ADAI Small Grant Guidelines

Guidelines for ADAI Small Grant Proposals
Revised January 2008

The primary goal of the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute is to facilitate and conduct research on alcohol and other drugs of abuse. One way in which this goal is realized is by awards to University of Washington faculty in the Small Grants Program. Funding decisions for ADAI Small Grants are based on scientific merit assessed by peer review, relevance of the question to the field, and potential for new insights into the problems of substance abuse. Only proposals directly related to alcohol and drug abuse will be considered; however, the range of interests extends from basic pharmacology to clinical and psychosocial research. Questions concerning the application process or relevance of a proposed research topic may be directed to the Institute at 206-543-0937, or e-mail adai@u.washington.edu.

Eligibility:

Only individuals qualified to serve as Principal Investigators at the University of Washington are eligible to apply as Principal Investigator of proposals. Individuals with an acting faculty appointment are eligible to apply as Principal Investigators, as are Research Scientists who are permitted by their school, department, or research center to serve independently as principal investigators on federal grants.

Individuals not affiliated with the University may not apply for funding, but students and fellows may be supported on a funded research project. Applications specifically designed to support predoctoral or postdoctoral training should indicate that intent on the cover sheet as described below; the trainee ("applicant") should be listed as the Principal Investigator of the research project, but the UW-faculty mentor will be fiscally responsible for the award.

Specific Provisions and Priorities:

I. Priorities.

A. The intent of the Institute is to provide initial funding of new projects, and it is expected that applicants will eventually seek outside grant support for continuation of their research programs. Therefore, low priority will be given to continuation of proposals.

B. Preferential consideration will be granted to projects involving new investigators (particularly junior faculty), and experienced investigators who are exploring new areas of research.

C. The scientific merit of the proposed research and its feasibility are the primary factors in evaluating an application. Only projects that may result in scientific publication will be considered for funding, and priority is given to work that is likely to support a subsequent extramural grant application at the University of Washington.

D. An official budget ceiling has been established at $20,000. Applications with budgets in excess of this amount will not be considered without prior approval.

E. The Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute will not review more than one proposal by a given Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator during a single review period.

II. Recent Changes in the Small Grant Guidelines (January 2008):

Number of copies: Beginning with the March 2008 grant cycle (due March 17), only the original signed copy of the application is required for submission. This copy must have all required signatures on the cover page. If appendices are included, only one copy is required for submission. ADAI staff will scan the original application and appendices, and distribute them in PDF format to reviewers.

Clarification re:appendices: Appendices may be included with applications, however reviewers have the option to examine them; the review will be based primarily on the contents of the application itself so as to be fair to all applicants.

Formatting: Applications -- excluding the biographic data sheets (biosketches) and appendices -- must meet formatting specifications in font size, lines per inch, and margin width. Font size should be at least Arial 11 or Times Roman 12 pt; Lines per inch should be 6; Margins should be 0.75 or larger. Overly small print and margins are a barrier to adequate review; applications not meeting these format requirements may be returned and would need to be resubmitted during the following cycle.

Application Procedures:

Invitations to submit proposals will be issued through the University Week and the UW Research Funding Service. Deadlines for receipt of applications are October 15 and March 15, or the following Monday if these dates fall on a weekend. These deadlines are adhered to strictly. Submit the original, signed application and appendices by 5:00 p.m. to the ADAI Office (1107 NE 45th Street, Suite 120) or send it to UW Campus Box 354805 in time to reach ADAI before the deadline. Applications must be transmitted through the Department Chair and College Dean for their signatures of endorsement (for both Principal Investigators and Co-Investigators). Applications are not submitted through Grants and Contract Services; therefore, a GC-1 form is not required. Animal Care Committee and Human Subjects Committee approval is not required prior to submission, but will be required if appropriate prior to award.

In writing proposals, please keep in mind that these are read by a faculty committee selected from the general area in which the proposal is made, but not all members are specialists in the particular field of the proposal.

I. The cover page of the application should include:

A. Title of the project.

B. Applicant's name, title, department and signature. (If this is a mentored award for a predoctoral or postdoctoral applicant, the Mentor's name, title, department and signature should also be provided.)

C. Statement describing applicant:

New Investigator, appointed to UW within the last 3 years

Established Investigator, initiating a new line of drug or alcohol research

Pre- or Post-doctoral trainee (mentor must complete section B-7 below)

D. Date of the application.

E. Specific calendar dates of period for which financial support is requested. (Allow 3 months from application receipt deadline to project start date. Duration of Award may be up to 24 months.)

F. Statement as to whether request is new or a resubmission.

G. Total amount of financial support requested ($20,000 maximum).

H. Signatures of Department Chair and College Dean (of P.I. and Co-I.)

II. The body of the application should include the sections outlined below, and must meet formatting specifications in font size (at least Arial 11 or Times Roman 12 pt); lines per inch (6); and margin width (0.75 or larger). These format specifications apply to all sections except the Biographical Data Sheet and Appendices.

A. An abstract (not to exceed 300 words) describing the proposed research project; include a statement about the clinical importance of the work, if appropriate.

B. A concise research plan, following the NIH guidelines outlined below. THIS SECTION MUST BE LIMITED TO SIX SINGLE-SPACED OR TEN DOUBLE-SPACED PAGES. PROPOSALS EXCEEDING THESE LIMITS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED. Page limits for the Research Plan refer to items 1 through 6 only. The Mentor's Statement, and sections C through E are not included in the page limits.

l. Introduction:

a. Objective: State the overall objective or long-term goal of the proposed research.
b. Background: Review the most significant previous work and describe the current status of research, including your own, in this field.
c. Rationale: Present concisely the justification for your approach to the problem, if it is not obvious from the preceding material. When you are choosing one of several possible approaches, note briefly why the others have been rejected.

2. Specific aims: List your specific objectives for the total period of requested support.

3. Method of procedure: Give details of your research plan, including a description of the experiments or other work you propose to do; the methods, species of animals (where appropriate), and techniques you plan to use; the data you expect to obtain; and the means by which you plan to analyze or interpret the data to attain your objectives. A timetable for completion of the main steps of the project should be provided. Include, if appropriate, a discussion of pitfalls you might encounter, and the limitations of the procedures you propose to use.

4. Significance: Discuss the potential importance of the proposed work and any novel ideas or contributions in terms of alcoholism and/or drug abuse which it offers. Provide an explicit description of how the results will be used to obtain future extramural funding and/or how the proposed studies will advance the career of the applicant.

5. Special facilities to be used: Describe the facilities that you will use for this project including laboratories, clinical resources, and animal quarters. List major items of equipment available for this work.

6. Collaborative arrangements: If the proposed project requires collaboration with other institutions, community organizations, or any group whose cooperation is essential, describe this collaboration and provide letters in support of this collaboration.

7. Mentor's Statement (for awards to support trainees): The mentor should provide: 1) a letter of evaluation of the applicant (including an assessment of the candidate's professional aspirations and potential); 2) a description of the training plan (including course work, TA responsibilities, ethics training, mentoring plan); 3) an NIH-style biosketch of the mentor including Other Support section. The body of the proposal should largely be written by the trainee with minimal editorial input from the mentor. NOTE: this section is not included in the page limits noted in item B above.

C. List previous grants received from the Institute (title, dates, amounts). If final reports have not been submitted for these, provide either a final report or information on the progress of the research. If the project which you are proposing is being partially supported by other sources, please specify source and amount of support.

Be sure that all grants or publications resulting from previous ADAI funding are listed on your final report or on an addendum to it; the results of previous ADAI research will be an important factor in funding decisions.

D. A detailed budget and budget justification must be provided. Use budget categories designated by the U.W. Financial Accounting System. Where normal increases in salaries are anticipated, the required amounts must be included in estimates. Include applicable fringe benefits.

The budget should show all persons, paid or unpaid, who will carry out the research. The function of these persons should be explained in the justification. Also itemize and/or justify major cost items.

Purchase of scientific equipment costing more than $2000 for the proposed study may be supported by this award if adequately justified. Items costing less than $2000 should be included in the supplies category per a recent University change, while those items above $2000 should be listed under equipment. To provide additional flexibility to the investigator, the duration of the award may be extended to 24 months (without an increase in budget) if justified by the project.

Faculty salaries including associated benefits may be included for up to 25% of the total budget requested. Visiting faculty salaries and secretarial salaries cannot be covered. Other expenses not covered are publication costs and travel (for other than research subjects).

E. Biographic data sheets for all major professional personnel and a bibliography should be included in the application. As a part of the Biosketch, the applicant should provide a complete list of current and pending funding, including source, amount and period of funding for each of the professional personnel listed. NIH-style biosketches may be used. <http://grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/biosketchsample.doc>

Appendices may be included with applications, however reviewers have the option to examine them; the review will be based primarily on the contents of the application itself so as to be fair to all applicants.

Biographic data sheets and Appendices are excluded from formatting requirements specified above regarding font size and margin width.

Review of Applications:

Review procedures are similar to those used by NIH committees. Investigators will be notified of Review Committee results by mail approximately 10 weeks after the deadline. Please do not call the Institute before this time.

Human Subjects and Animal Care Committees Approval:

Funded projects involving either human subjects or animals must obtain approval from the appropriate committee before a budget can be established. ADAI does not require approval before considering a proposal. For procedural information, consult the websites for Human Subjects or Animal Care. ADAI follows NIH guidlines in requiring that “key personnel” receive training in the conduct of human subjects research; this training is available in person or web-based from the Human Subjects Division.

Administration of Funds:

Projects may be funded for a maximum of 24 months with a budget ceiling of $20,000. The Principal Investigator is responsible for the proper administration of funds. Each award will be given an account number by Grant and Contract Accounting. (In the case of a mentored award, the trainee is Principal Investigator of the research project, and the mentor is fiscally responsible for the awarded funds). Funds may not be transferred between projects. Grant and Contract Accounting will transmit budget reports on the award accounts to the Principal Investigators and their departments. ADAI will not assume fiscal responsibility for over-expended budgets.

If publication results, directly or indirectly, from award allocations, it should carry an acknowledgement of the source of such support as the University of Washington Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute. Please send relevant reprints to the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Institute.

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Updated January 16, 2008 | http://depts.washington.edu/adai/grants/smgr_guidelines.htm