Calls for Pilot Project Proposals

CALL FOR PILOT PROJECT PROPOSALS 2025-2026

Request for Pilot Proposals on LGBTQ+ Aging

Center on Aging and Population Sciences (CAPS)

Proposal Deadline: February 16, 2024

We invite investigators to submit proposals for pilot funding to support research projects focused on LGBTQ+ population aging. These pilot research projects would be funded for the period from July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2026. Pilot projects may be funded up to $40,000 in direct costs. Guidelines for the proposal format are indicated below.

Note that we will be submitting these proposals in 2024 to be funded in the summer of 2025, 15 months later.

Questions may be addressed to:

Karen Fingerman, kfingerman@austin.utexas.edu or Debra Umberson, umberson@austin.utexas.edu

Submit proposals to caps@utexas.edu

Subject: Attn: Pilot Project Proposal

Pilot Project Goals

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 in LGBTQ+ populations.

The focus of these pilot proposals is limited to LGBTQ+ populations and aging.

Proposals will be given priority that address:

• Life course precursors of later life health and well-being
• Family demography, social engagement, and social isolation
• Place and health including neighborhoods, geographic region, and other indicators of place

Pilot projects should be designed to support the development of a larger research project that will be submitted under an NIA grant mechanism (R03, R01, R21). Pilot projects are not intended to support work to complete a study or as an addendum to an existing project. NIA considers the success rate of grants submitted from the pilot projects when making decisions about funding future CAPS pilot projects.  

Budget

Pilot projects may be funded up to $40,000 in direct costs. Pilot project budgets may be used to cover expenses related to the proposed study within guidelines for federally allowable expenses, including summer salary. Indirect costs should be included using your institution’s federally negotiated rate. In special circumstances, larger budgets will be considered. 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. Again, this is an important metric in reporting to NIA on the success of our pilot program.

Pilot Project Proposal Requirements (See template below)

• Investigators and affiliations
• Project title
• Statement of the purpose of the pilot in one sentence: This pilot project will do XXX.
• Text of the Proposal (approximately 2 pages total)
  • Specific Aims
  • Significance and Methods
  • One to two sentences explicating the innovation. Examples: “This project innovates by XXX”, “This projects extends research in this area by doing XXX”
  • Match with CAPS Themes
• End Products

Please state the phrase as: The R01 or R21 arising from this project will go beyond the pilot by

doing XXX/examining XXX/applying this method to XXX

• 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

Please format your proposal using the template at the end of this announcement

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 LGBTQ+ populations, 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 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

From under-represented groups

Multidisciplinary 

• Collaboration with other NIA funded P30 centers also is encouraged

 

 

 

 

PLEASE USE THIS TEMPLATE IN PREPARING YOUR PROPOSAL

 

Principal Investigator and affiliation

Example Applicant, Assistant Professor, Sociology, the University of Texas at Austin

 

Co-Investigator and affiliation

Example Co-Investigator, Professor, Economics, the University of Texas at Austin

Project Title

Disability of a family member, caregiving behavior, and caregiver health outcomes in middle and late adulthood

Statement of Purpose

The purpose of this project is to establish the feasibility of XXX/generate administrative linkages between XX dataset and XX records/

Aims – Please present a brief snapshot of each Aim here:

Aim 1. XXXX

Aim 2. XXX

 

Significance

Innovation (see note on p. 2)

Method – Please develop each Aim here

Provide scientific premise, public health significance, goals for each Aim

Research design for each Aim.

 

CAPS Themes

Provide a paragraph that indicates how the proposed Aims and research questions are linked to one or more of the themes.

 

End product – Indicate the plan for a larger NIA grant proposal

The ultimate goal of this project is to prepare an R01 application to the NIA about disparities in XXXX.

The R01 or R21 arising from this project will go beyond the pilot by doing XXX/examining XXX/applying this method to XXX To achieve this goal, the investigators will use the pilot data to XXXX.

Timeline

Prepare a detailed timeline for each quarter of the year of the pilot proposal.

 

Quarter	Dates	Activities
1	July – Sept, 2024
2	Oct – Dec, 2024
3	Jan – March, 2025
4	April – June, 2025	Prepare R01 for submission date October 2025

 

Budget

Biosketch

 

Provide an NIH formatted biosketch for each investigator.

Biosketch format pages instructions and samples are available here: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms/biosketch.htm

 

CALL FOR PILOT PROJECT PROPOSALS 2024-2025

 

Proposal Deadline: January 9, 2024

We invite investigators to submit proposals for pilot funding to support research projects for the period from July 1, 2024 through June 30, 2025.

Information and Q&A session: December 1, 2023 at 2 pm
Zoom link: https://utexas.zoom.us/j/96116446695

Questions may be addressed to:
Karen Fingerman, kfingerman@austin.utexas.edu or Debra Umberson, umberson@austin.utexas.edu

Submit proposals to caps@utexas.edu
Subject: Attn: Pilot Project Proposal

Pilot Project Goals

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.

Proposals will be given priority that address:

• Life course precursors of later life health and well-being
• Family demography, social engagement, and social isolation
• Place and health including neighborhoods, geographic region, and other indicators of place

Pilot projects should be designed to support the development of a larger research project that will be submitted under an NIA grant mechanism (R03, R01, R21). Pilot projects are not intended to support work to complete a study or as an addendum to an existing project. NIA considers the success rate of grants submitted from the pilot projects when making decisions about funding future CAPS pilot projects.  

Budget

Pilot projects may be funded up to the amount of $40,000. Pilot project budgets may be used to cover expenses related to the proposed study within guidelines for federally allowable expenses, including summer salary. In special circumstances, larger budgets will be considered. 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. Again, this is an important metric in reporting to NIA on the success of our pilot program. Depending on NIA allocations, we will typically fund 4 to 5 projects.

Pilot Project Proposal Requirements (See template below)

• 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
• NIH Biosketch

Please format your proposal using the template at the end of this announcement.

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 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
              - From under-represented groups
              - Multidisciplinary 
• Collaboration with other NIA funded P30 centers also is encouraged.

PLEASE USE THIS TEMPLATE IN PREPARING YOUR PROPOSAL

Principal Investigator and affiliation
Example Applicant, Assistant Professor, Sociology, the University of Texas at Austin

Co-Investigator and affiliation
Example Co-Investigator, Professor, Economics, the University of Texas at Austin

Project Title
Disability of a family member, caregiving behavior, and caregiver health outcomes in middle and late adulthood

Aims – Please present a brief snapshot of each Aim here. Example:
Aim 1. To identify the role of family member’s disability in the longitudinal association between caregiving behavior and depression.
Aim 2. To investigate whether the act of caregiving attenuates the longitudinal link between family disability and depression.
Aim 3. To examine the role of cognitive impairment and dementia of the care-recipient for the linkages between family disability, caregiving behavior, and depression. 

Significance and Method – Please develop each Aim here
Provide scientific premise, public health significance, goals for each Aim.
Research design for each Aim.

CAPS Themes
Provide a paragraph that indicates how the proposed Aims and research questions are linked to one or more of the themes.

End product – Indicate the plan for a larger NIA grant proposal
The ultimate goal of this project is to prepare an R01 application to the NIA about disparities in XXXX.
To achieve this goal, the investigators will use the pilot data to XXXX.

Timeline
Prepare a detailed time line for each quarter of the year of the pilot proposal.

Quarter	Dates	Activities
1	July – Sept, 2024
2	Oct – Dec, 2024
3	Jan – March, 2025
4	April – June, 2025	Prepare R01 for submission date October 2025

Budget (approx. ½ to 1 page)

• Detailed budget
• Budget justification

Biosketch
Provide an NIH formatted biosketch for each investigator.
Biosketch format pages instructions, and samples are available here: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms/biosketch.htm

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