Full Text OD-97-004
 
EDUCATIONAL WORKSHOPS IN INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH
 
NIH GUIDE, Volume 26, Number 1, January 10, 1997
 
RFA:  OD-97-004
 
P.T. 42

Keywords: 
  Biomedical Research, Multidiscipl 
  Behavioral/Experimental Psychology 
  Sociology 
  Educational Instruction Programs 

 
Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research
National Center for Research Resources
National Institute of Nursing Research
National Institute on Drug Abuse
National Institute of Dental Research
 
Letter of Intent Receipt Date:  March 14, 1997
Application Receipt Date:  April 25, 1997
 
PURPOSE
 
The Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR), the
National Center for Research Resources (NCRR), the National Institute
of Nursing Research (NINR), the National Institute on Drug Abuse
(NIDA), and the National Institute of Dental Research (NIDR) invite
applications for grants to develop and conduct short-term (1-2 weeks)
educational workshops in interdisciplinary research aimed at social,
behavioral, and biomedical researchers in the formative stages of
their careers.  The NIH sponsoring organizations are jointly issuing
this Request for Applications (RFA) to foster cross-disciplinary
communication and research collaborations.
 
Grant applications are requested that propose, as their educational
objective, the integration of health research across various levels
of analysis.  These levels can include environmental, social,
individual, organ system, cellular, and molecular levels.  Special
emphasis is placed on facilitating (1) the integration of different
fields of social and behavioral sciences research and/or (2) the
integration of these areas with the more biological analyses.  The
short-term goal of this initiative is to encourage social/behavioral
and biomedical scientists at an early stage of their careers to learn
each other~s methods, procedures, and/or theoretical perspectives.
The long-term goal of this RFA is to enable researchers to develop
cross-disciplinary collaborations and to submit quality grant
applications with interdisciplinary approaches.
 
HEALTHY PEOPLE 2000
 
The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the health
promotion and disease prevention objectives of "Healthy People 2000"
a PHS-led national activity for setting priority areas.  This RFA,
Educational Workshops in Interdisciplinary Research, is related to
all priority areas.  Potential applicants may obtain a copy of
"Healthy People 2000" (Full Report:  Stock No.017-001-00474-0 or
Summary Report: Stock No. 017-001-00473-1) through the Superintendent
of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC 20402-9325
(telephone 202-512-1800).
 
ELIGIBILITY
 
Applications may be submitted by any domestic for-profit or non-
profit organization, public or private, such as universities,
colleges, hospitals, laboratories, units of State and local
governments, or eligible agencies of the Federal government that are
engaged in health-related education or research.  Racial/ethnic
minority individuals, women, and persons with disabilities are
encouraged to apply as Principal Investigators.
 
MECHANISM OF SUPPORT
 
This RFA will use the National Institutes of Health education project
grant (R25).  Applications submitted in response to this RFA cannot
be used to support existing ongoing training.  These
Interdisciplinary Workshop Grants are intended to support only
educational activities that promote interdisciplinary research and
may not be used for support of clinical training or clinically-
oriented continuing education programs in the health professions.  Up
to $100,000 direct costs may be requested for up to one year of
support.  Indirect costs, other than those awarded to State or local
government agencies, will be reimbursed at eight percent of total
allowable direct costs.  State and local government agencies will
receive reimbursement at their full indirect cost rate.  Because the
nature and scope of the workshop proposed in response to this RFA may
vary, it is anticipated that the size of an award will vary also.
This RFA is a one-time solicitation.  However, it may be reissued
depending on availability of funds and NIH programmatic goals.
 
Allowable costs
 
Costs must be consistent with PHS Policy and be reasonable,
allowable, and well documented and justified for the proposed
educational workshop.
 
Specifically, funds may be requested for:
 
Personnel costs - salary and fringe benefits may be requested for the
time spent by faculty members on the design and implementation of the
workshop.  Salaries requested may not exceed the levels commensurate
with the institution~s policy for similar positions.
 
Administrative and clerical salary costs associated with the workshop
may be direct charges to the grant only when specifically identified
and justified as reflecting significantly greater effort than the
level of such services routinely provided by academic departments.
Requests for consultant costs, equipment, supplies, necessary travel,
and other project related expenses must be justified as specifically
required by the workshop proposed and not duplicate items generally
available at the institution for educational programs.
 
Participants in the workshop may receive only per diem living
(necessary lodging and meals) and domestic or foreign travel expenses
associated with attendance at the interdisciplinary workshop(s).
Since this is a short-term educational workshop, citizenship
requirements do not apply to the participants.
 
Unallowable costs:
 
Tuition costs are not allowed under this RFA nor can the participants
receive any payment for attendance, nor be charged a fee for
attendance at the interdisciplinary workshop(s).  Funds from this RFA
may not be used to supplement stipends or provide other individual
compensation to trainees supported by PHS training grants.
 
FUNDS AVAILABLE
 
It is estimated that for fiscal year 1997, $972,000 total funds
(direct and indirect costs) will be available.  It is anticipated
that approximately nine  to twelve one-year, non-renewable education
project awards will be made; however, the exact number will depend on
the quality of applications and the availability of funds.
 
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES
 
The objective of this RFA is to support educational workshops that
foster the development of cross-disciplinary communication and
research collaboration.  Health is affected by physiologic and
genetic factors, as well as behavioral, social, and environmental
factors.  The interactions of these factors can be studied at
different levels of analysis, ranging from the molecular level
through the system and individual to the social structural level.
The clearest evidence of biopsychosocial interactions concerns the
effects of behavioral and social factors on physiologic functioning.
For example, research shows that smoking, diet, exercise, chronic and
acute stress, anger, social support, and socioeconomic status all
have profound effects on the central nervous, cardiovascular,
endocrine, and immune systems.  Such interactions make it imperative
to more fully integrate behavioral with social science research, and
both behavioral and social science research with more traditional
biomedical areas of health research.
 
This RFA is being coordinated under the auspices of the Office of
Behavioral and Social Sciences Research (OBSSR) of the National
Institutes of Health.  OBSSR provides leadership and direction in
increasing the scope and support of research on the role of behavior
and social processes in the etiology and the prevention of disease
and the promotion of health.  One of OBSSR's strategies to promote
this cross-cutting interdisciplinary research is to support short-
term training workshops for social, behavioral, and biomedical
scientists to learn each others methods and procedures at an early
stage in their career.  Several NIH Institutes and Centers have
joined with OBSSR to support this project, and each seeks to
encourage research related to its own mission.  The NINR is
interested in training programs that foster improved cross-
disciplinary collaboration.  This RFA is directly related to the
NINR's emphasis on multi-disciplinary research spanning the basic and
clinical sciences.  The NIDA is interested in integrative and multi-
disciplinary approaches to drug addiction.  This RFA is responsive to
NIDA's emphasis on the development of training experiences in the
area of drug abuse and addiction.  The NIDR is interested in
multidisciplinary oral and craniofacial research, including basic
studies using oral or craniofacial tissues to elucidate mechanisms
underlying a wide array of disease processes.  This RFA is responsive
to NIDR's emphasis on the development of multidisciplinary research
and training.
 
These Education Grants support short-term (1-2 weeks) workshops for
promising predoctoral students, post-doctoral scholars, and/or junior
faculty, that are designed to give them a broad understanding of
fields outside their own in order to foster improved cross-
disciplinary communication and collaboration.  For example, a
workshop may focus on educating behavioral researchers in the
conceptualization and measurement of social, environmental, or
economic variables; or the training of social or behavioral
researchers in research methods employed in immunology, neuroscience,
genetics, or in the areas of heart, lung, and blood diseases, or drug
addiction.  Biomedical researchers might be educated in
sociobehavioral theory and research methods, such as techniques for
measuring and manipulating behavior in animal models of disease;
social and behavioral epidemiological approaches; cognitive and
behavior therapy techniques; economic analyses; and methods in
cognitive neuroscience, behavioral genetics, or immuno-modulation.
 
Other examples for educational workshop topics include, but are not
limited to, end of life issues, clinical outcome research, and/or
vulnerable populations.
 
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 new policy results
from the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 (Section 492B of Public Law
103-43) and supersedes and strengthens the previous policies
(Concerning the Inclusion of Women in Study Populations, and
Concerning the Inclusion of Minorities in Study Populations) which
have been in effect since 1990.  The new policy contains some new
provisions that are substantially different from the 1990 policies.
 
All investigators proposing research involving human subjects should
read the "NIH Guidelines for Inclusion of Women and Minorities as
Subjects in Clinical Research," which has been published in the
Federal Register of March 28, 1994 (FR 59 14508-14513), and reprinted
in the NIH GUIDE FOR GRANTS AND CONTRACTS of March 18, 1994, Volume
23, Number 11.
 
Investigators may obtain copies from these sources of from the
program staff or contact the person listed below.  Program staff may
also provide additional relevant information concerning the policy.
 
LETTER OF INTENT
 
Prospective applicants are asked to submit, by March 14, 1997, a
letter of intent that includes a descriptive title of the proposed
workshop, the name, address, and the telephone number of the
Principal Investigator, the identities of other key personnel and
participating institutions, and the number and title of this RFA.
Although a letter of intent is not required, is not binding, and does
not enter into the review of a subsequent application, the
information that it contains allows NIH staff to estimate the
potential review workload and avoid conflict of interest in the
review.  The letter of intent is to be sent to the program staff
listed below.
 
Gerdi Weidner, Ph.D.
Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research
National Institutes of Health
Building 1, Room 326 - MSC 0183
Bethesda, MD  20892-0183
Telephone:  (301) 435-3718
FAX:  (301) 402-1150
Email:  [email protected]
 
APPLICATION PROCEDURES
 
Applications are to be submitted on the grant application form PHS
398 (rev. 5/95).  Applications kits are available at most
institutional offices of sponsored research and may be obtained from
the Grants Information Office, Office of Extramural Outreach and
Information Resources, National Institutes of Health, 6701 Rockledge
Drive, MSC 7910, Bethesda, MD 20892-7910, telephone 301/710-0267,
email:  [email protected].
 
Applications are to be prepared according to the instructions
provided on pages 5-20 except for the following regarding C. Specific
Instructions:
 
C.  Specific Instructions:
 
1.  Application Face Page:
 
Item 2.  Check the box marked ~YES~ and type the number and title of
this Request for Applications.
 
Item 6.  Enter 093097 through 092998. The proposed period of support
may not exceed one year.
Items 7 and 8.  The direct cost request may not exceed $100,000.
Indirect costs are limited to eight percent of total allowable direct
costs, except applicants that are State and local governments may
request full indirect cost reimbursement.
 
5.  Budget for Entire Proposed Period of Support (Form Page 5-EE) -
not applicable; do not complete.
 
9.  Research Plan
 
Follow the instructions for items a. (Specific Aims) and b.
(Background and Significance).  Item c. (Preliminary Studies/Progress
Report) should be retitled "Preliminary Data and Activities" and
included, if applicable. This section should contain information on
steps that have led to the proposed workshop.  Item d. (Research
Design and Methods)  should be retitled "Educational Workshop Plan".
This section should provide sufficient detail to allow reviewers to
evaluate the proposed workshop according to the specific review
criteria for this RFA.  Information in this section should be
organized under the following subheadings:
 
1) Proposed Workshop - provide detail on the design and content of
the proposed workshop (e.g., time frame, courses, curricula, specific
activities) and the resource requirements (e.g., description of the
facilities, laboratories, participating departments, computer
services, and any other resources to be used in the conduct of the
workshop).
 
2) Workshop Participants - provide detail about the targeted
participants; include a description of plans for recruiting, as
participants, individuals from under-represented racial/ethnic
groups.
 
3) Workshop Faculty/Staff - describe the characteristics and
responsibilities of the faculty; provide evidence that participating
faculty and preceptors are actively engaged in research or other
scholarly activities related to the proposed workshop.
 
4) Principal Investigator - describe arrangements for administration
of the workshop; provide evidence that the Principal Investigator is
actively engaged in interdisciplinary research and/or teaching in an
area involving the social and behavioral sciences (investigators with
a biomedical background should provide evidence of collaborations
with social and/or behavioral scientists); provide evidence that the
Principal Investigator can organize and administer the workshop
program.
 
5) Institutional commitment - provide evidence of institutional
commitment and support for the proposed workshop, e.g. commitment of
facilities, staff, etc .
 
Items (e) through (i) should be completed following the standard 398
instructions.
 
Applications not following the above instructions will be returned to
the applicant without review.
 
The RFA label available in the PHS 398 kit must be affixed to the
bottom of the face page of the original copy of the application.
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.  In addition, the RFA title and number must be typed on
line 2 of the face of the application form and the YES box must be
marked.
 
Submit a signed, typewritten original of the application and three
signed, exact photocopies, in one package, to:
 
DIVISION OF RESEARCH GRANTS
NATIONAL INSTITUTES OF HEALTH
6701 ROCKLEDGE DRIVE, ROOM 1040 - MSC 7710
BETHESDA, MD  20892-7710
BETHESDA, MD  20817 (for express/courier service)
 
At time of submission, two additional copies of the application must
also be sent under separate cover to:
 
Gerdi Weidner, Ph.D.
Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research
National Institutes of Health
Building One, Room 326 - MSC 0183
Bethesda, MD  20892
 
Applications must be received by the firm deadline date of April 25,
1997.  If an application is received after that date, it will be
returned to the applicant.  The Division of Research Grants (DRG)
will not accept any application in response to this RFA that is
essentially the same as one currently pending initial review, unless
the applicant withdraws the pending application.  The DRG will not
accept any application that is essentially the same as one already
reviewed.  This does not preclude the submission of substantial
revisions of applications previously reviewed, but such applications
must include an introduction addressing the previous critique.
 
REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS
 
Upon receipt, applications will be reviewed for completeness by DRG,
and for responsiveness by NIH program staff.  Incomplete applications
will be returned to the applicant without further consideration.  In
addition, if program staff find that an application is not responsive
to the RFA, it will be returned to the applicant without review.
 
Applications that are complete and responsive to the RFA will be
evaluated for scientific and technical merit by an appropriate peer
review group convened by DRG in accordance with standard NIH peer
review procedures.  As part of the initial merit review, all
applications will receive a written critique and undergo a process in
which only those applications deemed to have the highest scientific
merit, generally the top half of applications under review, will be
discussed, assigned a priority score, and receive a second level
review by the National Advisory Council of the relevant NIH Institute
or Center.
 
The review committee will assess the educational, scientific, and
technical merit of any application accepted by the DRG and deemed to
be responsive to the RFA by NIH program staff.  These applications
should be of high quality and responsive to the stated purpose of
this RFA.
 
Grant applications submitted in response to this RFA should be
characterized by innovation, scholarship, and responsiveness to the
goals of the RFA.  To ensure that these objectives are met,
applications will be evaluated by the following criteria:
 
o  likelihood of the proposed workshop to foster interdisciplinary
health research and cross-cutting collaborations;
 
o  overall quality of the proposed educational workshop as related to
its capability to achieve its short-term and long-terms goals;
 
o  appropriateness of the workshop curriculum and design for
providing interdisciplinary research education;
 
o  educational environment and the quality of the facilities;
 
o  recruitment and selection plans for participants;
 
o  quality of the workshop faculty in terms of past records of
achievement in at least one area of the proposed training and in
terms of current engagement in research related to the proposed
workshop;
 
o  quality of the workshop leadership, both in terms of past records
of achievement in the area of the proposed training (i.e.,
interdisciplinary research), and qualifications to implement the
proposed workshop;
 
o  institutional commitment.
 
In addition, appropriateness of the budget and the duration of the
support needed to achieve the stated goals and objectives will be
evaluated.
 
AWARD CRITERIA
 
Funding decisions will be made on the basis of scientific and
technical merit as determined by peer review, program priorities, and
the availability of funds.
 
Schedule
 
Letter of Intent Receipt Date:  March 14, 1997
Application Receipt Date:       April 25, 1997
Initial Review:                 June/July 1997
Advisory Council Review:        September 1997
Earliest Start Date:            September 30, 1997
 
INQUIRIES
 
Inquiries concerning this RFA are encouraged.  The opportunity to
clarify any issues or questions from potential applicants is welcome.
 
Inquiries regarding programmatic issues may be directed to:
 
Gerdi Weidner, Ph.D.
Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research
National Institutes of Health
Building 1, Room 326 - MSC 0183
Bethesda, MD  20892-0183
Telephone:  (301) 435-3718
FAX:  (301) 402-1150
Email:  [email protected]
 
Jaylan S. Turkkan, Ph.D.
Division of Basic Research
National Institute on Drug Abuse
5600 Fishers Lane, Room 10A-20
Rockville, MD  20857
Telephone:  (301) 443-1263
FAX:  (301) 594-6043
Email:  [email protected]
 
J. Taylor Harden, Ph.D, R.N.
Division of Extramural Activities
National Institute of Nursing Research
45 Center Drive, Room 3AN-12, MSC 6300
Bethesda, MD  20892-6300
Telephone:  (301) 594-5976
FAX:  (301) 480-8260
Email:  [email protected]
 
Patricia Bryant, Ph.D.
Division of Extramural Research
National Institute of Dental Research
45 Center Drive, Room 4AN24E
Bethesda, MD  20892
Telephone:  (301) 594-2095
FAX:  (301) 480-8318
Email:  [email protected]
 
Direct inquiries regarding fiscal matters to:
 
Ms. Jenelle D. Wiggins
Office of Grants and Contracts Management
National Center for Research Resources
6705 Rockledge Drive, Room 6086 - MSC 7965
Bethesda, MD  20892-7965
Telephone:  (301) 480-3777
Email:  [email protected]
 
Jeff Carow
Grants Management Office
Division of Extramural Activities
National Institute of Nursing Research
Building 45, Room 3AN-32
Bethesda, MD  20892-6301
Telephone:  (301) 594-6869
FAX:  (301) 480-8256
Email:  [email protected]
 
AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS
 
This program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic
Assistance No.  93.389 (NCRR), 93.316 (NINR), 93.279 (NIDA) and
93.121 (NIDR).  Awards are made under authorization of the Public
Health Service Act, Titles III, Part A, and IV of the Public Health
Service Act, and are administered under PHS grants policies and
Federal Regulations 42 CFR Part 52, and 45 CFR Part 74.  This program
is not subject to the intergovernmental review requirements of
Executive order 12372, or Health Systems Agency Review.  Awards will
be administered under PHS grants policy as stated in the Public
Health Service Grants Policy Statement (April 1, 1994).
 
The PHS strongly encourages all grant and contract recipients to
provide a smoke-free workplace and promote the nonuse 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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