional of the availability of funds to the HWCE. Two types of pilot projects will be considered:
New Investigator Awards: The HWCE will fund up to three (3) pilot grants for new investigators interested in the design, implementation, and/or evaluation of integrated employee health protection and health promotion programs. New investigators may include junior faculty, post-doctoral trainees, medical residents and fellows, doctoral students, senior scientific staff, and senior faculty new to the Total Worker Health and HWCE programs. Priorities for the new investigator awards this year include: occupational stress prevention, cardiovascular disease risk prevention and management, ergonomics, and employee health care services among private and public sector employees. Applications need not be limited to these priority areas. Each project is limited to $15,000 total cost.
Student Research Projects: The HWCE will fund up to four (4) student research projects focused on the integration of employee health protection and health promotion consistent with the goals of the HWCE. Advanced undergraduate students, graduate students, medical residents, and fellows from the health sciences, engineering, or other applicable programs are encouraged to apply. Each student research proposal must have a faculty sponsor who will oversee the research. Each project is limited to $2,500 total cost.
Eligibility
Any faculty member, post-doctoral trainee, medical resident or fellow, graduate student, undergraduate student, or senior scientific staff (e.g., research scientists) with an interest in employee health protection and health promotion at The University of Iowa is eligible to apply. Researchers and students affiliated with other Midwest institutions who have an interest in the NIOSH Total Worker Health initiative are also eligible. Questions about eligibility should be directed to Dr. Nathan Fethke (nathan-fethke@uiowa.edu; 319-467-4563).
Application Content
Applications should conform to standard NIH guidelines for research proposals and be formatted as follows:
Proposal Sections |
Page Limit |
Signed, original cover letter on official organization letterhead |
1 |
Front page (date, title, investigator (s), affiliation(s), and abstract (150 word limit) |
1 |
Research plan |
6 (total for plan) |
Potential for future funding and plans for dissemination of results |
1 |
Collaboration with HWCE investigators or staff (if applicable) |
1 |
Budget and budget justification (see “Budget Notes” below) |
2 |
Human subjects statement (see below) |
2 |
References |
no limit |
Biographical sketches (PHS 398 format) |
2 (per investigator) |
Application and Award Dates
Application deadline: July 3, 2012
Award date: September 1, 2012
Send a signed, original cover page and paper copy of the full proposal to:
Kevin M. Kelly, PhD
HWCE
University of Iowa
UI Research Campus, #104 IREH
Iowa City, IA 52242-5000
Plus, email one copy of the signed cover page and the full proposal to: kevin-kelly@uiowa.edu
Application Review Process
Evaluations will be completed and applicants notified of funding status by August 1, 2012. Project applications will be evaluated by a review panel selected from among members of the HWCE Internal and External Advisory Committees and others with expertise relevant to the HWCE and the specific applications. The review process will follow procedures similar to those used by federal study sections with assigned primary and secondary reviewers providing written critiques. Evaluation and selection criteria will address originality, scientific relevance and importance to the region and to the HWCE mission, objectives of this pilot program, National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) research priorities (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nora/default.html), validity and reliability of methods, qualifications of investigators, interdisciplinary nature of the project, potential for future funding, plans for dissemination of results, and appropriateness of the budget. All review panel members will score each project proposal according to the NIH priority score method. No reviewer will participate in the evaluation of applications they submit or for which they are a collaborator in another investigator’s application under consideration at the time.
Budget Notes
Investigators from within the University of Iowa should not include indirect costs (i.e., facilities and administrative costs) in their budgets. Investigators outside the University of Iowa are strongly encouraged to contact Mindy Sickels (mindy-sickels@uiowa.edu; 319-335-4411) for guidance in preparing budgets. Salary and fringe support for senior faculty is not allowed, and no meeting/conference travel can be covered. Funding is available for the usual categories of direct costs, such as salary and fringe for research assistants and graduate students, laboratory supplies, equipment, data analysis, travel associated with executing the research, and office expenses. Each award will be for a maximum duration of 12 months and all project expenses must be incurred by August 31, 2013.
Human Subjects Statement
For projects involving human research participants, approval by an appropriate institutional review board (IRB) must be obtained before the HWCE will release funding. The PI of the pilot grant must be listed as the PI on the IRB approval document. In this section provide (1) a statement of assurance to demonstrate that the project will be subject to initial and continuing reviews by an IRB, (2) a description of, and justification for, the total number of subjects, and (3) a breakdown of subject inclusion of women, minorities, and children as per DHHS and NIH requirements. Any use of animal subjects will likewise require approval by an institutional animal care and use committee.
Investigators are strongly encouraged to initiate any applicable human subjects or animal care review approval or certification processes as soon as possible. All investigators engaged in the conduct of human subjects research are required to complete an education program approved by NIH and become certified in human subjects protections. Awarded funds will not be released prior to receiving proper notification of IRB and/or other governing approvals and certifications.
Reporting Requirements
Each funded investigator is required to submit a mid-year progress report (~ Feb 1, 2013) and a final report within 30 days of project completion. These reports shall be submitted according to instructions provided by HWCE and shall include reporting of work and activities relating to the current (and past) project(s) awarded by HWCE to the investigator/eligible institution. Project proposals must include plans to track and report to HWCE subsequent results stemming from each pilot project, including but not limited to grants and contracts developed as progeny of the project, students mentored, MS and PhD dissertations generated, presentations and publications emanating from the project, and interdisciplinary collaborations established as a result of HWCE-supported work. Publications, journal articles, presentations, and similar works relating to HWCE-supported pilot projects are to include the following statement: “This research was supported (in part) by a pilot project grant from the Healthier Workforce Center for Excellence (HWCE) at the University of Iowa. The HWCE is supported by Cooperative Agreement No. U19OH008858 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) / National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH). The contents are solely the responsibility of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of the CDC, NIOSH, or the HWCE.”
Additional Information
Applicants are invited to contact Dr. Nathan Fethke (nathan-fethke@uiowa.edu; 319-467-4563) regarding scientific questions. Contact Dr. Kevin Kelly (kevin-kelly@uiowa.edu 319-335-4755) concerning administrative procedures relating to the HWCE pilot project grant program.
