2012 Seed Grant Program—EECRC
2012 Seed Grant Program
Emory Egleston Children’s Research Center
APPLICATION DEADLINE October 17, 2011
The Emory Egleston Children’s Research Center is pleased to announce that funds are available for basic, translational, and clinical research toward understanding the mechanisms and potential treatments for diseases of children. These grants are funded jointly by Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta (CHOA) and Emory University School of Medicine. These Seed Grants are specifically intended to facilitate the acquisition of extramural support for new and expanded research efforts. The guidelines for the Year 2012 Seed Grant application and funding process are:
1) The applications will be restricted to regular faculty with primary appointments at the level of Instructor, Assistant, Associate or Full Professor in clinical departments of Emory University School of Medicine, with special encouragement of applications from junior faculty members. Clinical investigators in departments other than Pediatrics must have staff privileges at CHOA. Applicants must have an active faculty appointment at the time of submission of the grant. Faculty members with active extramural grant support as Principal Investigator at the level of the NIH R01 or P01 grants are not eligible.
2) Each application is to be directed toward an extramural grant application; the granting agency and the proposed date of the grant application must be specified by the investigator in the cover page of the proposal. The proposed grant application could be any NIH award (e.g. K08, K23, or R01) or could be to other national, regional, or state organizations (e.g. American Lung Association, Muscular Dystrophy, March of Dimes, American Heart Association) with peer review of grant applications.
3) For individuals who have had recent extramural applications approved but not funded, the seed grant application could be for a specific plan to strengthen the application for re-submission.
4) The Division Director or Departmental chairman of each applicant for a seed grant will be specifically involved in approving the seed grant application, providing research time for the applicant, and ensuring that the extramural grant application actually does get submitted as proposed in the Seed Grant. To strengthen this relationship, if an applicant receives seed grant funds and then does not submit both an extramural grant application and a progress report within the specified time frame, the applicant’s division or department will have to refund to the EECRC the monies awarded to that seed grant recipient.
5) The time frame for these grants will be for 12 months (January 1, 2012 – December 31, 2012), with a progress report to be submitted to the Emory Egleston Children’s Research Center by December 1, 2012. Funds not spent by December 31, 2012 will be returned to the EECRC. If a Seed Grant recipient discontinues his/her faculty appointment during the funded period, any unspent funds will be returned to the EECRC.
6) The maximum amount for each seed grant will be $50,000 of direct costs, up to $25,000 of which may be used for the applicant’s salary and fringe benefits to enable more research time, with the remainder used for other non-faculty salaries, supplies or small equipment items. Seed grant applications do not need to be routed in the same way that extramural proposals are routed. However, applicants are recommended to work with their Division’s grant manager to ensure that the proposed budget is appropriately generated, and to interface with the grant manager quarterly if the seed grant proposal is selected for funding.
7) The deadline for submitting the Seed Grant applications is October 17, 2011. Please submit your complete application electronically (as a single PDF file) to Dr. Nael McCarty, Scientific Director, Emory Egleston Children’s Research, Department of Pediatrics.
8) Applications must include, in this order:
a) A cover page with the title of the application, the applicant’s name, department and division, address, amount requested, and the names and application dates of the extramural agency or agencies to which the extramural application will be made. The cover page must be signed by the applicant and by the applicant’s division director or departmental chairman.
b) The Principal Investigator’s NIH-style biosketch (limit four pages), indicating peer-reviewed publications for the previous 5 years, as well as current and pending extramural funding. A blank NIH biographical sketch format page and a Biographical Sketch Sample form (with instructions) can be found at: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/424/index.htm , under the heading “Additional Format Pages”.
c) The specific aims of the proposed research (limit one page). Applications not clearly related to understanding the mechanisms and potential treatments for diseases of children will not be reviewed.
d) The Background, Significance, and Approach sections of the proposed research (limit ten pages) including references and preliminary data. Appendices are not allowed. Included in these ten pages should be the present strengths and weaknesses of the applicant’s preliminary data in regards to the proposed extramural grant application and how the seed grant funds will be used to strengthen the extramural proposal. This may include the development of a new technique, acquisition of preliminary data, developing a collaboration with another investigator, organizing a database, etc.
f) If the research project has previously been submitted for extramural funding, the applicant should include a copy of the critique from the external agency and indicate (limit one page) how the criticisms will be addressed by the new work funded by the seed grant.
g) A budget for the seed grant application in Excel format, indicating amounts for named personnel, equipment, supplies, travel, and other categories.
h) A letter from the applicant’s Division Director or Departmental chairman indicating support for the application and acceptance of the terms of the grant. Terms and conditions are listed above and on the following pages.