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Call for Innovation Pilot Projects

Proposal Deadline: Rolling Deadline

Subject: Attn: Innovation Pilot Project Proposal

Submit to: caps@utexas.edu

The Center on Aging and Population Sciences invites investigators across career stages and U.S. institutions to submit proposals for pilot funding to support Innovation research projects.

If you are interested in applying, please contact Robert Crosnoe (crosnoe@austin.utexas.edu) to discuss your ideas prior to submitting a proposal.

Pilot projects should incorporate one or more of the following themes.

We seek cutting-edge research to illuminate how biological, psychosocial, and environmental factors intersect throughout the life course to generate disparities in health and well-being at older ages.

  • Biosocial Process examines how the dynamic interplay of biological and social processes affects the body, the brain, and overall health and aging outcomes.
  • Family and Social Engagement examines how demographic patterns and trends affect family and other social ties, the kinds of social ties people have as they age, and how those ties affect health and aging.
  • Socioeconomic and Institutional Contexts examines how socioeconomic and institutional contexts (e.g., state-level policies, neighborhoods, housing, workplaces, schools) shape biology, health, and the pace of aging.

Expectations

Pilot projects should:

1.   Lead to a competitive NIH application within two years of pilot award. They are intended to support the development of a larger research project that will be submitted under an NIA grant mechanism (R03, R01, R21), not to support ongoing work, complete a study, or add to an existing project.

2.   Generate novel, innovative methods, techniques, or data. The study should either a) test a new method or technique not already in use or b) collect primary data that is novel based on the type of data collected, the approach to measurement, or the population studied. Note that NIA guidelines for these awards do not allow funding for secondary data analysis itself, absent a substantially novel method.

3.   Have potential for extensive use by the scientific community, including but not limited to the dissemination of data or new methodologies.

 Detailed Sharing Plan

Innovation Pilot applicants should submit a detailed data sharing plan and timeline with their application. New data resources developed during the pilot will be publicized and disseminated via Communication Core activities, including a Data Brief Series, an online data portal, and an easy-to-use data request form on the CAPS website, which will describe data resources and provide links for access. These activities will ensure rapid sharing and dissemination of newly developed data infrastructure.

Budget

Pilot projects may be funded up to the amount of $50,000 (direct costs). In special circumstances, larger budgets will be considered. Pilot project budgets may be used to cover expenses related to the proposed study within guidelines for federally allowable expenses, including summer salary and GRA support.

 To prepare a budget for the application, please contact grants@prc.utexas.edu

Project time periods are for one year, and all proposed work must be accomplished during that period.

 Please format your proposal using this template.

  • Investigators and affiliations
  • Project title
  • Text of the Proposal (approximately 2 pages total)
    • Specific Aims
    • Significance and Methods
    • Match with CAPS Themes
  • End Products
  • Timeline (approx. ¼ page)
    • Tasks and goals for the project broken down by quarters.
    • Plan for submitting larger grant to NIA, specifying the mechanism
  • Budget (approx. ½ to 1 page)
    • Detailed budget
    • Budget justification
  • NIH Biosketch

 Projects selected for funding will also be required to provide an NIH section on human subjects

  • NIH protection of human subjects information, including enrollment table
  • IRB approval

Review Criteria

  • Topic area: Alignment with CAPS themes and population science
  • Potential impact and innovation: Extending prior science via cutting-edge methodology 
  • Scientific design: Including conceptual framework, methodology, and measurement
  • Feasibility: Timeline and budget appropriate for project goals and design
  • End product goals: Presentations, publications, and grant submission
  • Investigators:
    • Early stage investigators:
      • Track record of publication
      • Strong interest in the grant proposal process and intention to submit a proposal
      • Consultants and mentors appropriate for the project
    • Mid-career and senior investigators
      • History of high-impact research
      • Funding record
      • Investigative team has high potential for funding from NIA
    • Project teams including investigators who are: 
      • New to aging research
      • Multidisciplinary 
  • Collaboration with other NIA funded P30 centers is also encouraged