Behavioral HealthBehavioral Health

Program of Excellence

Behavioral Health Research Funding Opportunities

For Social Science Research

Dan Hoyt

Department of Sociology

IntroductionThis session is designed to provide you with an orientation to funding opportunities and mechanisms at the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

The companion talk next week will look at the structure of NIH applications, submission mechanisms, and where you can get assistance.

These sessions should provide a good background for the October 17 Grant Writing Workshop provided by the UNL VCR office.

Overview• National Institutes of Health Institutes & Centers

• NIH funding mechanisms

• NIH funding approaches

• Information on research opportunities

• Where to get help at UNL

NIH Institutes & Centers

There are 27 Institutes and Centers in the National Institutes of Health (NIH)Some of the more common resources for Social Science Research are:– National Cancer Institute (NCI) – National Institute on Aging (NIA) – National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) – National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

(NICHD) – National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)– National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) – National Center on Minority Health and Health Disparities

(NCMHD)

NIH Funding

• NIH uses 3 major funding mechanisms to support extramural research: Grant: Investigator decides the research to be designed

or developed and the approach.

Contract: Government decides the research to fill their perceived need and establishes detailed requirements.

Cooperative Agreement: Similar to grants, but awarding Institute/Center (IC) and recipient have substantial involvement in carrying out the project's activities.

NIH Funding

NIH has 4 basic funding approaches:

• Investigator-Initiated• Program Announcement (PA)• Request for Applications (RFA)• Request for Proposals (RFP)

• Investigator-Initiated ResearchUnsolicited: The investigator initiates the research and submits a grant application within an area that is relevant to the NIH.

NIH Funding Approaches

• Program Announcement (PA) Solicited: NIH solicits grant applications or cooperative agreements in a given research area representing a new, ongoing or expanded interest and/or high-priority program; Generally, no set-aside of funds, and applications submitted in response are often considered investigator-initiated in that the applicant has responsibility for the planning, direction, and execution of the proposed project.

NIH Funding Approaches

• Request for Applications (RFA)

Solicited: NIH solicits research grant applications for a one-time competition on a specific topic, Describes an IC initiative in a well-defined scientific area to stimulate research in a priority area; Set-aside of funds for a certain number of awards.

NIH Funding Approaches

• Request for Proposals (RFP)

Solicited: NIH solicits research contract applications for a one-time competition on a specific topic. Set-aside of funds for a certain number of awards.

NIH Funding Approaches

NIH uses numerous grant activities to support research.

• Traditional Research Project Grant (R01)

R01 Grants are awarded to eligible institutions on behalf of a principal investigator to support a discrete project related to the investigator's area of interest and competence. These grants make up the largest category of NIH funding.

NIH Funding Activities

• Small Research Grant (R03)

R03 Grants support small research projects that can be carried out in a short period of time with limited resources for projects such as pilot or feasibility studies; secondary analysis of existing data; development of research methodology and/or technology. Not all I/Cs accept R03 applications.

NIH Funding Activities

• Exploratory/Developmental Research Grant (R21)R21 Grants seek to broaden the base of inquiry in fundamental research by encouraging applications for research projects that involve an especially high degree of innovation and novelty. NIH provides pilot-scale support for potentially ground-breaking ideas and methods that meet the following criteria: they lack sufficient preliminary data for feasibility to be established, their successful demonstration would have a major impact on research, and they fall within the areas supported by the awarding I/C.

NIH Funding Activities

• Kirschstein-NRSA individual pre-doctoral fellowship (F31) This program will provide pre-doctoral training support for doctoral candidates who have successfully completed their comprehensive examinations or the equivalent by the time of award and will be performing dissertation research and training. The applicant should provide evidence of potential for a productive research career based upon the quality of previous research training and academic record.

NIH Funding Activities

• Kirschstein-NRSA individual pre-doctoral fellowship (F31) - continuedThe applicant must propose a dissertation research project and training program which falls into a research area within the scientific mission of the IC. The research training experience must enhance the applicant’s conceptualization of research problems and research skills, under the guidance and supervision of a committed mentor who is an active and established investigator in the area of the applicant's proposed research.

NIH Funding Activities

• Kirschstein-NRSA individual post-doctoral Fellowship Award (F32) The proposed post-doctoral training must be within the broad scope of biomedical, behavioral, or clinical research and must offer an opportunity to enhance the fellow's understanding of the health-related sciences and extend his/her potential for a productive research career.

NIH Funding Activities

• National Institutes of Health (NIH) Dissertation Award (R36)

Dissertation Research Grant must be enrolled in an accredited doctoral degree program in an area or discipline relevant to the mission of the IC, and must be conducting dissertation research relevant to that mission. The student applicant must be a doctoral candidate (advanced to candidacy) for whom all requirements for the doctoral degree (excluding the clinical internship requirement) other than the dissertation have been completed by the time of the award.

NIH Funding Activities

• Mentored Research Scientist Development Award (K01)

The purpose of the K01 award is to provide support and “protected time” (three, four, or five years) for an intensive, supervised career development experience leading to research independence. Has to commit a minimum of 75% of full-time professional effort conducting research and relevant career development activities specified in the application.

NIH Funding Activities

• Grants Opportunity Page at NIH

http://grants2.nih.gov/grants/index.cfm

• NIH Office of Extramural Research Page

http://grants2.nih.gov/grants/oer.htm

• NIH Funding Page

http://grants2.nih.gov/grants/guide/index.html

NIH Information Sources

• Survey, Statistics & Psychometrics Core Facility (SSP)

http://ssp.unl.edu/services.php• Nebraska Center for Research on Children,

Youth, Families & Schools (CYFS)

http://www.cyfs.unl.edu/home.html• Office of Proposal Development

http://www.unl.edu/research/sp1/propdev.shtml• Office of Research Funding Announcements

http://www.unl.edu/research/sp1/oldfa.shtml

UNL Grant Resources

Some basic advice • Plan ahead, it typically takes months to properly

prepare a quality grant • Choose funding opportunities that are

appropriate to your interests and career stage• Seek input, early and often, from your

colleagues or mentors• Use the UNL support resources to get help:

– Narrative (Office of Proposal Development)– Data collection (Bureau of Sociological Research)– Statistical modeling, power estimates (SSP)

Obtaining NIH Grant Funding