Full Text PAR-97-067
 
MBRS RESEARCH INITIATIVE FOR SCIENTIFIC ENHANCEMENT (RISE)
 
NIH GUIDE, Volume 26, Number 20, June 13, 1997
 
PA NUMBER:  PAR-97-067
 
P.T. 14, FF

Keywords: 
  Educational Instruction Programs 
  Biomedical Research, Multidiscipl 

 
National Institute of General Medical Sciences
 
Application Receipt Dates:  February 1, June 1, October 1
 
PURPOSE
 
The purpose of the MBRS Research Initiative for Scientific
Enhancement (RISE) program is to enhance the research environment at
minority serving institutions.  The goal is to increase the
opportunities for underrepresented minority faculty and students to
become acquainted with, and motivated to pursue biomedical research
careers. The RISE program replaces and expands upon the student
development component of the traditional MBRS (S06) program and the
MBRS program for undergraduate colleges (S14).  The RISE program
should provide enhanced flexibility in faculty and student
development activities, as well as provide the opportunity for
development of the institution's research and research education
capability.  In addition, NIGMS recognizes that minority and
minority-serving institutions are diverse in institutional
environment and mission.  Therefore, with respect to evaluation
activities, this program requires that the institution set its own
specific goals and measurable objectives.
 
ELIGIBILITY
 
To be eligible for a grant under this program, an applicant must be
located in a State, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin
Islands, the Canal Zone, Guam, American Samoa, or the successor
States of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands (the Federated
States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the
Republic of Palau), and be one of the following:
 
a.   a public or private nonprofit university, two-year or four-year
college, or other institution offering undergraduate, graduate, or
health-professional degrees, with a traditionally high (more than 50
percent) underrepresented minority student enrollment;
 
b.   a public or private nonprofit university, two-year or four-year
college, or other institution offering undergraduate, graduate, or
health-professional degrees with a student enrollment, a significant
proportion of which (but not necessarily more than fifty per cent) is
derived from underrepresented minorities, provided the Secretary of
the Department of Health and Human Services determines that said
institution has a demonstrated commitment to the special
encouragement of, and assistance to, underrepresented minority
faculty, students, and investigators; or
 
c.   an Indian tribe that has a recognized governing body and that
performs substantial governmental functions, or an Alaska Regional
Corporation (ARC), as defined in the Alaska Native Claims Settlement
Act (43 U.S.C. 1601 et seq.).
 
For the purposes of this announcement, underrepresented minorities
are individuals belonging to a particular ethnic or racial group that
has been determined by the grantee institution to be underrepresented
in biomedical or behavioral research.  Historically, individuals who
have been found to be underrepresented in biomedical or behavioral
research include, but are not limited to, U.S. citizens who are
Hispanic Americans, African Americans, Native Americans (including
Alaskan natives) and natives of the U.S. Pacific Islands
 
A written statement containing the following information is required
in order to establish eligibility:
 
a.   the total student enrollment at the institution and percentages
of various underrepresented minorities in the total student
population (i.e., Native American, African American, Hispanic
American, or natives of the U.S. Pacific Islands);
 
b.   number of underrepresented minority students in science
departments;
 
c.   evidence of the institution's commitment to the advancement of
underrepresented minority faculty and investigators, including
numbers of underrepresented minority faculty in science departments;
and
 
d.   evidence of efforts to recruit and retain underrepresented
minority students and faculty in the participating departments.
 
The RISE Program replaces the student involvement category of the
traditional MBRS program (S06) and the faculty and student enrichment
portion of the undergraduate (S14) program.  Therefore, institutions
currently funded for the student involvement category in the
traditional S06 program and the S14 program are eligible and are
encouraged to apply for a RISE Program award with a start date to
coincide with the end of their current project period.  In general,
existing policies and provisions will remain in effect for current
S14 and S06 recipients until completion of the non-competing years of
their current project period.  June 1, 1998 will be the final date
for submission of new and competitive renewals of traditional MBRS
(S06) and S14 grant applications.
 
Institutions supported by the Initiative for Minority Student
Development (NIH Guide, Vol. 25, No. 4, 1996) are not eligible for
the RISE Program.  Institutions may have only one active RISE
program.
 
MECHANISM OF SUPPORT
 
Awards under this program will use the institutional education
project (R25) grant mechanism.  Responsibility for the planning,
direction, execution, and tracking for evaluation of the proposed
project will be solely that of the applicant institutions.  The total
project period for an application submitted in response to this
program announcement may not exceed four years and is renewable. A
budget for each year must be provided.  Facilities and Administration
(F&A) costs will be paid at 8% of the direct costs, minus appropriate
exclusions, for faculty and student development activities.
 
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
 
As of 1992, underrepresented minorities constituted only 4.5 percent
of the postdoctoral fellows in the life sciences and less than 2.7
percent of the principal investigators of NIH research grants. In
addition, the number of underrepresented minority applicants for
research grants and training positions is very low.  In the NIH
Revitalization Act of 1993, NIH was encouraged to increase the number
of underrepresented minorities participating in biomedical and
behavioral research.  In response to the Act, the goal of this
initiative is to increase the opportunities for underrepresented
minority faculty and students to become acquainted with and motivated
to pursue biomedical research careers.  The MBRS RISE program
supports faculty, student and institutional development activities at
both undergraduate and graduate institutions.
 
Applicants may propose any one or more of the following:
 
Faculty and Student Development Activities
 
Applicants should provide detailed information on their plans to
provide opportunities for faculty and students to prepare for, and
participate in, biomedical research.  The applicant institution
should describe, if applicable, specific arrangements for providing
faculty and students with off-campus research experiences.  For each
activity proposed include:
 
o  specific and measurable objectives;
o  rationale for and feasibility of the approach chosen for each
faculty and student development activity;
o  detailed description of the activity;
o  information on the student pool, and a plan for attracting and
retaining the desired student pool;
o  information on participating faculty;
o  information on personnel and other resources;
o  letters of commitment and other expressions of interest by
on-campus or off-campus scientists' laboratories and/or institutions,
including the qualifications of the scientists to mentor and train
students and faculty, and their current research support; and
o  evaluation plans for faculty and student development activities;
 
Examples of these activities are:  (1)  an interdisciplinary
biomedical seminar series for faculty and students;  (2)  on-campus
or off-campus workshops, specialty courses, etc.,  for faculty and
students on biomedical research techniques or methodologies  (the
objective of this activity is to provide an opportunity for faculty
and/or students to enhance their research skills);  (3)  travel to
scientific meetings for both faculty and students;  (4)  off-campus
research experiences for science faculty during the academic year
and/or during the summer  (this allows faculty to engage in
biomedical research in established laboratories of research intensive
universities, government and industry);  (5) support for students to
engage in on-campus research experiences in established laboratories
during the academic year (this allows students to engage in
biomedical research in established laboratories of researchers
supported by other funding sources (such as the MBRS S06, R01, NSF
grants, etc.), as well as laboratories of other research intensive
universities, government and industry); and (6) support for students
to engage in off-campus research experiences during the summer (this
allows students to engage in biomedical research in established
laboratories of research intensive universities, government and
industry).
 
Institutional Development
 
An important objective of this program is the strengthening of the
institution's capabilities to support research and research-related
activities.  Examples of the types of activities supported include
remodeling or renovating an existing facility (up to $40,000) to
provide space for an investigator(s) to carry out developmental
activities.  In addition, small pieces of equipment for classroom
demonstration projects, or other justifiable uses are allowable.  For
each activity proposed include:
 
o  detailed description and justification of the renovation,
remodeling activity or equipment, including price quotations;
o  specific and measurable objectives in terms of added value of the
renovation, remodeling, or equipment to the goals of the institution;
and
o  evaluation plans.
 
INCLUSION OF WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN
SUBJECTS
 
It is the policy of the NIH that women and members of minority groups
and their subpopulations must be included in all NIH supported
biomedical and behavioral research projects involving human subjects,
unless a clear and compelling rationale and justification is provided
that inclusion is inappropriate with respect to the health of the
subjects or the purpose of the research.  This policy results from
the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 (Section 492B of Public Law 103
43).
 
All investigators proposing research involving human subjects should
read the "NIH Guidelines For Inclusion of Women and Minorities as
Subjects in Clinical Research," which have been published in the
Federal Register of March 28, 1994 (FR 59 14508-14513) and in the NIH
Guide for Grants and Contracts, Volume 23, Number 11, March 18, 1994.
 
APPLICATION PROCEDURES
 
An application must be made in the name of an institution, not an
individual.  It must have the approval of the institution's chief
executive or an official designee.  The research grant application
form PHS 398 (rev. 5/95) and supplemental MBRS RISE program
instructions should be used in applying for these grants.
Applications kits are available at most institutional offices of
sponsored research and may be obtained from the Division of
Extramural Outreach and Information Resources, National Institutes of
Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, MSC 7910, Bethesda, MD 20892-7910,
telephone 301/710-0267, email:  ASKNIH@odrockm1.od.nih.gov; and  from
the MBRS program office listed under INQUIRIES.  Applications that do
not comply with the PHS form 398 and/or the supplemental instructions
will be returned without review.
 
Submit a signed, typewritten original of the application, including
the Checklist, and three photocopies of the signed application in one
package to:
 
DIVISION OF RESEARCH GRANTS
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
6701 ROCKLEDGE DRIVE, ROOM 1040 - MSC 7710
BETHESDA, MD  20872-7710
BETHESDA, MD  20817 (for express/courier service)
 
Application receipt dates are February 1, June 1 and October 1.
 
At the time of submission, two additional copies of the application
must also be sent to the Chief, Office of Scientific Review listed
under INQUIRIES.
 
Applicants are urged to contact MBRS program staff at an early stage
for assistance and guidance in developing an application.
 
ALLOWABLE COSTS
 
Costs for overall development of the program are allowable, provided
that adequate justification is given, and include:  salary support
(up to 25 percent effort) for the Program Director for that portion
of time or effort specifically employed in directing the MBRS
program;  salary support for secretarial or clerical help when
directly related to support of the MBRS program;  and support for
evaluation activities.
 
Allowable costs for developmental activities include support for
technical assistance salaries, consultant fees, equipment, travel
(when benefits are provided to the program), renovations, supplies,
alteration and renovation costs (up to $40,000) when strongly
justified,  animal maintenance, publication costs, computer charges,
equipment maintenance, service contracts, tuition remission in lieu
of salary, consortium arrangements, and contractual costs for support
services.
 
Faculty salaries:  Support for faculty salaries, with justification,
are allowable. The MBRS RISE program provides funds to cover that
portion of the academic-year salary that is proportionate to the time
spent on the MBRS developmental activities (defined as percent
effort), and that is consistent with the institution's policy.  The
maximum summer-salary support provided by the program cannot exceed
the equivalent of three months at 100 percent effort, or time
specified by the institution as its policy;
 
Grant funds may not be used to increase or supplement faculty
salaries above the institutional scale for an individual's salary.
Summer salary support can be paid when the institution's academic
schedule permits such release, when the institution approves, and
when the investigator will engage in research and research-related
activities at the agreed-upon level of participation.
 
Student Salaries:  Students participating in the MBRS student
development activities are eligible to receive compensation. The
maximum amount of MBRS funds to be paid as salary to a student should
not exceed the salary levels normally paid to employees doing
comparable work at the same institution.  Students who participate in
research may also be compensated for work-related activities such as
workshops and other on-campus developmental activities.  Graduate
students are allowed tuition costs as part of a compensation package.
When requesting support for a graduate student, the applicant
institution should provide in the budget justification section of the
application the basis for the compensation level.  If not provided,
this information will be obtained from the institution's business
office for any request that appears excessive.  NIGMS staff will
review the requested compensation level and, if it is reasonable,
will award the actual amount requested, up to a maximum of $23,000
(NIH GUIDE, Volume 25, Number 8, March 15, 1996).
 
UNALLOWABLE COSTS
 
Undergraduate tuition, housing, food, or recruitment expenses of any
kind are not allowable costs under this program.  Salary support
solely for faculty mentoring is not allowable.  Renovation costs
above $40,000 are not allowable.
 
UNIFIED PLAN
 
Institutions with active or pending Support for Continuous Research
Excellence (SCORE), Minority Access to Research Careers  (MARC) USTAR
(NIH Guide, Vol. 25, No. 4, 1996), Bridges to the Future Program (NIH
Guide Vol. 25, No. 34, 1966), Research Infrastructure in Minority
Institutions (RIMI, NIH Guide Vol. 24, No. 12, 1995), and/or other
minority student/faculty support programs may also apply for the MBRS
RISE Program.  However, the institution must describe how the funds
from the RISE program will complement these other awards.  In
particular, describe how the students and faculty supported by each
will interact.
 
EVALUATION
 
Institutions should note that evaluation is a mandatory component of
every MBRS program; this program requires that each institution set
its own specific goals and measurable objectives.  The NIGMS
recognizes that minority and minority-serving institutions are
diverse in institutional environment and mission.  Therefore, the
emphasis of the evaluation activities of the MBRS RISE Program will
be on improvement as defined in the specific goals and measurable
objectives which the applicant institution sets for itself to fulfill
the objectives of this announcement.
 
NIGMS is hoping to achieve a significant increase in the numbers of
underrepresented minorities going on to biomedical research careers.
At each competitive and non-competitive renewal, in the progress
report, the investigators will describe what difference the award has
made towards meeting this goal.  A central aspect of each grant
application (that distinguishes it from previous programs) is that
each successful application specifies MEASURABLE objectives, provides
a plan to evaluate whether those objectives have been met and a
measure of the efficacy of specific interventions.
 
REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS
 
Upon receipt, NIH staff will administratively review applications.
Incomplete and/or unresponsive applications will be returned to the
applicant without further consideration.  Those applications that are
complete and responsive will be evaluated in accordance with the
criteria stated below for scientific and technical merit by
appropriate peer review groups.  The National Advisory General
Medical Sciences Council will provide the second level of review.
 
General Review Criteria
 
In carrying out the scientific and technical merit review of the
overall application, the initial review group will take into account:
 
o  the difference that the program will make as defined by the stated
goals and specific measurable objectives relative to the
institutional baseline of the previous 4 years;
o  the merit of the institution's plan and the likelihood that the
activities proposed will make a significant difference;
o  the degree to which the institution's plan may be expected to meet
the goals of this announcement;
o  the appropriateness of the plan for evaluating the impact of the
program, including a system to track the future course of program
participants;
o  qualifications of the Program Director and faculty to carry out
the proposed program;
o  availability of significant numbers of underrepresented minority
students in the participating science departments interested in
further study in biomedical and health-related fields, and a plan for
attracting and retaining the desired student pool;
o  evidence of underrepresented minority student graduates
progressing to, and completing, higher education in the biomedical
sciences;
o  evidence of institutional commitment to promote the development of
underrepresented minority faculty potential to become participants in
biomedical research, and to enhance the career potential of
underrepresented minority students in the sciences; and
o  appropriateness of the administrative plan for managing the
proposed program, including  space for workshops, additional courses,
and research training; and the budget and cost effectiveness of the
program, including its appropriateness to the scope of the program,
benefit to the students, number of students involved, and reasonable
personnel costs.
 
Review Criteria for Faculty and Student Development Activities
 
In carrying out the scientific and technical merit review of faculty
and student development activities, the initial review group will
take into account:
 
o  inclusion of specific and measurable objectives;
o  adequacy of the plans to provide opportunities for faculty to
upgrade their research skills and to initiate collaborative research
with scientists at major biomedical research laboratories;
o  adequacy of the plans to provide opportunities for students to
become acquainted with and engage in biomedical research;
o  letters of commitment and other expressions of interest by
on-campus or off-campus scientists' laboratories and/or institutions,
including the qualifications of the scientists to mentor and train
students and their current research support; and
o  evaluation plans for student development activities
 
Review Criteria for Institutional Development Activities
 
In carrying out the scientific and technical merit review of
institutional development activities, the initial review group will
take into account:
 
o  the relevance of the proposed alternations, renovations,
equipment, etc., to the objectives stated in the application; and
o  the ability of the institution to maintain the requested
equipment.
 
AWARD CRITERIA
 
The MBRS program's mission is to increase significantly the number of
underrepresented minorities conducting biomedical research.  Towards
this end, the goal of the MBRS program is to strengthen the
biomedical research capability of institutions with significant
underrepresented minority enrollments.  Priorities for funding will
be based on the technical merit of the application, and the
likelihood that the applicant institution can further the goals of
the MBRS program. Awards will be made only to institutions with
financial management systems and management capabilities that are
acceptable under PHS policy.  Awards will be administered under the
PHS Grants Policy Statement.
 
INQUIRIES
 
Written and telephone inquiries are encouraged.  The opportunity to
clarify any issues or questions from potential applicants is welcome.
Questions on the program and its policies should be directed to:
 
Ernest D. Marquez, Ph.D.
MBRS Branch
National Institute of General Medical Sciences
45 Center Drive, Suite 2AS.37, MSC 6200
Bethesda, MD  20892-6200
Telephone:  (301) 594-3900
FAX:  (301) 480-2753
Email:  marqueze@gm1.nigms.nih.gov
 
Questions on the review of applications should be directed to the
Chief, Office of Scientific Review,
 
Helen R. Sunshine, Ph.D.
Office of Scientific Review
National Institute of General Medical Sciences
45 Center Drive, Room 1 AS.13, MSC 6200
Bethesda, MD  20892-6200
Telephone:  (301) 594-2881
FAX:  (301) 480-8506
Email:  sunshinh@gm1.nigms.nih.gov
 
Questions on grants management and fiscal matters should be directed
to:
 
Antoinette Holland
Grants Management Office
National Institute of General Medical Sciences
45 Center Drive, Room 2AN.50, MSC 6200
Bethesda, MD  20892-6200
Telephone:  (301) 594-5132
FAX:  (301) 480-2554
Email:  hollanda@gm1.nigms.nih.gov
 
AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS
 
This program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance No. 93-375.  Awards are authorized by sections 301 and 405
of the Public Health Service Act, as amended, and administered under
PHS grants policies and Federal Regulations 42 CFR part 52c, 45 CFR
part 74, and 45 CFR part 92.  See also Senate Appropriations
Committee Report, No. 92-316, July 29, 1971, Executive Order 12900 ,
Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans February 22, 1994, and
Executive Order 12876, Historically Black Colleges and Universities,
November 1, 1993.  Applications are not subject to the
intergovernmental review requirements of Executive Order 12372 or
Health Systems Agency review.
 
The PHS strongly encourages all grant and contract recipients to
provide a smoke-free workplace and promote the non-use of all tobacco
products.  In addition, Public Law 103-227, the Pro-Children Act of
1994, prohibits smoking in certain facilities (or in some cases, any
portion of a facility) in which regular or routine education,
library, day care, health care or early childhood development
services are provided to children.  This is consistent with the PHS
mission to protect and advance the physical and mental health of the
American people.
 
.

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