Cardiovascular Center of Excellence

RFA for CVCOE Research Proposals                                      January 21, 2009

Colleagues,
Per the discussion at the retreat and with the approval of the Directors, the research committee is pleased to announce solicitation of applications for competitive proposals, as described below.

1)  Developmental funds for PPG, Center and Training Grants.  The CVCOE would like to fund proposals to put together large multi-investigator grants, with the goal of having at least one submitted from the group within the next one-year.  To this end, investigators are encouraged to submit a short-form proposal (seven page format detailed below) for competitive review.  Applications will be due March 1, 2009.  The budget for these proposals is intended to support development of the submission of a PPG, Center or training grant and may contain allocations for, equipment, supplies, including but not limited to those needed to generate preliminary data, and staff to support the development and assembly of the application itself.  The budget must be justified and should not exceed $75,000.  The expectation is that funding will lead to submission of the proposal to a federal funding agency within one year of being awarded. 

How awards will be made: The proposals will be reviewed for scientific merit and the potential for extramural funding of a PPG, Center or training grant.  Important criteria will be; i) the scientific merit and feasibility, ii) the credentials of the investigators, iii) the likelihood that the proposal could be funded, and iv) how well the project fits with the goals of the CVC Center.  Proposals that are translatable to the clinic and that can be submitted to the NIH within the near term (one year), will be given priority. 

The awards will be administered by the group leader, identified in the proposal, and could be used to support gathering of preliminary data, developing animal models, and any other developmental costs that can be justified to the Research Committee, including partial salaries of staff.  It is possible that two proposals may be funded (e.g., $50,000 each); or that a proposal that is considered farther along could be funded to a higher level (e.g., $75,000) and a secondary funded at a lower level (e.g. $25,000).  A proposal funded at a lower level could be resubmitted the following year for the higher level of funding, with planned submission to the extramural funding agency at the end of year two. 

Format (7 page limitation)

Specific Aims of the Overall Project   1 page

Individual projects and their Specific Aims, in brief    1-2 pages

Critical rationale/supporting data, please address CVC relevance    1-2 pages  

Outline of the needs, what data needs to be developed, etc.     1-2 pages

Budget and justification for use of developmental funds 1 page or less  

not included in page limitation - NIH Biosketches for each investigator (3 pg each)

2)  Proposals for Pilot Grants and Equipment Purchase.  The CVCOE would like to consider proposals for pilot projects and/or equipment purchase.  This would include funds to generate preliminary data for grant proposals, develop new research directions or for purchase of small equipment needed to support research of multiple investigators.  Priority will be given to proposals that involve multiple investigators of the CVCOE and to projects that are considered to have high potential to generate new funding for center investigators.  A reasonable budget should be put forth, but is not to be more than $20,000.  The proposal should be no more than five pages in length and should include:

Pilot grants  Aims and rationale

Background

Preliminary and supporting data

A section on how funding will benefit each investigator

Budget and justification, including the roles of each investigator

Summary, including how this will contribute to development of competitive extramural grant applications

Equipment Grant

Rationale for the need (should include capabilities of equipment)

Section on how this will benefit each cooperating investigator

(include funded and pending grants that will benefit and how the equipment will be managed to be available to the group)

Assurance that the equipment does not exist or is unavailable otherwise

A Budget and short justification (include a price quotation and single source documentation if needed by UC; this is not included in page limit)

Preliminary Data, if applicable

Summary, please address whether the equipment would be unique to the research group, would lead to novel application that will generate

competitive grant submissions, etc.

The Research Committee looks forward to reviewing your applications!