Description:

InCHIP will provide up to $10,000 in grant funding for UConn Faculty pursuing a community-engaged health research project that meets a need identified by and in collaboration with a community stakeholder(s). This award provides funding for community-academic partnerships to perform pilot studies that will establish or strengthen relationships and produce preliminary data for future extramural grant applications.

Seed grants can be used to promote new and on-going, mutually beneficial, health-oriented research partnerships between community organizations and academic researchers. UConn-based academics and community partners are expected to contribute to the development of the proposal. Applicants may propose a community-engaged research projectthat enables the partners to pursue a specific research agenda.

The long-term goals of the research partnerships supported by these seed grants should be one or more of the following:

• To improve health outcomes in the community
• To increase access to health services (or services that promote health such as education, housing, etc.)
• To enhance quality and impact of health interventions
• To inform health policy
• Community-Academic partnership development

This program does not fund the following:

• Projects aimed at demonstrating that a health disparity exists
• Projects that engage community stakeholders primarily as a means of participant recruitment
• Projects that do not emphasize health. Funded projects must be consistent with InCHIP’s mission and address health through an examination of behavior, social, and psychological processes of health or health policy at an individual or population level.

This mechanism strongly encourages proposals with dual-PIs where one PI is a community-stakeholder and other is a UConn-based faculty member. The ultimate goal of the InCHIP Community-Engaged Health Research Seed Grant is to support community-engaged research that addresses important community health issues and leads to strong external grant applications.

Proposal Guidelines:

Use the Application Guide below. Make sure to complete all sections, save the document to your computer, and upload via the application below.

• Format: Proposals must be single-spaced, in Times New Roman, Arial, or Calibri font size no smaller than 12-point type, left-aligned with one inch margins. Do not include appendices.Your proposal should be collated and sent as one PDF document including letters of support and biosketches. Proposals that do not conform to guidelines will be returned to the PI.
• Writing Style: Remember that many members of review committees will not have specific expertise in your area and that proposals should be written for a broad academic audience.
• Protection of Human Subjects and Animals: Investigators are expected to receive approval from the IRB for human subjects or from IACUC for animal model studies before beginning their study.

Have you been awarded extramural funding within the last 5 years? 

• Expedited Process:For those with recent experience writing successful grant proposals, please feel free to request an expedited process for review. We ask for 2 weeks notice prior to submission.
• Please note- the proposed project should represent a new study or direction of research for the PI(s). This award cannot go towards funding a portion of a project that has already been awarded external funding.

If you have not been awarded external funding in the last 5 years

• If it has been several years since you were awarded external funding or have never been awarded external funding, InCHIP offers extra support that aims to improve, tailor, and structure proposals toward this funding mechanism and ultimately the targeted external agency. 
• To access this support, please submit an “Intent to Apply” form a minimum of 4-weeks prior to submission making sure to select that you are asking for support.

Information for New Investigators and/or Early Career Faculty:

• New investigators are faculty who have never been awarded an external grant with a budget greater than 500K/year. 
• Early Career status indicates that the faculty member completed their terminal degree within the last 10 years.
• Funding for Mentoring- For those who meet one or both of these criteria, we encourage you to make use of this pilot funding opportunity to establish a relationship with a new research mentor who is an established investigator working in your research area. Need help finding a mentor? Contact Greidy Miralles at greidy.miralles@uconn.edu.

Review Criteria: 

• Innovation: Is this a new research area, project, or collaboration? Priority is placed on new ideas for projects that involve collaborations with community-stakeholders, cross-department, cross-college, and/or cross-campus (interdisciplinary) connections among UConn faculty.
• Significance: Does the proposed project make a significant difference to the field and/or human health? What problem does the proposed study solve? Or what gap in knowledge does it fill?
• Are the project's goals clear and in alignment with the planned activities? Proposals should have a well-articulated plan of activities that include an appropriate literature review, clear objectives, and a detailed, scientifically rigorous methodology.
• Does the research team have the expertise and connections necessary to complete the proposed project? The proposal and letters of support should emphasize an equitable and mutually beneficial partnership between the UConn-based investigator and the community-based collaborator(s).
• Does the team have a timeline and plan for achieving their goals?
• Does the proposed project align with the goals of the FOA (see description above)? 
• Does the proposal provide evidence for access to the population of interest? For example, building partnerships with community organizations, clinics, or hospitals can demonstrates access. Likewise, for studies using secondary data analysis, having a description of how the team will gain access to the data is vital.

Review Process:

Each proposal will be reviewed by at least two faculty members with expertise in the topical area and community-engaged research. InCHIP will aim to also have proposals reviewed by external community-based reviewers. When possible.

• The Principal Investigator (PI) must have an advanced degree (e.g., PhD, MD, PharmD), have an eligible faculty appointment at UConn Storrs, UConn Health, or one of the regional campuses, and be eligible to submit external grants through InCHIP or UConn Health. To view the complete list of faculty eligible to act as a PI, please see this list from the OVPR. 
• Leadership Roles: While research teams can include students, post docs, faculty from other institutions and other external collaborators, our goal is to support interdisciplinary teams led by UConn faculty. For this reason, team leaders should be UConn faculty with continuing appointments who meet the OVPR’s PI criteria (see above).

InCHIP invites Seed Grant proposals with budgets between $5,000 and $10,000. Seed Grants are awarded for up to two years after award.

Allowable Costs

• Personnel who are essential for conducting the research 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 research-related tasks as needed.
• Resources that require fee-for-services within UConn.
• Participant incentives for recruitment or study participation.
• Out-of-state travel that is necessary to conduct the research.
• Equipment necessary for conducting the research (“equipment” is defined as an article of tangible, non-expendable personal property that costs $5,000 or more).
• Project supplies, including drugs and services.
• Other specifically authorized expenses essential for carrying out the project.

Not-Allowable Costs:

• The salary of any Principal Investigator, Co-Investigator, or other faculty member who has an appointment at UConn Storrs, UConn Health, or any of the UConn campuses. This includes Connecticut Children’s faculty with joint appointments.
• Living expenses.
• Laptops or desktop computers, unless used exclusively for the project and not for any other activities.
• Service/maintenance contracts on equipment.
• Laboratory renovations or other infrastructure renovations.
• Institutional and/or individual memberships in professional organizations.
• Travel to professional meetings to present the results of the research, or any conference attendance.
• Indirect costs, including clerical and administrative personnel salaries.
• Costs associated with the publication of results of the research, such as the purchase of reprints.
• Investigator training costs, including tuition.

The awarded PIs are responsible for obtaining all required approvals for the research from their relevant IRB(s). Please visit the UConn IRB website for more information on IRB approval for research conducted at the UConn Storrs Campus, the five regional campuses, the School of Law and the School of Social Work. For more information on IRB approval for research conducted at UConn Health, please visit the UConn Health IRB website.

Awardees will be required to submit a brief progress report after 6 months, a final report at the conclusion of the project or award period, and periodic check-ins over the following 5 years to track external grant applications/awards stemming from the seed grant. Changes to the project’s objectives, PIs, and budget will require prior approval from InCHIP staff.

Detailed awardee instructions/requirements will be distributed to seed grant winners when they are notified of the award decisions. All awardee requirements described above are subject to change in accordance with updated institutional procedures (e.g., routing requirements).