Research

MIDWEST CENTER FOR OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH AND SAFETY

EDUCATION AND RESEARCH CENTER (MCOHS-ERC)

UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA, SCHOOL OF PUBLIC HEALTH

DIVISION OF ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES

PILOT PROJECTS RESEARCH TRAINING PROGRAM
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS

APPLICATION DEADLINE: 5/15/2013

Grants ranging from $5,000 to a maximum of $20,000 are available to occupational health and safety (OHS) researchers in Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Areas of OHS include industrial hygiene, occupational and environmental health nursing, occupational and environmental epidemiology, occupational and environmental medicine, injury epidemiology and safety, ergonomics, toxicology, health physics, and occupational health psychology. Priority will be given to:

• Research proposals with a high potential for affecting the practice of OHS;

• Investigators working in complementary or non-traditional disciplines who wish to become more actively involved in addressing occupational safety and health issues;

• Investigators attempting to develop innovative research efforts in collaboration with faculty from the MCOHS;

• Junior investigators needing initial support for innovative research areas who lack support from other sources;

• Research ideas that have the potential for being developed into proposals for more substantial funding, based on preliminary results from this research grant, and

• Doctoral students undertaking research required for their degree

Research must be relevant to the occupational health and safety field and focus on the NIOSH NORA objectives (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/nora/). Potential types of projects include intervention studies, risk factor analyses, and exposure assessments affecting a broad range of employee groups, including construction workers, farmers, industrial process workers, and small business owners.

Applications are due by 5/15/2013.

Budget Periods: Awards will be made for one or two years, starting from 7/1/2013. Year 1 budget period is 07/1/2013 – 06/30/14; Year 2 budget period is 07/01/14 – 06/30/15.

Amount: The Scientific Review Board will award grants ranging between $5,000 and $20,000 for one year (or a maximum of $10,000 per year for two years); one year applications are preferred.

Eligible Expenses: If there is clear justification of the need for expenditures and a clear explanation of their direct relevance to the proposed research, these awards may be used for any category of research-related expenses, with the following exceptions:

• Faculty salary support may not exceed 5% for each faculty member.

• Travel to professional meetings will not be funded with the exception of travel to the annual Pilot/Small Research Projects Symposium held at the MCOHS, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, during spring to present results from the research project.

Doctoral students applying for funds must list an advisor, who must have faculty ranking at the same institution. The faculty advisor will be responsible for overseeing the expenditure of funds.

At the conclusion of the project, a final report summarizing research activities and results must be received within one month of the end of the grant funding period. The investigators must also present the results of their research at an annual Pilot/Small Research Projects Symposium held at the MCOHS, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis.

Since we are requesting proposals from researchers who may not have traditionally engaged in research or who are in complementary or non-traditional disciplines, the project teams may not have expertise in all the required areas for their proposal. In such cases, the investigators must seek collaborators from the MCOHS faculty with the required expertise.

Application: To apply for these grants, the following materials must be received by 5/15/2013):

1. Application/Budget Form - download sample budget form (.xls)

Allowable expenses: (a) Support personnel including faculty salary (limited to 5% of a 12 month equivalent salary plus fringe benefits) and tuition support for graduate students; (b) Supplies and small specialized equipment; (c) Travel necessary to attend the Annual Pilot/Small Projects Research Symposium; (d) Indirect costs up to 8%. The budget period covers a one or two-year period (Year 1 budget period is 07/01/13 – 06/30/14; Year 2 budget period is 07/01/14 – 06/30/15.) The maximum award is $20,000 for one year including indirect costs, or $10,000 per year for two years, including indirect costs (two-year award not to exceed $20,000 total).

2. Budget justification (should not exceed one page; a description of each item listed in the budget should be included with an indication of its relation to the proposed work)

3. A short (no more than two pages) biographical sketch or resume for each person involved in the research (including faculty advisor, if applicable). Provide: (a) name, degrees, title, institution; (b) personal statement identifying experience/expertise that is pertinent to the proposed research; (c) positions and honors in chronological order; (d) selected peer-reviewed publications; (e) current other support (percentage effort on each type of support)
Forms located at the following can be used, if you wish: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html]

4. A 300 word abstract that includes a summary of the proposal (below).

5. A short (five pages, maximum), single-spaced proposal, using 11 point Arial font, outlining the proposed research project, including: (a) purpose and benefits to the field and region; (b) specific objectives and goals; (c) methods for accomplishing the research (research design, population to be studied if appropriate, data collection methods, data analysis methods and plan, and expected results and importance of research, including anticipated opportunities for future funding); (d) timetable.

6. References

7. Demonstration that appropriate human/animal subject approvals and other necessary approvals have been arranged and received from an Institutional Review Board (IRB). The IRB must be registered with the DHHS Office of Human Research Protections and have completed a Federalwide Assurance.

8. Letters of Support: (a) Letter from a faculty advisor is required for all students, indicating the student’s research ability. (b) Letters of support from co-investigators and collaborators indicating their agreement to collaborate and the nature of their role(s) and responsibility(ies) on the project. (c) Applications requiring data analysis should either include a statistician co-investigator on their research team or the applicant should provide a letter of support from someone qualified to conduct or give guidance on the proposed analysis.

9. Completed Compliance and Signature Form (download compliance and signature form)

Proposal Review Process:
A Scientific Review Board will review all the proposals that are received for scientific and programmatic merit (according to criteria described below) and make funding recommendations. The Scientific Review Board members will be experts from academia and industry who have research and professional interests in occupational health and safety. They will represent a range of professions, including engineering, medicine, epidemiology, industrial hygiene, nursing and safety/injury prevention. Half of the members of the Board will come from outside the University of Minnesota. For reviewing some proposals, experts from outside the Scientific Review Board (e.g., nationally known) may also be asked to be reviewers on an ad hoc basis.

Criteria Used to Assess Awards: The following criteria will be used in determining these competitive awards:

1. Research Score (50%), including an assessment of

• Overall scientific merit: The applicant must submit an original and feasible proposal that demonstrates the applicant's understanding of the proposed field of research. Prior research experience is not necessary.

• Purpose: A clear statement and description of the purpose of the research project must be included.

• Specific objectives and goals: Specific goals of the research project must be listed and defined.

• Methods: The methods proposed for carrying out the research must be defined and described clearly.

2. Programmatic Score (50%), including an assessment of the following factors:

• Builds research capacity among new investigators and trainees: The research funds provided by this proposal will facilitate investigators working in complementary or non-traditional disciplines to become engaged in occupational safety and health research, investigators attempting to develop innovative research efforts in collaboration with faculty from the MCOHS, junior investigators needing initial support for innovative research areas who lack support from other sources, and trainees undertaking research.

• Proposal is likely to lead to further research activities: Greater weight will be given to research ideas that are innovative and have the potential for being developed into proposals for more substantial funding, based on preliminary results from this research grant.

• Research has a high potential for impacting the practice of OHS: Translational research ideas or research-to-practice (R2P) will be given high priority for funding. The research priorities identified in NORA will be used to evaluate the relevance of research proposals to the field of occupational health and safety.

• Research involves multiples stakeholders: Proposals for pilot funding that seek to involve multiple interested parties – such as employees, organized labor, employers, state officials, academics, etc. – are encouraged. Similarly, proposals that include the participation of NIOSH-supported training program grantees in health and safety or investigators at other academic institutions in the region (Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and South Dakota) are specifically encouraged.

• Researchers have access to adequate resources and environment: Reviewers will assess if the project can be accomplished in the timeline presented, if the environment in which the research will be carried out is conducive to success, and if the research team has the expertise and guidance needed for carrying out the work.

• Diversity and outreach: Research proposals that might benefit under-served populations or members of minority groups are encouraged.

• Budget: The budget should be appropriate to complete the scope of the work proposed.

Send two copies of the completed application to:
            Dr. Gurumurthy Ramachandran, Professor
            University of Minnesota, School of Public Health
            Division of Environmental Health Sciences
            MMC 807, 420 Delaware St SE
            Minneapolis MN 55455

Questions: Contact Dr. Gurumurthy Ramachandran at 612-626-5428 (phone), 612-626-4837 (fax), email: ramac002@umn.edu

Progress Report AND Final Report:

1. A Progress Report is due at the end of the first year of funding if it is a 2-year project. Include preliminary results and any relevant issues encountered.

2. A Final Report is due within two months following the end of the proposed budget period. The report should include: (a) the title of the project, (b) the names of the investigators and the institutions to which they belong, (c) a 150 word abstract of the research findings, (d) specific objectives and goals, (e) research methods used including study design, population characteristics, data collection methods, data analysis methods, (f) results including all tables and figures, (g) discussion and implications of findings. The report should list the various publications and presentationgs arising from this work, as well as proposals submitted for further funding on the basis of the pilot study results. Attachments should include all: (a) documents used in the research effort (e.g., cover letters, survey and other research instruments); (b) presentations; (c) publications; (d) extramural funds that have resulted, in part, directly or indirectly from this award..

3. The NIOSH-funded MCOHS ERC Pilot Research Training Program (OH008434) must be acknowledged in all associated publications. In addition, the following statement must be included in all publications arising from this research: “The contents of this effort are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official view of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or other associated entities.”

The Midwest Center for Occupational Health and SafetyContact MCOHS