Solicitation of UM Pre-Proposals and Idea Papers for Primary (Lead) Institutions for
NIH’s Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) Initiative (U54); FOA Number: RFA-RM-016

Pre-Proposals are solicited from prospective lead investigators to be considered for institutional nomination for the 2014 Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) Initiative (U54) competition, sponsored by NIH.

Idea Papers are also solicited from prospective project contributors for consideration for incorporation into a larger proposal/project to be led by someone else at UM.

Through BUILD, NIH seeks to fund creative, innovative, visionary approaches to engage undergraduate students in biomedical-related learning and mentored research training, in order to enhance diversity in the biomedical, behavioral, clinical, and social sciences (collectively termed “biomedical”) research workforce. Applicants may request up to $3M-$5M per year for projects of up to 5 years.
Cost Sharing is NOT required.

Partnerships involving the Primary Institution and one or more additional institutions of the types listed below are encouraged but not required. UM is qualified to submit up to one proposal as a Primary Institution (whether alone or with partners). There is no limit to the number of partnership proposals UM may be involved in any other role than Primary; for these other roles, UM would NOT be the lead. Roles:

·       Primary Institution. Baccalaureate degree-granting colleges and universities that receive less than $7.5M annually in NIH funding through Research Project Grants and where over 25% receive Pell Grants (UM qualifies).

·      Pipeline Partner. Two or four year undergraduate institutions. (UM does NOT qualify.)

·       Research Partner. Research-intensive institutions with investigators who can serve as mentors and who can provide hands-on research experiences (UM qualifies; UMMC probably qualifies).

·       Graduate/Medical Partner Institutions. Medical and graduate institutions that do not have undergraduate programs but have research-active faculty and doctoral-level students engaged in research or planning a research career, and that receive less than $7.5M annually in NIH funding through Research Project Grants. (UM does NOT qualify. UMMC has a few undergraduate programs, so not clear whether they qualify or not.)

Pre-proposals (from those interested in leading a proposal/project where UM will be the Primary Institution) and Idea Papers (from potential contributors) are due via e-mail to Jason Hale, Director of Research Resources (jghale@olemiss.edu) by 8:00 a.m., Feb. 24. Prep-proposals and idea papers should only be considered submitted when receipt is acknowledged by e-mail by 5 p.m., 2/24; if in doubt, call Jason Hale at x3922.  All pre-proposals will be reviewed in accordance with ORSP’s procedure for limited submissions. The decision on which pre-proposal to develop into a full proposal will be made no later than Feb. 27. Idea papers will be made available to the designated lead PI for consideration and possible inclusion into the full proposal. ORSP will coordinate and submit the required (but non-binding) letter of intent NLT Feb28. The full proposal is due to ORSP Mar. 25, and to NIH Apr. 2, 2014.

For the complete solicitation, see http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-RM-13-016.html. Questions should be directed to Jason Hale, or to Mickey McLaurin, Director of Sponsored Programs Research, mclaurin@olemiss.edu.  For ideas, see the ORSP NIH Build Questions, Ideas, Notes, and Articles document. See also the example pre-proposal document. 

Instructions for Pre-Proposals

-        Use 11 or 12-point Arial font

-        Be 6 pages or less

-        Include the following numbered sections. If you are not yet sure how or whether to include approaches called for in a particular section, list the section title anyway, and then a placeholder phrase such as “Not Applicable,” “Still Under Consideration,” or “Need Help Here”.
 

1.     Title: Proposed/working title of proposal/project.

2.     Leadership: Name of proposed lead PI, and any other proposed co-PIs.

3.     Partners: Names and Roles of any proposed partner institutions (e.g., Pipeline Partner, Research Partners, Graduate/Medical Partner). Partnerships are encouraged but not required.

4.     Institutional/Student Development Approaches: One-paragraph descriptions of between 1 and 4 approaches that will be proposed to enhance student engagement, enhance research training, and/or strengthen infrastructure for research training and mentoring.  One paragraph per approach. Each approach/paragraph should:

• Be preceded with underlined short title
• Begin with a summary sentence in bold
• Be constrained to between 100 and 300 words
• Describe whether and how the approach is proven, novel, or potentially transformative
• Describe which hallmarks of successful biomedical research career progression will be addressed
• Identify which of the following student development activities are being proposed:
• Increased student participation in biomedical-related undergraduate programs
• Increased student persistence in biomedical-related undergraduate programs
• Enhanced undergraduate student engagements in learning
• Enhanced undergraduate student engagement in research
• Enhanced transitions of undergraduate students into doctoral programs
• Enhanced student perceptions/attitudes toward biomedical research careers
• Improved student understanding of requirements for biomedical career success
• Enhanced institutional infrastructure for student training or mentoring
• Enhanced student participation and competitiveness in applying for and receiving research fellowships, scholarships, and other awards.
• Other development activities (describe)

5.     Faculty Development Approaches: One-paragraph descriptions of between 1 and 4 approaches that will be proposed for faculty development. One paragraph per approach. Each approach/paragraph should:

• Be preceded with underlined short title
• Begin with a summary sentence in bold
• Be constrained to between 100 and 300 words
• Describe whether and how the approach is proven, novel, or potentially transformative
• Describe which hallmarks of successful biomedical research career progression will be addressed
• Identify which of the following faculty development activities will be proposed:
  • More incorporation of research, lab, and field work into undergraduate courses
  • Enhanced opportunity for faculty to engage in biomedical research
  • Increased scholarly productivity
  • Increased and/or enhanced mentoring
  • Other faculty development (describe)

6.     Diversity Enhancement Approaches: One-paragraph descriptions of between 1 and 4 approaches that will be proposed to increase the diversity of the future biomedical workforce. One paragraph per approach. Each approach/paragraph should:

• Be preceded with underlined short title.
• Begin with a summary sentence in bold.
• Be constrained to between 100 and 300 words.
• Describe whether and how the approach is proven, novel, or potentially transformative
• Describe which hallmarks of successful biomedical research career progression will be addressed
• Identify which of the following diversity components will be proposed:
  • Increasing Black or African American participation in the biomedical research workforce
  • Increasing other racial/ethnic minority participation in the biomedical research workforce
  • Increasing women participation in the biomedical research workforce
  • Increasing the participation of people with disabilities in the biomedical research workforce
  • Other (describe)

7.     Student Professional Development Approaches: One-paragraph descriptions of between 1 and 4 professional approaches that will be proposed to prepare graduates for success in future biomedical programs and research careers. One paragraph per approach. Each approach/paragraph should:

• Be preceded with underlined short title
• Begin with a summary sentence in bold
• Be constrained to between 100 and 300 words.
• Describe whether and how the approach is proven, novel, or potentially transformative
• Describe which hallmarks of successful biomedical research career progression will be addressed
• List the skills, knowledge, and/or competencies that will be imparted

8.     Mentoring Approaches: One-paragraph descriptions of between 1 and 4 approaches to increase access to, participation in, quality of, and strategies/models for, mentoring of current and future participants in the biomedical research workforce. One paragraph per approach. Each approach/paragraph should:

• Be preceded with underlined short title
• Begin with a summary sentence in bold
• Be constrained to between 100 and 300 words
• Describe whether and how the approach is proven, novel, or potentially transformative
• Describe which hallmarks of successful biomedical research career progression will be addressed

Instructions for Idea Papers

• Use 11 or 12-point Arial font
• Be no longer than 1 page. (If longer than one page, separate into multiple one-page idea papers, each on a different topic).
• General Approach. One of the following (see #’s 4-7 under “Instructions for Pre-Proposals” above): Students; Faculty; Diversity; Professional Development; Mentoring.
• Specific Approach. List one or more ideas within the general approach idea in the format of an approach/paragraph, as described in #’s 4-7 above.
• Include the name/department of the contributor.
• Idea Papers contain one or more approach/paragraphs as called for in pre-proposals, but fall far short of a full pre-proposal, and may be adopted and added onto a full proposal developed from a pre-proposal.