CBR Research Grants

Research Proposal Guidelines

Objective

IMPORTANT DATES

January 1

Start date for proposals approved at the December meeting

July

Program Oversight Committee Meeting

mid-July

Summer Deadline for submission of proposals for September 1 start date

September 1

Start date for proposals approved at the July meeting

October

Half-Day Annual Conference

mid-November

Winter Deadline for submission of proposals for January1 start date

December

Program Oversight Committee Meeting

The Baystate/UMass Collaborative Biomedical Research (CBR) Program awards grants twice each year for promising research projects that include Co-Principal Investigators from both UMass-Amherst and Baystate Medical Center. The goal of this funding program is to enhance collaborative research between Baystate Medical Center clinicians and the University of Massachusetts faculty. The specific purpose is to provide seed grants for obtaining preliminary data that will guide and strengthen subsequent full research applications to federal or national-level funding agencies. These grants will not, as a rule, be awarded for on-going support of current projects.

In agreement with the NIH's "roadmap" for medical research in the 21st century (http://nihroadmap.nih.gov/overview.asp ) our goal is to “stimulate interdisciplinary research teams.” CBR grants are intended to facilitate the formation of interdisciplinary teams that focus on important medically related problems. It is expected that CBR funding will help position our research teams to compete successfully for funding at the national level.

The research plan should be well conceived, feasible and responsive to an existing federal or national-level funding initiative. It is recommended that the target initiative be stated in the Background section of the proposal and considered throughout the proposal. A successful proposal will build upon the existing strengths of the Principal Investigators to help generate data that will help support the hypotheses anticipated for the full research proposal.

Questions regarding this program should be directed to the CBR Co-Directors, Dr. Barry Braun (bbraun@kin.umass.edu) or Dr. Hal Jenson (Hal.Jenson@bhs.org).

Criteria for Funding

The current level of funding is a maximum of $25,000. The following criteria are used to evaluate proposals:

•  Proposal objectives
•  Background information
•  Intellectual merit of proposed research
•  Technical approach
•  Strength of collaboration
•  Potential for future funding

If the CBR proposal is funded, it is expected that the Principal Investigators will pursue a minimum of one request for extramural funding related to the CBR funded project during the subsequent year.

Investigators can apply for a competitive renewal if substantial progress has been made during the funding period and if a compelling justification is made for additional funds.

Proposal Content

All proposals must include the following items. Incomplete proposals will not be reviewed. Proposals must be single-spaced with 1-inch margins and Arial-11 or Helvetica-11 point font.

  1. Cover Page
    You must list 4 potential outside (UMass or Baystate faculty only) reviewers
  2. Biographical Sketches of Principal Investigator and Co-Investigators
    Use NIH biosketch forms (4 pages), which can be found at: http://www.niaid.nih.gov/ncn/grants/write/write_s7.htm
  3. Budget
    It is planned that a maximum of $25,000 will be awarded to any single project. No indirect costs will be charged to these awards. List all personnel and indicate % effort and total amount requested (if any) for each. The budget justification should simply outline how the funds will be used, and thus can be quite brief.
  4. Cover Page
    Including a list 4 potential UMass Amherst or Baystate faculty that could serve as reviewers
  5. Biographical Sketches of the Co-Investigators
    Use NIH 4-page biosketch form, which can be found at: http://www.niaid.nih.gov/ncn/grants/write/write_s7.htm)
  6. Budget
    It is planned that a maximum of $25,000 will be awarded to any single project. No indirect costs are required or included. List all personnel and indicate the percent time and effort, and amount of funding, if any, requested for each. The budget justification should outline how the funds will be used.

The Program Oversight Committee reserves the right to vary the amount and duration of a grant.

The grant generally does NOT support:

  • The writing and preparation of manuscripts intended to be used as standard textbooks.
  • The preparation of lectures, demonstrations, syllabi or other course-related materials.
  • Departmental symposia, seminars, retreats, colloquia, etc.
  • Projects whose primary purpose is to support student-initiated projects for graduate students or post-doctorates. However, this does not preclude students from being funded in the proposed budget as research assistants or from allowing students to use the data for a thesis/dissertation.
  • The remedy of budgetary deficiency in other research contracts or grants.
  • Travel to sabbatical research sites.
  • Salaries or other direct remuneration to faculty members of the University of Massachusetts or clinicians from the Baystate Medical Center.
  • Reprint costs.
  • Publication costs for individuals or department/disciplinary monographs or series.
  • Library fees.
  • Typing or office expenses related to research (if it is not available through your departmental secretary).

The grant may support:

  • A stipend for a graduate student, including graduate health insurance. The graduate student must be in good standing in a University of Massachusetts, Amherst graduate program.
  • A resident physician or postdoctoral fellow. The resident physician must be in good standing in a residency program at Baystate Medical Center.
  • Expendables for the project.

Application Procedure

Please use the CBR grant application.

The following steps are typical for an application procedure:

  1. Principal investigators from the Baystate Medical Center and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst meet to explore possibilities and eventually agree upon a research collaboration. Co-principal investigators write a grant proposal using the format outlined below.
  2. If the proposed research involves human subjects, the Baystate Institutional Regulatory Board (IRB) and the University of Massachusetts, Amherst Human Subject Committee must approve appropriate protocols. Grant awards may be approved by the CBR Program Oversight Committee subject to the IRB approval of protocols.
  3. Proposals are submitted as electronic copies to the CBR Program before either of two annual deadlines.
    Submit to:
    Jessica Parente
    CBR Research Grants
    Division of Academic Affairs
    Baystate Medical Center
    759 Chestnut Street, Springfield, MA  01199
    v 413.794.1636
    f  413.794.3103
    email CBR@bhs.org
  4. Proposals received by the Summer Deadline in mid-July are eligible for a September start date.
  5. Proposals received by the Winter Deadline in mid-November are eligible for a January start date.
  6. PI's are encouraged to suggest reviewers from the faculty on Baystate, UMass-Amherst or Five College campuses.

Grant awards are made following review and approval by the CBR Program Oversight Committee.

Research Plan (limited to 5 pages)

A. Specific Aims, Hypotheses, Research Questions
Succinctly state the aims and specific hypotheses (if any) to be tested. This section should provide a very clear indication of what will be done in the project and should be reasonable for a one year pilot project.

B. Background and Significance
The rationale for and importance of the project should be clearly indicated. Relevant preliminary data should be included in this section as well as the agency and initiative that is targeted for the subsequent full research plan. If available, provide a url for the targeted initiative.

C. Experimental Design, Methodology and Expected Results
A brief description of the design and methods to be used in the project should be provided. List each member of the research team and indicate each individual's specific role. Indicate how the expected results will support/refute the hypothesis/research questions, and how the results will impact the subsequent full application.

It is critical to address how the collaboration will work. Provide information regarding the interactions between Baystate Medical Center clinicians and UMass Amherst faculty and, if pertinent, a description of the role of the student, postdoc, or resident physician involved in the project.

State specifically where the research will actually be performed. If space at the Baystate Medical Center is required, indicate the proposed nature of the space, the duration of its use, and any important equipment needs.

D. Timeline
Provide a detailed timeline for each portion of the project, including organization of the project, data collection and analysis schedules, and submission date for the subsequent full research proposal. Also, please explain which targeted initiative will be pursued and what strategies (based on the proposed findings) will be used to make the subsequent proposal more competitive. The timeline can be provided in tabular form. It is expected that each pilot project will take no more than 12 months to complete.

E. References
Citations should be numbered in the body of the proposal and fully cited at the end of the proposal. We expect that this section will be limited to only those references that are necessary to support the rationale for the proposal.

F. Final Report
A final report must be submitted to the CBR Program Oversight Committee within 90 days following completion of the budget period. The report will consist of a short summary of work conducted under the grant and copies of any datasets and/or publications resulting from work performed. Alternately, a copy of an abstract submitted as part of a targeted future funding initiative will be accepted.

Last reviewed|updated on July 8, 2008