SCIENCE EDUCATION PARTNERSHIP AWARD NIH GUIDE, Volume 21, Number 7, February 21, 1992 RFA: AD-92-01 P.T. 25 Keywords: EDUCATION/INSTRUCTION Mental Disorders Addiction Health and Safety Education Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration Letter of Intent Receipt Date: April 1, 1992 Application Receipt Date: May 26, 1992 PURPOSE This Request for Applications (RFA) for the Science Education Partnership Award (SEPA) is to increase adult science literacy through partnerships composed of community groups and scientists, along with others (e.g., educators) as appropriate. HEALTHY PEOPLE 2000 The Public Health Service (PHS) urges applicants to submit work plans that address specific health promotion and disease prevention objectives of "Healthy People 2000." Potential applicants may obtain a copy of "Healthy People 2000" (Full Report: Stock No. 017-001-00473-0) or "Healthy People 2000" (Summary Report: Stock No. 017-001-00473-1) through the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402-9325 (telephone 202-783-3238). Accordingly, SEPA projects may include, as appropriate, communication of prevention messages. However, these must be in the context of the relationship between science and health, SEPA applications must focus on science education. Applications that focus on health promotion and education will be considered unresponsive to this RFA. Those interested in projects in health promotion and education should apply to other programs within ADAMHA, e.g., prevention demonstration programs of the Office of Substance Abuse Prevention. ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS Applications may be submitted by public and private, non-profit and profit organizations, such as community groups, civic associations, parent and patient groups, health-advocacy groups, professional societies, units of State and local governments, colleges and universities. Women and minorities are especially encouraged to apply. Irrespective of the type of applicant organization, the application must demonstrate substantive involvement and a partnership relationship between scientists and one or more community groups in the planning and implementation of the proposed project. MECHANISM OF SUPPORT This RFA will use the grant-in-aid mechanism for education projects (R25). This RFA is a one-time solicitation. Responsibility for the planning, direction, and execution of the proposed project will be solely that of the applicant. The Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration (ADAMHA) expects that there will be a range of activities proposed for support. Thus, the total project period for applications submitted in response to this RFA may range from one to three years, but may not exceed three years. FUNDS AVAILABLE The ADAMHA expects that $750,000 to $1 million will be available during FY 1992 to support this initiative. Subject to the receipt of a sufficient number of meritorious applications, it is expected that approximately four to seven projects will be supported. This is expected to be a highly competitive program and applicants should adhere closely to the program guidelines. Approved annual direct costs will be provided along with eligible indirect costs. Except for awards to State and local governments, grantees will be reimbursed for indirect costs at eight percent of total allowable direct costs or actual indirect costs, whichever is the lesser amount. State and local governments will receive reimbursement at the full indirect rate. The expected award date is September 30, 1992. OBJECTIVES Background The President and the Nation's Governors have declared six "National Education Goals," among them that by the year 2000 "every adult American will be literate and will possess the knowledge and skills necessary to compete in a global economy and exercise the rights and responsibilities of citizenship." In a world increasingly influenced by rapid advances in science and technology, competition in the global economy and responsible exercise of civic duty require general scientific literacy. Accordingly, the President is "urging every American to continue learning throughout his or her life, using the myriad formal and informal means available to gain further knowledge and skills." This RFA addresses needs in the area of adult scientific literacy, which is essential for understanding the contributions of science and technology to the improvement of personal and public health. For example, many adults lack understanding of behaviors that increase the risk for disease, the necessary use of animals in behavioral and biomedical research, the necessity for basic research to make progress toward improving health, and the excitement of doing research. Understanding of these concepts is particularly important with respect to mental illness and substance abuse disorders, which are still stigmatized and poorly understood by the adult public. Program Description 1. Objectives To help improve public science literacy, ADAMHA is continuing the SEPA Program in Fiscal Year 1992, which was initiated in FY 1991. The focus of this SEPA announcement is adult scientific literacy with respect to mental and addictive disorders. The programmatic objective is to involve established, adult community groups, local scientists, and educators in partnerships that improve adult public understanding of science. The educational objectives are: o to explain the scientific basis of the understanding of mental and addictive disorders, demonstrating their complex, multifactorial nature, including their biological components; and o to expose the adult public to the nature and methods of science. Priority will be given to projects that focus on neuroscience and its importance in understanding mental and addictive disorders. Congress has declared the 1990s to be the Decade of the Brain, in recognition of the advances and exciting opportunities to increase dramatically the understanding of the normal human brain and its role in behavior and illness. Through such knowledge, it is hoped that better treatment and prevention strategies for mental and addictive disorders will be developed. 2. Characteristics of applications Applications must have a substantive focus on science related to mental and addictive disorders including relevant basic research. In addition, applicants must demonstrate: o existence of an established partnership that, at a minimum, must include adult community groups and scientists and others as necessary for achieving program goals; o understanding of---and ability to convey to adults---major scientific questions and concepts related to research on mental and addictive disorders, particularly in the neurosciences; o ability to convey the nature and method of science and the centrality of basic research to the improvement of personal and public health with respect to mental and addictive disorders; o ability to identify specific types of individuals in the community who will be the targets of proposed adult science education programs; o ability to assess the local population's level of knowledge about the science base for understanding addictive and mental disorders and to develop strategies that meet identified needs; o ability to reach target populations through cooperation among relevant community resources that can help to maximize the impact of the program through involvement of, for example, leaders in business and industry, community leaders, members of school boards, groups that represent under- served populations, and representatives of the local media. o ability to evaluate the effectiveness of the program; o understanding of educational methodology, especially with respect to adult learners (therefore, partnerships should involve educators or other individuals with requisite expertise); and o plans to export the program, if successful, as a model for other communities, including dissemination of materials. Applications must describe the partnership between scientists and community groups, along with others whose participation is important to accomplish objectives of the program (e.g., educators). In addition, it must define the procedures the partners will use to reach target groups in the adult community, including groups and individuals that rarely or never express interest in science or its relationship to personal and public health. The partnership must be substantive; that is, each partner must bring to the project resources, skills, and experiences that contribute clearly to the development and dissemination of accurate, useful messages conveyed through sound educational methodology. The application must specify those contributions and must indicate how the partnership will operate to ensure that the contributions of all parties are represented in project activities. Applicants also must plan to reach the target populations with procedures other than lectures alone. (Proposed projects should be multi-dimensional and not focus solely on reaching the members of one community organization or use a single approach, such as a series of public lectures by scientists.) Projects might emphasize a particular mental or addictive disorder, but applicants are encouraged to deal with such disorders in general, particularly considering the incidence of co-morbidity of mental and addictive disorders. To gain maximum benefit from the program, priority will be given to projects that are innovative; that is, proposed projects should not simply expose more people to an extant program. Priority also will be given to projects that have the potential to be replicated for widespread use. Because of the special needs of women and minorities for accurate, science-based information related to their health, projects that address these needs are encouraged. Projects aimed at specific ethnic or racial groups must be culturally appropriate to the group. Although SEPA projects must represent new activities and focus on science related to mental and addictive disorders, coordination with existing programs in the community to improve the public understanding of science is encouraged. 3. Types of activities Examples of the types of activities that may be included as part of a proposed project, but are not necessarily sufficient in themselves, include: o Develop a series of workshops and demonstrations that help the public understand the scientific basis for risk factors of mental and addictive disorders and the research knowledge base for diagnostic procedures and treatment of these disorders; o Provide training, resources, and support to encourage and prepare individual biomedical/behavioral scientists to become involved in projects that educate the general public about science. This would include training of scientists in techniques for effective speaking to adults, teachers, and community organizations; o Assess common misconceptions about mental and addictive disorders and develop programs for the adult public that demonstrate, using examples from contemporary research, why those misconceptions are inaccurate; o Develop programs that help the adult public appreciate issues of scientific validity in media reports that deal with mental and addictive disorders; o Produce media programs and accompanying workshops that help explain the complex nature of the search for cures for mental and addictive disorders including controversies among scientists working in the same areas of research; o Preparing and/or presenting science education materials for the adult public. These materials may include television, radio, newspaper and magazine articles, books, experiments, computer software, and other written, electronic, or audiovisual presentations designed to educate the adult public about science. However, projects for stand-alone media activities will not be supported. These must be tied to a broader program to engage adults in community-based activities related to educating them about the scientific understanding of mental and addictive disorders; o Providing scientific and/or educational consultation to groups or organizations regarding activities consistent with the purposes of this announcement. Such groups may include professional organizations, educational organizations, and community groups. Research institutions are encouraged to provide incentives from non-Federal sources to encourage scientists to participate in the SEPA program. These incentives may include the awarding of sabbaticals, time released from other duties, or special institutional recognition of those who participate in the program. Such applicants also are encouraged to use institutional funds made available as a result of the SEPA award (e.g., investigators' salaries) for purposes consistent with this award. SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS To promote cooperation and coordination among the grantees and to publicize and disseminate their contributions, it is expected that each year the Principal Investigators will be invited to a meeting with other SEPA awardees to present a summary of their activities. The annual meeting of SEPA awardees will be held in various cities of the United States. Therefore, plans for this activity must be included in the budget request of the application; a statement indicating willingness to participate in this activity must also be included in the application. General Requirements An annual progress report submitted as part of each noncompeting continuation application must be filed with the grants management officer of the awarding institute. Reports should summarize the goals, methods, and results of the activity undertaken. It should also be accompanied by at least two copies of any materials intended for dissemination developed as part of the SEPA project. Grant funds may be used for expenses clearly related to and necessary for the conduct of projects in adult science literacy, including direct costs that can be specifically identified with the project, and indirect costs as specified in the Funds Available section. Direct-cost expenses must be itemized and justified for each year of the proposed project. The general requirements cited above represent only a portion of applicable Public Health Service policy under which SEPA awards will be administered. All awards will be administered under PHS grants policy as stated in the Public Health Service Grants Policy Statement, DHHS Publication No. (OASH) 90- 50,000 (Rev.) October 1, 1990, as subject to regulations 45 CFR Part 74 "Administration of Grants." LETTER OF INTENT Prospective applicants are encouraged to submit a letter of intent, by April 1, 1992, that includes a descriptive title of the proposed project, the name, address, and telephone number of the Principal Investigator (project director), the names of other key personnel and the participating institutions, and the number and title of the RFA in response to which the application is being submitted. Although a letter of intent is not required, is not binding, and does not enter into the review of the subsequent application, the information that it contains is extremely helpful in planning for the review of applications. It allows staff to estimate the potential review workload and to avoid possible conflict of interest in the review. Send the letter of intent to: Ms. Eileen O'Keefe Assistant Director, Office of Science Education Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 13-103 Rockville, MD 20857 Telephone: (301) 443-0910 APPLICATION PROCEDURES The Application for Public Health Service Grant form PHS 398 (revised 9/91) is to be used in applying for these grants. These forms are available at most institutional business offices and from the Office of Grants Inquiries, Division of Research Grants, National Institutes of Health, 5333 Westbard Avenue, Room 449, Bethesda, MD 20892, telephone (301) 496-7441. Applicants must follow the instructions provided in the PHS 398 kit and the special instructions that follow: Application Face Page - Item 2 - Check the box marked "YES". Insert the RFA number AD-92-01 and the RFA title "ADAMHA Science Education Partnership Award." Bottom of Face Page - Affix the RFA label in form PHS 398 to the bottom of the original copy of the face page. Failure to use this label could result in delayed processing of the application such that it may not reach the review committee in time for review. SECTION 2 Research Plan - This part of the application must provide information sufficient to allow the reviewers to assess the merit of the project in terms of the stated Review Criteria. In lieu of the format and information requested for the Research Plan in the instructions for the PHS 398, it is suggested that the information be provided in the following format: Goals and Objectives - Identify the specific goals to be achieved. Project Plan - Describe the partnership that has been or will be formed, and the qualifications of its member organization(s) and key personnel. Indicate clearly the roles of the scientific, community group, and other partners in the planning and the conduct of the project. Clearly identify the target audience(s) and document the need for the proposed project including data and other information specific to the audience(s). Explain why the particular strategy was chosen. Describe in detail the activities proposed and how they will accomplish the stated goals of the program. Also, describe the specified objectives and the types of scientific concepts or information to be included in educational activities for the target population(s). Give quantitative estimates of numbers of members of the general public to be reached, and specify the number and types of any educational materials to be prepared. For the latter, describe why existing materials or activities are not satisfactory. Include dissemination plans for the project's results or materials prepared and address the potential for replication of the project. Institutional Commitment - List the financial and/or in-kind commitments from the members of the partnership and provide evidence of the applicant institution's commitment to achieve the project goals. Appropriately countersigned letters of commitment from various agencies, groups, or persons whose cooperation is critical to the success of the project must be included. These letters must be included under the headings "Consultants/ Collaborators" and/or "Consortium/Contractual Arrangements" as appropriate in the application form. Although these letters will not count toward the page limit for the Research Plan of the application, applicants are cautioned to include in this section only those letters relating to critical elements of the proposed partnership. Other letters in support of the proposed project may be included in the Appendix of the application (refer to the instructions for the PHS 398 for further information about Appendix material). Administrative Plan - Describe the mechanisms to be used to organize and manage the project. Also, provide a schedule with milestones for carrying out all project activities. Evaluation Plan - ADAMHA will support only projects that have a well-developed evaluation plan. As part of the screening and review processes, applications will be examined for the presence of a defined evaluation component. Applications that have a clearly inadequate evaluation plan will be judged to be incomplete and will be returned without further review. The evaluation plan must address both the programmatic and educational objectives of this SEPA announcement; that is, the effectiveness of the partnership and the effectiveness of the educational messages. Applicants should have appropriate evaluation expertise on their staffs, or should make arrangements for obtaining such consultation to assist in developing and implementing the evaluation plan. The allocation of monies for evaluation must be consistent with the complexity of the proposed project and must provide for planning and implementation of the evaluation from the beginning of the project through completion. Submit the signed, typewritten original of the application, including the Checklist, and four signed, exact photocopies, in one package to: National Institutes of Health Division of Research Grants Westwood Building, Room 240 Bethesda, MD 20892** At time of submission, applicants are requested to submit one additional copy of the application to: Ms. Eileen O'Keefe Assistant Director, Office of Science Education Alcohol, Drug Abuse, and Mental Health Administration 5600 Fishers Lane, Room 13-103 Rockville, MD 20857 Telephone: (301) 443-0910 Applications must be received by the Division of Research Grants no later than May 26, 1992. To ensure against carrier delays, retain a legible proof-of-mailing receipt from the carrier dated no later than one week prior to the receipt date. APPLICATIONS RECEIVED AFTER THIS DATE WILL BE RETURNED TO THE APPLICANT. REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS Upon receipt, applications will be reviewed for completeness and responsiveness to the RFA, including the programmatic focus on adult scientific literacy and the educational focus on the scientific aspects of mental and addictive disorders, the required participation of scientists and community groups, and the inclusion of a defined evaluation component. Incomplete or non-responsive applications will be returned to the applicant without further consideration. Applications that are complete and responsive will be evaluated for educational and scientific/technical merit, in accordance with the criteria stated below, by an appropriate peer review group convened by the ADAMHA. The second level of review will be provided by an appropriate National Advisory Council. Review Criteria The following criteria will be used in the initial review of applications: 1. Significance: o The importance of the specific educational goals to be achieved for the identified target population(s); o The degree to which the proposed project is likely to serve as a model for other organizations engaged in similar activities; and o Evidence that the proposed project will fill a current void or unmet need in the target community. 2. Merit of the approach: o The degree of innovation in the proposed project; for example, the degree to which the project establishes new types of partnerships, presents information to the public in new ways, or reaches audiences not traditionally reached with science-related information; o The educational merit of the proposed project; for example, the degree to which the material chosen for presentation is likely to help the adult public understand the scientific basis of mental and addictive disorders; o Appropriateness of the proposed approach to adult science education and the target population(s); for example, the degree to which the suggested approach reflects current knowledge about science education and adult learners, as well as appropriateness to the needs of specific types of individuals in the community; and o Extent to which plans reflect relevant and current scientific knowledge relating to mental and addictive disorders. 3. Feasibility: o The ability to accomplish the objectives of the project using the plans and resources described in the application; o Evidence that a functioning, relevant partnership exists; o The contribution of each partner and the degree of cooperation among scientists, community groups from the target populations who will plan and conduct the project, and other partners (such as educators); o Adequacy of the applicant's plan to evaluate the effectiveness of the project. The evaluation must address the effectiveness of the project in meeting both the programmatic and educational objectives of the SEPA program; o Adequacy of the applicant's plans to document and disseminate the model developed under the SEPA; o Appropriateness and adequacy of the proposed budget. 4. Personnel and resources: o Qualifications of the proposed project personnel, including the Principal Investigator (project director), scientists, community-group leaders, educators, and others to design and conduct the proposed project. For example, the application should demonstrate that the project personnel understand the science base of mental and addictive disorders; can work in a partnership to translate that information and the nature and methods of science for the adult public; and can deliver the educational messages effectively to the intended audience(s); o Suitability of the proposed applicant and cooperating organizations' facilities, resources, experience in similar activities, and commitment to achieve the specific goals of the proposed project; o Strength of institutional commitment as evidenced by provision of institutional resources, such as office and workshop space, computer facilities, and administrative and technical support services; and o Adequacy of plans to institutionalize the program, if successful, after cessation of ADAMHA support. AWARD CRITERIA In making funding decisions, the ADAMHA will consider: scientific, educational, and technical merit as determined by peer review; relevance to mental and addictive disorders; program balance among various types of projects; geographic distribution in the United States and its territories; and/or management capability for financial stewardship of Federal funds. Special consideration also will be given to applications with a specific focus on reaching minority and/or female populations. Priority will be given to projects that include scientists involved in research on mental and addictive disorders. Because of limited funds, the ADAMHA will assign priority to those applicants not currently receiving SEPA support from ADAMHA or the National Institutes of Health. INQUIRIES Written and telephone inquiries regarding this RFA are encouraged, and should be directed to Ms. Eileen O'Keefe at the address and telephone number listed above. Direct inquiries regarding fiscal matters to: Bruce Ringler Grants Management Office National Institute of Mental Health 5600 fishers Lane, Room 7C-15 Rockville, MD 20857 Telephone: (301) 443-3065 Schedule Letter of Intent: April 1, 1992 Application Receipt Date: May 26, 1992 Initial Review: June - August 1992 Secondary Review: September 1992 Anticipated Award Date: September 30, 1992 AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS ADAMHA awards are under the authority of Section 301 of the Public Health Service Act, as amended, (42 U.S.C. 24). All awards will be administered under PHS grant policies and Federal Regulations 42 CFR 52 and 45 CFR Parts 74 and 92. This program is not subject to the intergovernmental review requirements of Executive Order 12372 or Health Systems Agency review. .
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