Director's Strategic Priorities Grant

Annual Request for Proposals Closed

Purpose and Eligibility

The Director of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development (VKC) announces a call for the Director’s Strategic Priorities Grant. The mission of the VKC is to facilitate discoveries and best practices that make positive differences in the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families. This internal grant award is available to VU and VUMC faculty who are members of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center. The Principal Investigator must be a VKC‐affiliated faculty member prior to submitting the grant proposal.

The proposal must be directed to original, empirical research either 1) utilizing novel methodologies for studying intellectual and developmental disabilities (e.g. EEG hyper-scanning, trans-species approaches, neuromodulation, health policy research); or, 2) research on IDD in diverse, underrepresented and underserved populations. Special consideration will be given to applications that focus on both topics.

As with VKC Hobbs Discovery Grants, this Strategic Priorities Grant should be multidisciplinary, novel, and innovative in preparation for submitting competitive grant applications to federal agencies or substantial applications to private foundations. Interdisciplinary teams are strongly encouraged. The program is not meant to serve as bridge funding or extensions of previous Hobbs Discovery awards.

Period and Amount of Awards

Awards will be for 11 months (August 1, 2022 – June 30, 2023) and are non-renewable. Funds must be spent by June 30, 2023, and cost carry-over is not possible. Budgets allow up to a maximum of $50,000 (no indirect costs).

Priority will be given to applications that propose innovative, multidisciplinary research, and that are most likely to lead to extramural grant support.

Application Procedure

Applications are due by 5 p.m. Thursday, June 30, 2022. Applications submitted beyond that date will not be considered. Applicants should email a pdf file to Julia Harrison (julia.harrison@vumc.org). A return confirmation will be sent to you electronically. Award decisions will be made in July 2022.

Application Contents

• Page 1: Cover/Face Page (Note: PI is the only required signature)
• Page 2: Abstract
• Page 3: Table of Contents
• Page 4: Budget
• Page 5: Budget Justification (provide brief summary)
• Page 6: Biographical Sketch for each Key Personnel – PHS 398 template

Slightly modified PHS 398 templates (Word format) are available by clicking this link or using the "Download Application Forms" button. Applicants should complete the application forms as though they were applying for an R03 Small Grant; however, there is a 2‐page limit on Research Plan sections (1) through (4). With respect to the 2-page limit, a suggestion is that the first page could consist of background/significance, innovation, and impact; second page could be approach, written at a general level in order to give reviewers an understanding of the feasibility and scope of the work. Arial 11 pt. font should be used. The only required signature on the Face Page is from the PI.

Research Plan (2‐page limit for sections 1‐4)

1. Introduction: (a) Statement of Problem and (b) Relevance to VKC Mission
2. Specific Hypotheses
3. Background and Significance, with an emphasis on innovation and impact
4. Approach—General Research Design and Brief Methods

Specific Instructions Regarding Budget and Allowable Costs

Applicants must provide a detailed budget and brief budget justification. Allowable expenses are: salaries for research staff (or term appointments) and student assistants, small equipment, consumable laboratory supplies, travel necessary for carrying out research, participant reimbursements, research computer software and supplies, and other miscellaneous costs necessary for carrying out the proposed research. Examples of costs that are NOT allowable are investigator or co‐investigator faculty salaries (tenure or research track), travel expenses to and from conferences (including registration fees, hotels and meals), tuition, subscriptions, books, office renovation or equipment and furnishings, local meals with guests, and other non‐research costs.

The Director’s Strategic Priorities Pilot Grant is not intended to supplement ongoing NIH or DOE grants. However, the award may be used to complete an already productive pilot project supported with private foundation grant funds or which has been a spin‐off project growing out of a previously funded grant. If an applicant is proposing to use remaining funds from another source (e.g., a small grant from an advocacy organization or private foundation) in addition to the Strategic Priorities Pilot Grant, the proposed budget must show what each source of funding would cover.

IRB and IACUC Approvals

It is not necessary for your project to be approved by the IRB and/or Animal Care Committees at the time you submit your proposal; however, if your proposal is awarded, funds will not be made available until you have submitted your approval notification to Julia Harrison. (Your IRB or IACUC approval notification should include the title of your Director’s Strategic Priorities Pilot proposal, and the funding source should state Vanderbilt Kennedy Center Director’s Strategic Priorities Pilot Grant.)

Review Criteria

The review criteria employed in evaluating these applications will be similar to those in evaluating NIH Small Grant (R03) applications. The focus of applications must be on the stated priority of original, empirical research addressing precision care related to intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Five criteria with be used in evaluating proposals:

1. Ideas have scientific merit and are innovative
2. Responsiveness to stated priority, criteria, and mission of the VKC
3. Work appears to be realizable by the end of the award period
4. Likelihood the project will lead to external funding, and
5. Investigator qualifications

Scientific merit includes originality and innovative nature of the scientific question and approach and soundness of research design and proposed measurement system. Pilot research typically involves small samples that may preclude an adequate statistical power analysis; however, applicants will be expected to demonstrate how such preliminary findings will be interpreted, given the nature of the anticipated findings. Applicants must describe how they plan to use that information to convince an NIH or OSERS committee that findings based on a small sample is likely to be generalizable to a larger group.

Feasibility refers to ability to carry out the research described with the funds provided, to be spent by June 30, 2023. Proposals that promise to do far more than can conceivably be accomplished with the limited funds provided within the current Fiscal Year will not fare well on this criterion.

It is very difficult to predict accurately whether a given pilot project will lead to a funded federal research grant. However, the applicant will be expected to explain her/his rationale concerning how the findings generated with the proposed Director’s Strategic Priorities Pilot Grant funds would logically lead reviewers to conclude that a subsequently proposed project submitted to a federal agency would likely be successful and makes sense in light of the data generated using the grant funds.

Evaluation Process

The VKC Director and Associate Director will assign two faculty reviewers (in most instances, VKC investigators/members) to review each application to assure a competent and impartial review. An NIH Peer Review Scoring system will be used in which applications will be scored on a scale of 1.0 to 9.0 (Outstanding to Disapprove). Mean scores will be rank ordered. Final decisions will be made jointly by the VKC Director and Associate Director (providing no conflict of interest).

Expectations of Director’s Strategic Priorities Pilot Grant Recipient

It is expected that the findings from this pilot research will be a basis for grant applications to federal agencies or substantial applications to private foundations. At the conclusion of the project, the PI of the funded application will be expected to provide a brief written summary of the research and findings and to keep VKC director informed about federal or foundation grants that stemmed from the Strategic Priorities Pilot Grant. Investigators may be asked to give a brief oral presentation within a VKC research series.

Inquiries

Inquiries are encouraged in order to clarify procedures or priorities. Questions regarding procedures should be directed to Julia Harrison or Tim Stafford. Substantive questions regarding research priorities should be referred to VKC Director Jeffrey Neul.