UTRGV Funding Opportunities
UTRGV-WIDE FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
- Office of the Provost, Research Support
- Mid-Career Faculty Research Development Program
- Faculty Research Travel Support Program
- Faculty Seed Research Grants
COLLEGE OF HEALTH PROFESSIONS FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES
- Research Fellows Program
- CoHP Small Grants
The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley
REQUEST FOR PROPOSALS – AY24-25
THE COLLEGE OF HEALTH PROFESSION SMALL GRANTS PROGRAM
General Information:
The College of Health Profession (COHP) Small Grants Program is administered by the Office of the Dean and Review Committee.
Stage 1) Members of the Review Committee will complete the peer review, scoring, and final evaluation of all grant submissions to determine the finalists.
Stage 2) Full proposals will be requested from the finalists to be reviewed by the committee and make a final recommendation to the Dean. All decisions by the Dean are final.
Projects demonstrating a direct, measurable, positive impact on health with collaboration among at least two COHP departments with a broad distribution potential will be most competitive for an award.
Funding: COHP has dedicated $50,000 to support those grant proposals that have the potential to secure external research grant funding. Grant awards are made for a maximum of $20,000 to each of the top-rated submissions. The total number of grant awards available is dependent upon the amount requested and number of awarded applications. The Awards Committee will make a recommendation to the Dean and all decisions by the Dean will be final.
ELIGIBILITY
- COHP tenured, tenure-track and three-year faculty members, including clinical appointments.
- Research interest in any of the areas of health and human services represented at COHP.
- COHP faculty, who received COHP small grant previously, will be required to provide a detailed progress report and evidence of accomplishment of the former grant proposal.
STAGE 1
GUIDELINES FOR THE LETTER OF INTEREST FORMAT AND CONTENT
Letter of Interest (LOI) due June 14, 2024 at 5 PM
LOIs will be reviewed by a committee. The proposed project must show merit and relevance to the goals and mission of the institutions, as well as to the department(s) or school(s) from which the proposal is submitted.
Application Instructions
Applicants must use the provided template. The LOI should be written with a broad scholarly audience in mind. Use a font size no smaller than 11 pt. (to ensure readability) and adhere to word limits. Images may be included and DO count towards page limits. DO NOT exceed allotted space on the template. References Cited may be appended and DO NOT count towards the page limit.
Descriptions of each section on the template are as follows:
Cover Page
Title: Please include a descriptive, informative title.
Contact Principal Investigator, and List of other Key Personnel: Teams are expected to include researchers from multiple departments. If there are multiple PIs, a single contact PI must be identified.
Page 1
Problem/Challenge: Describe the problem/challenge to be addressed by your proposed study. The problem should be described in such a way that any reviewer could easily understand the field-wide challenge, and why current approaches are falling short.
Design/Approach: Describe your team’s research approach to the problem/challenge.
Page 2
Innovation and Impact: Describe how the proposed approach will provide innovative and impactful solutions to the problem.
Team Science Plan: Describe how the diverse expertise of the team will increase the likelihood of success and promote new ways of thinking that push disciplinary boundaries, and how the team will work as a unit.
Sustainability Plan: Identify specific suitable sources of extramural funding.
Page 3
Proposal Development Budget Description: LOIs advanced to the next stage can be awarded up to $20,000 to support the proposed study. In this section, describe what you would spend these funds on and how those expenditures would advance your idea development or teaming efforts.
Submission Instructions
Submit the LOI in PDF format to murat.karabulut@utrgv.edu by 5:00 PM on June 14, 2024.
CRITERIA FOR THE EVALUATION OF LOI SUBMISSIONS
LOIs will be evaluated on the following criteria:
- Problem/Challenge (4 – 20 points)
- Clear statement of the problem/need
- Clear goals and objectives to meeting the need/problem
- Design/Approach (2 – 25 points)
- Describes your team’s research approach to the problem/challenge.
- Innovation & Impact (5 – 25 points)
- Provides innovative and impactful solutions to the problem
- Team Science Plan (4 – 20 points)
- Clear description on how the diverse expertise of the team will increase the likelihood of success
- Clear explanation on how the team will work as a unit
- Sustainability Plan (1 – 5 points)
- Identify specific suitable sources of extramural funding
- Proposal Development Budget Justification (1 – 5 points)
- Clear description of what the funds will be spent on
STAGE 2
GUIDELINES FOR THE FINAL PROPOSAL FORMAT AND CONTENT
Full Proposal due October 11, 2024 at 5 PM
The finalists will be notified to request a full proposal by January, 2025.
The proposal must be presented in ONE continuous PDF file and include the following:
- Page 1: Title page including principal investigator and collaborators, name of department, contact information for primary investigator
- Page 2: Abstract of no more than 250 words
- Page 3: Budget and budget justification
- Pages 4-5: Body of the proposal should include:
- Statement of need/rationale for project
- Project description
- Evaluation of outcomes
- Personnel involved, including primary contact
- Timeline, tasks, and individuals responsible for tasks
- Plans for sharing project outcomes with other departments, schools, collaborators.
- After this 5-page limit for the proposal, you must include in the same PDF document:
- Letters of support from department chair(s)
- NIH/NSF Biographical Sketch of principal investigator and major collaborators that demonstrate the contribution to the science with related publications and presentations.
CRITERIA FOR THE EVALUATION OF FINAL PROPOSAL SUBMISSIONS
Proposals will be evaluated on the following criteria:
1. Scientific Merit/Overall Impact (6 – 70 points)A. Documentation of the problem/need (2 – 30 points)
- Clear statement of the problem/need
- Clear goals and objectives to meeting the need/problem
- The design is appropriate to the goals and objects to meeting the need/problem
- The design is clear as an improvement/advancement; the design describes clearly what is planned in the project; the design uses sound methods of data collection and analysis
- The timeline for the project is feasible for the funding period
- The evaluation plan for the proposal is clear
- Dissemination of product/results of the project; potential to apply product/results of the project to other educational settings/venues
- Plan for future continuation, development, growth of the project
3. Innovation (2-5 points). Therefore, it is possible for any submission to earn a maximum of 105 points.
Priority Points:
New Investigator (10 pts)
Investigator with prior Federal grants greater than $50,000 (20 pts)
Collaborative grant with two or more COHP departments (20 pts)
DELIVERABLES
- Submit a progress report or final outcomes report including potential for funding from other sources, dissemination possibilities and results (2-4 pages) one year following the funding of your project to the Associate Dean for Research of COHP (murat.karabulut@utrgv.edu). For example, if you receive funding in January 2025, your report is due in January 2026, and so on.
- Submit evidence of presentation of the project at a state and/or national conference by the year following the award.
- Submit a copy of the proposal developed for the identified grant agency two year following the funding of the project to the Associate Dean for Research of COHP (murat.karabulut@utrgv.edu).
STAGE-1 SUBMISSION DEADLINE: June 14, 2024 at 5 PM
STAGE-2 SUBMISSION DEADLINE: October 11, 2024 at 5 PM
Only applications submitted electronically, by e-mail, will be accepted for consideration. ALL application materials including letters of support and biographical sketches must be submitted in the single ADOBE PDF format file.
Submit the application packet electronically to:
Murat Karabulut, Associate Dean for Research of COHP
NOTIFICATION OF AWARDS: January 2025.