HDI State of Health Equity Among BMOC Ideas Lab: Funding Opportunity

HDI Summit on the state of Health Equity among boys and men of color

Funding Opportunity Announcement

The UConn Health Disparities Institute and the Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy (InCHIP) is offering pilot funding for participants in the 2021 Ideas Lab. This funding is designed to support pilot projects that emerge from the Ideas Lab: State of Health Equity among Boys and Men of Color (BMOC) Summit.

We anticipate that nascent interdisciplinary teams will emerge from the Ideas Lab with research, policy, and practice ideas that if nurtured and further developed can grow into well-designed proposals. These proposals should be in line with the theme of the Ideas Lab, health equity among the boys and men of color. Proposals are required to address at least one of the following sub-themes as they relate to the Ideas Lab theme: behavioral health, trauma, incarceration and justice, and
HIV/AIDS.

Eligibility for Submission:

Please note that while the core team applying for funding must have formed during the Ideas Lab itself, we anticipate that additional team members who may not have attended the event may need to be added (e.g., topical experts, methodologists).

Funding Available:

Pilot funds of up to $15,000/award are available in this seed grant competition. All grant funds must be expended within two years of the award date.

Key Dates:

June 8-10, 2021

Summit held

June 11, 2021

Ideas Lab Kickoff

July 9, 2021

Teams submit ideas for feedback

September 15, 2021

Proposals due by 11:59 PM EST

Midsummer Check-in

We are asking that teams submit a midsummer draft by July 9, 2021. This deliverable will not be evaluated for funding. Instead, this serves as an opportunity to get feedback on the team’s progress and receive extra support from the organizing committee. For instructions on what to include and to submit, please click the button below.

Click here to Submit Midsummer Check-in

Proposal Guidelines

Below are directions for the three types of proposals allowable for this mechanism. For guidance and support in developing your proposal, please reach out to and work with your team’s mentor. For general questions on the Ideas Lab process, please contact Grace Morris at grace.morris@uconn.edu.

Submission instructions:

Proposals should be submitted via the form below on September 15th, 2021 by 11:59 PM EST. All contents should be compiled into a single PDF. Please use the relevant guidelines below for your submissions (each proposal type has different instructions).

  • Cover Page:
    • Policy Proposal type: new, modify, or removal
    • Team Members: Please list all team members with affiliation and contact information.
    • Policy Title: State the name of the existing policy or in the case of a new policy, propose a title.
    • Abstract: ~ 500 words. Please provide a brief overview of the 1) problem your proposal seeks to resolve, 2) a rationale for your proposal (why and what it would do to help) and, 3) a summary of the project’s goals.
  • Policy Proposal: 4 Page Maximum. Please structure your proposal as follows:
    • Background and Rationale: Explain any relevant background to and reasons for the proposed policy initiative or campaign. State why you believe this new policy or policy revision (or policy abolition/removal) is needed. What are the benefits of introducing a new policy or changing the policy? What are the implications for not doing so? In addition to any empirical publications, please cite relevant policy/legal briefs that relate to your proposal.
    • Overview of Proposed Policy: Summarize the principles of the proposed policy and briefly outline the procedures to be used to implement it.
    • Stakeholders: List the stakeholders who are most knowledgeable about the subject matter of the proposed policy and/or would be most affected by the proposed policy. For example, BMOC community members, affinity groups, and/or community-based organizations serving boys and men of color, the Office of the Provost in connection with any proposed policy that directly affects the faculty at a university, or legislators on the topically relevant committees in connection with any proposed policy needed at the state/federal level.
    • Major Obstacles/Implementation Challenges : Describe any groups or stakeholders that might oppose or work against this policy. Describe the possible level of dissent around this policy. Describe any significant barriers to implementation of your proposed policy-focused project.
    • Costs/Resource Resources: To the extent feasible, identify anticipated cost or resource requirements of the proposed policy, including any human, financial, operational, technological, or other resources that will be needed to carry out the policy.
    • Evaluation of Outcomes & Impact: Define your metrics for success. What will be the outcomes and impact of your policy? How will you measure outcomes and impact and assess whether this initiative has achieved success?
  • References: (not included in the 4-page maximum for the Policy Proposal).
  • Roles and Functions of All Project Personnel, and the individual responsibilities of the leadership (maximum 1 page).
  • Collaboration Plan: Provide a brief description of 1) Team Communication and Coordination Plan (please address geographic distance, if relevant); 2) Data management and ownership plans 3) Authorship plan (What will be the criteria and the process for assigning authorship and credit?) 4) Promotion/dissemination plan (agreement on how findings, products, and publications will be promoted and communicated to the public).
  • Resumés or CVs: Please provide CV for team leadership.
  • Budget with justification for each item (maximum 1 page). Please see Budget Guidelines for a list of allowable costs.
  • Letters of Support (optional)
  • Cover Page:
    • Title of Practice/Program
    • Team Members– please list all team members with affiliation and contact information
    • Abstract: Briefly describe the program/practice, including a brief overview of the goals, activities, and outcomes of the program/practice.
  • Program Description: 4-page maximum. Note that you are invited to include a logic model.pdf in this section. Please structure your proposal as follows:
    • Rationale: Explain any relevant background to and reasons for the development of this practice/program. What is the theory of change being implemented or applied (in other words, describe your assumptions about how the steps you plan to take will lead to or cause the long-term outcomes)?
    • Resources/Input: Human and financial resources as well as other components required to support the initiative such as partnerships, equipment, materials, and technology.
    • Outputs: The products, goods, and services provided to the program’s target audience. Describe how the outputs will be delivered.
    • Activities: What are the action steps taken to make the output possible?
    • Service User/Customer: Please describe the target user of this practice/program.
    • Outcomes: Changes or benefits resulting from the practice/program. It may be beneficial to consider immediate, short-term and long-term outcomes.
    • Evaluation Plan: Define your metrics for success. Please describe your data collection plan and methods of analysis.
    • Timeline: Please provide a timeline for activities should your practice/program be funded. Your evaluation should be integrated into your timeline.
  • References (not included in the 4-page maximum for the Practice/Program Proposal).
  • Roles and Functions of All Project Personnel, and the individual responsibilities of the leaders (maximum 1 page). If relevant, be explicit about who the community partner(s) is and how they will be involved in the design and implementation of the project.
  • Collaboration Plan: Provide a brief description of 1) Team Communication and Coordination Plan (please address geographic distance if relevant); 2) Data management and ownership plans 3) Authorship plan (What will be the criteria and the process for assigning authorship and credit?) 4) Promotion/dissemination plan (agreement on how findings, products, and publications will be promoted and communicated to the public).
  • Resumés or CVs: Please provide CV for team leadership.
  • Budget with justification for each item (maximum 1 page). Please see Budget Guidelines for a list of allowable costs.
  • Letters of Support (optional)
  • Cover Page
    • Title of Project
    • Team Members: Please list all team members with affiliation and contact information.
    • Abstract/Project Summary (maximum 1 page): The abstract should include: a brief background of the project; specific aims, objectives, or hypotheses; the significance of the proposed research and relevance to the Summit; the unique features and innovation of the project; the methodology (action steps) to be used; expected results; and description of how your results will affect other research areas.
  • Specific Aims: (1 Page Maximum) The purpose of the specific aims is to describe concisely and realistically the goals of the proposed research and summarize the expected outcome(s), including the impact the proposed research will exert on the research fields involved. The specific aims should cover: broad, long-term goals;the specific objectives and hypotheses to be tested; summarize expected outcomes;and describe impact on the research field
  • Research Plan (maximum 4 pages)
    • Significance: The Significance section should explain the importance of the problem or describe the critical barrier to progress in the field that is being addressed. Explain how the proposed research project will improve scientific knowledge, technical capability, and/or clinical practice in one or more broad fields. Describe how the concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions that drive this field will be changed if the proposed aims are achieved.
    • Innovation: Explain how the application challenges and seeks to shift current research or clinical practice paradigms.Describe any novel theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation or interventions to be developed or used, and any advantage over existing methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions.Explain any refinements, improvements, or new applications of theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions.
    • Approach should address the following questions: What do you intend to do? What has already been done in general, and what have other researchers done in this field? Use appropriate references. What have you (and your collaborators) done to establish the feasibility of what you are proposing to do? How will the research be accomplished? Who? What? When? Where? Why?
  • References (not included in the 4-page maximum for the Research Plan).
  • Roles and Functions of All Project Personnel, and the individual responsibilities of the PI(s) (maximum 1 page). If relevant, be explicit about who the community partner(s) is and how they will be involved in the design and implementation of the project.
  • Collaboration Plan: Provide a brief description of 1) Team Communication and Coordination Plan (please address geographic distance if relevant); 2) Data management and ownership plans 3) Authorship plan (What will be the criteria and the process for assigning authorship and credit?) 4) Promotion/dissemination plan (agreement on how findings, products, and publications will be promoted and communicated to the public).
  • Biographical Sketch or CV of Principal Investigator(s)/Project Director(s)
  • Budget with Justification for each item (maximum 1 page). Please see Budget Guidelines for a list of allowable costs.
  • Proposed Project’s Relationship to Extant Research: Provide a brief description of how the proposed pilot project is related to any current projects being conducted by the PI(s).
  • Letters of Support (optional)

Information for all Proposal Types

Funds may only be used for direct costs of carrying out approved projects, such as:

  1. Personnel who are essential for conducting/implementing the project, such as graduate research assistants and student labor. Individuals who are not on the regular state payroll (i.e., consultants and other off-campus assistance) may be hired to perform special project-related tasks as needed.
  2. Resources that require fee-for-services within UConn or at another institution.
  3. Participant incentives for recruitment, study participation, or project participation.
  4. Out-of-state travel that is necessary to conduct the project.
  5. Equipment necessary for conducting the project (“equipment” is defined as an article of tangible, non-expendable personal property that costs $5,000 or more).
  6. Project supplies, including drugs and services.
  7. Other specifically authorized expenses that may be essential for carrying out the project.

Funds may not be used for the following:

  1. Principal Investigators’, Co-Investigators’, or any faculty member’s salary.
  2. Living expenses.
  3. Laptops or desktop computers, unless used exclusively for the project and not for any other activities.
  4. Service/maintenance contracts on equipment.
  5. Laboratory renovations or other infrastructure renovations.
  6. Institutional and/or individual memberships in professional organizations.
  7. Travel to professional meetings to present the results of the project, or any conference attendance.
  8. Indirect costs, including clerical and administrative personnel salaries.
  9. Costs associated with the publication of results of the research, such as the purchase of reprints.
  10. Investigator or project staff training costs, including tuition.

Priority for funding will be based primarily on innovation and feasibility. The following review criteria will be leveraged, in no particular order:

Research Projects

  • Scientific merit of the research project and the extent to which it is novel or innovative (e.g., testing a new methodology, theory, or understudied research area).
  • Scientific premise and rigor of the pilot work to be supported by the seed grant.
  • Relevance of the study to the Ideas Lab theme.
  • Composition of the research team (preference will be given to interdisciplinary work).

Policy Proposals

  • The extent to which the policy proposal is novel or innovative.
  • Potential and likelihood of policy change resulting from the pilot work to be supported by the seed grant.
  • Relevance of the policy proposal to the Ideas Lab theme.
  • Feasibility of plans to submit an external grant proposal to external funders no later than one year following completion of the pilot project.
  • Composition of the policy/advocacy team (preference will be given to interdisciplinary work).

Practice/Program Proposals

  • The extent to which the practice/program proposal is novel or innovative.
  • Sustainability of practice/program resulting from the pilot work to be supported by the seed grant.
  • Relevance of the study to the Ideas Lab theme.
  • Feasibility of plans to submit an external grant proposal to external funders no later than one year following completion of the pilot project.
  • Composition of the practice/program team (preference will be given to interdisciplinary work).

Have Questions?

Please reach out to grace.morris@uconn.edu with any questions.

Submit Application Here

Due: September 15th, 2021 by 11:59PM EST

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