UAB Imaging Consortium
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Research Standards, Study Requirements, and Document Submission

UASOM I3
RESEARCH INITIATIVE PILOT AWARD

Introduction

It is the goal of the Interdisciplinary Institute for Imaging (I3) is to encourage new initiatives in imaging investigation, with the intention that such studies will lead to more significant externally funded studies, industry collaborations, or development of intellectual property leading to commercialization.  A committee of the I3, approved by the Dean, has been charged to solicit, identify, evaluate, and award pilot funding to imaging investigators across the UASOM campus. Proposals fostering interdisciplinary efforts will be given favorable consideration.

Awards

The I3 Pilot Award program will award funds of $25,000- $50,000 per study based on successful application and review process herein described. Proposals with matching departmental funds will be reviewed favorably.

Applications will be accepted twice annually with initial round submission date of May 30th and second round submission date of July 15th.  Awards will be recommended by committee review and funding decisions will rest with the chair of the I3  Executive Committee.

Limitation on Award

Awards will be made contingent upon certain criteria and with the following restrictions:

  • There will be one Principal Investigator (PI) per award.
  • The PI must be a current faculty member.
  • Awards will be made for a period of one year with no extension.

Application Process

First round submission will consist of a one page letter of intent (Appendix A) and Principle Investigator biosketch uploaded to the I3 website (http://www.uab.edu/medicine/imaging).  The website will open for application submission for one week prior to the May and July dates respectively. Investigators will be notified of advancement to second round submission by . Invited candidates will prepare an application as described in Appendix B.  The application is a simplified version of the NIH PHS 398 application format.  An instruction set will be provided along with the application form.

Review Committee

The standing review committee will be made up of I3 Executive Committee members. Ad-hoc reviewers from the larger UASOM Imaging Strategic Planning Committee will be added by the committee as needed for reviews based on the need for particular expertise.

Review process

After the initial letter of intent submission deadline the full committee will review and score each proposal. For the send round of submission, each project will be assigned to two committee members for review. At this point the need for ad-hoc reviewers will be determined and recruited as needed.

A subsequent scoring session will be scheduled several weeks hence. At the scoring session, the reviewing committee members will report on submitted projects assigned to them. Based on these reports each committee member will complete a score sheet for the project. This process and the score sheet format are similar to the NIH study section method.

The score for each project will be tallied and projects will be ranked based on score.  A copy of the score sheet is attached as Appendix C and will be included in the application packet.

The completed ranking, scores, and comments will be submitted to the Committee Chair who will assign the funding threshold. The Chair will determine how many of the projects will receive funding (Chair will determine “pay line”).

The announcement of funding will be made by September1st.

Feedback

Feedback to applicants will include, an anonymous summary of review comments, total score and the threshold score for funded proposals.

Award Accounting and Assistance

The Department of Mechanical Engineering Chair’s Office will handle all post award accounting and provide regular financial status reports to the PI.

Appendix A:  One-page first round research statement to include the following:

  1. Title of the proposed research project, PI, Department, and collaborators
  2. Description of the proposed imaging research study that includes hypotheses, specific aims, and general experimental approach.
  3. Description of how successful completion of the project will result in a proposal for extramural funding.
  4. Statement describing interdisciplinary nature of project
  5. Brief draft budget

Please attach NIH Biographical Sketch for PI

Appendix B:  Pilot Grant Application

Download the Grant application here.

Appendix C:  Pilot Grant Application Instructions

Page 1

  • Items 1-6 are self explanatory.
  • Item 7 reflects total of direct budget costs from page 3 of application

Key personnel section should list all persons participating in the project, whether salary supported or not, beginning with the principal investigator.

Page 2.

Abstract:  Please do not exceed the space provided.  Font must be at least 10 point for both sections.

The lower section provides the applicant an opportunity to elaborate on, explain how this proposal would expand expertise or extend a lab’s capability in a new or complimentary direction, and the relevance of the proposed project to an overall career development plan. For example, enabling the researcher to acquire pilot data might confirm hypothesis A, and potentially lead to studies B and C, both projects for which the applicant intends to apply for federal or industry sponsored funding.

Page 3.

Any proposed budget for the I3 Pilot Grant has the following restrictions: The award limit is $50,000.00.

Page 4.

Budget justification is self explanatory.

Page 5.

NIH Biographical sketch is self explanatory, please see application

Page 6.

Other Support: It is important to list other projects for which the Principal Investigator and other key members of the project have already received financial support. An example is included in Attachment F.

Pages 7-12.

The Research Plan: The total length for items A-D is limited to six pages. Please read the individual guidelines and recommended lengths. Note that since the main objective of the UASOM I3 Research Initiative is to foster new or pilot studies, there may be no need for section C. Also remember that the distribution of the award and the commencement of the project must be preceded by IRB approval. However, since the approval is not required prior to submission of the application, a brief description of human subjects research precautions is requested by the committee.