Research Insights

• Sponsor: National Institutes of Health (NIH)
• Internal Deadline: June 26, 2020
• Sponsor LOI Deadline: May 22, 2020 (optional)
• Sponsor Deadline: July 24, 2020
• Link: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-20-223.html

Summary

The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research education activities in the mission areas of the NIH.  The overarching goal of this R25 program is to support educational activities that encourage individuals from diverse backgrounds, including those from groups underrepresented in the biomedical and behavioral sciences, to pursue further studies or careers in research.

To accomplish the stated over-arching goal, this FOA will support creative educational activities with a primary focus on:

• Courses for Skills Development
• Research Experiences

forundergraduate freshmen and sophomores from diverse backgrounds, including those from groups underrepresentedin bioengineering or STEM fields relevant to bioengineering, such as engineering or the physical/computational sciences, which play key roles in biomedical technologies and innovation. The ESTEEMED program is intended to expose students to bioengineering research early in their college careers and interest them in potentially pursuing advanced studies in bioengineering or a related field. It will prepare students to join, in their junior and senior years, an honors program, supported by federal or institutional funds, that promotes STEM and entrance into a Ph.D. program. The ultimate goal is for the participants to pursue a Ph.D. or M.D./Ph.D. degree and a subsequent research career integrating engineering and the physical sciences with medicine and biology in academia or industry.

Please read the full program announcement before preparing your internal application.

Award Amount

• Application budgets are not limited but need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project.
• The maximum project period is 4 years.
• The number of awards is contingent upon NIH appropriations and the submission of a sufficient number of meritorious applications.

Eligibility

• The applicant institution must be an accredited public or non-profit private school that grants baccalaureate degrees in engineering or the physical/computational sciences. The institution must either have a bioengineering or biomedical engineering department (or concentration/track) or must have a critical mass of faculty with background in above areas and experience in the application of engineering and the physical/computational sciences in medicine and/or biology. At the time of application, the applicant institution must have an honors program promoting graduate studies and open to students in their junior and senior years.
• The sponsoring institution must assure support for the proposed program. Appropriate institutional commitment to the program includes the provision of adequate staff, facilities, and educational resources that can contribute to the planned program.
• Institutions with existing Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) institutional training grants (e.g., T32) or other Federally funded training programs may apply for a research education grant provided that the proposed educational experiences are distinct from those training programs receiving federal support. In many cases, it is anticipated that the proposed research education program will complement ongoing research training occurring at the applicant institution.
• The PD/PI should be an established investigator in the scientific area in which the application is targeted and capable of providing both administrative and scientific leadership to the development and implementation of the proposed program. The PD/PI will be expected to monitor and assess the program and submit all documents and reports as required.
• The PD/PI should have a background in bioengineering or a closely related field in engineering or the physical/computational sciences and should have demonstrated experience in the applications of these fields in medicine and/or biology. Ideally, the PD/PI should have a strong history of mentoring and/or designing courses for individuals from diverse backgrounds, including underrepresented students, as well as experience managing diversity-based programs similar to ESTEEMED.

Selection Criteria

• Detailed review criteria can be found here.

Limitation Details

An Institution may submit one proposal.

If you are interested in submitting for this program, you must first submit an internal application to limsub@uga.edu according to the required instructions below.

Internal Applications must include the following:

• A cover page listing
  • The name of this funding opportunity and title of your proposal
  • Your name, UGA position, home department, email, and UGA contact information
  • Collaborator names, positions, and institutions (if any)
  • Indicate whether or not you have submitted to this program in the past. If so, please provide a copy of the review at the end of the internal application.
• A one-page proposal summary that addresses the program’s specific selection criteria.
• One paragraph describing why this proposal should be UGA’s submission (i.e., why it will be the most competitive for this program)
• Curriculum vitae

Internal Selection

Limited Submission announcements often generate multiple competing proposals.  UGA reviewers judge proposals as they would in any peer review process, so PIs are urged to put their best foot forward.  Along with typical criteria, reviewers will evaluate internal proposals based on their fit with the sponsor’s articulated goals and criteria.

Internal Submission Instructions

The above internal application materials should be submitted via email as a single .PDF file to limsub@uga.edu by the internal deadline listed above.

Questions?

Please submit questions regarding the internal competition to limsub@uga.edu.

For questions directly related to this program, please contact the following program officers:

Zeynep Erim, Ph.D.
National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering (NIBIB)
Telephone: (301) 451-4797
Email: erimz@mail.nih.gov

Ralph Nitkin, PhD
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD)
Telephone: 301-402-4206
Email: rn21e@nih.gov

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