Funding Opportunity Number: RFA-ES-19-010

Funding Opportunity Purpose: The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research education activities in the mission areas of the NIH. The over-arching goal of this R25 program is to support educational activities that encourage individuals from diverse backgrounds, including those from groups underrepresented in the biomedical and behavioral sciences, to pursue further studies or careers in research. To accomplish the stated over-arching goal, this FOA will support creative educational activities with a primary focus on: Research Experiences

Application Due Dates: August 30, 2019, apply by 5:00 PM local time of applicant organization.

Funding Opportunity Description:

The NIH Research Education Program (R25) supports research educational activities that complement other formal training programs in the mission areas of the NIH Institutes and Centers. The over-arching goals of the NIH R25 program are to: (1) complement and/or enhance the training of a workforce to meet the nation’s biomedical, behavioral and clinical research needs; (2) encourage individuals from diverse backgrounds, including those from groups underrepresented in the biomedical and behavioral sciences, to pursue further studies or careers in research; (3) help recruit individuals with specific specialty or disciplinary backgrounds to research careers in biomedical, behavioral and clinical sciences; and (4) foster a better understanding of biomedical, behavioral and clinical research and its implications.

The over-arching goal of this R25 program is to support educational activities that encourage individuals from diverse backgrounds, including those from groups underrepresented in the biomedical and behavioral sciences, to pursue further studies or careers in research.

To accomplish the stated over-arching goal, this funding opportunity announcement (FOA) will support creative educational activities with a primary focus on:

• Research Experiences for undergraduate students: to provide hands-on exposure to research, to reinforce their intent to graduate with a science degree, and/or to prepare them for graduate school admissions and/or careers in research.

Award Budget: Application budgets may not exceed $100,000 in direct costs annually and need to reflect the actual needs of the proposed project.

Food sustains and nourishes us; it is the glue that binds families and whole nations together at mealtimes – each time we gather around the table, we honor the past, experience the present and prepare for the future. Beyond the kitchen, food also increasingly connects us to a global food network where the worlds of politics, economics, the environment, culture, and science come together. A web that is shaping and reshaping itself every day – demanding that we make the most of the planet’s resources so as to guarantee adequate nutrition for all.

See our full article here, co-authored by Valerio Nannini, CEO and founder of Nannini & Partners and Patrick Ferran, Co-President and Chief Sales Officer of NineSigma.

Key Challenges:

1. Healthy & Delicious Food: By leveraging the collective power of retailers, restaurants, schools and other providers, it should be possible to positively influence how food is produced and marketed, to make the processes of food production healthier as well as the food itself. Consider, for example, plant-based proteins that require far fewer natural resources in their production than their animal counterparts. Smart, creative food design can help protect the bio-economy.

2. Circular Economy – Upcycle Food and Its By-Products: Cities play a crucial role in designing-out food waste. Food supply and demand can be better synced, spoilage reduced due to improved storage, and products that are coming up to their best-before date, discounted. Meanwhile, food by-products can be converted into a wide array of valuable products.

3. Smart Packaging & Sustainability: Recycling packaging is not an option anymore, all players engaged in the value chain are completely reinventing how consumers will handle ingredients, pre-cooked food, or interact with the brand differently… And consumers will adopt brands who are taking care of sustainability while offering a true opportunity to enable “smart behaviors”.

While the challenge may seem overwhelming as a whole, focusing on one key piece could bring disproportionate benefits: the world’s great cities. The Ellen MacArthur Foundation estimates that by 2050, around 80% of all food will be consumed in urban conurbations. Today these metropoles tend to represent much of what is negative about the current food system, ultimate examples of the take-make-waste approach we have adopted over time. But by the same token, cities can and should be beacons of change, leading the way in a shift to a circular economy for food, where food ‘waste’ is upcycled and the production of food is centered around regeneration versus degradation of natural systems.

Open Food and Beverage Challenges on NineSights

HEALTH: Leveraging Pea Protein Properties in Beverages

PepsiCo seeks to incorporate pea protein concentrate into low pH beverages. Consumers are looking to peas as a promising protein source – they are rich in proteins which can be isolated to make pea protein concentrates (PPC). The goal of this project is to identify pea protein concentrates that are suitable for usage in low pH systems or to find technologies capable of processing PPC so that they may be used in low pH environments.

INNOVATION JOURNEY: Ohio Soybean Council Innovation Gallery

OSC was founded in 1991 to manage the Soybean Promotion and Research Program—more commonly known as the soybean checkoff—which collects funds from Ohio soybean farmers and invests those funds in ways that benefit the industry. Key activities include investing in soy-based product development and working to bring new soy-based products to market.

PACKAGING: Sustainable Packaging Materials for Fresh or Frozen Ready Meals

Fazer is releasing a new brand of plant-based ready meals by 2020. In an effort to support a circular economy, Fazer would like to use recyclable sustainable materials. They are seeking packaging alternatives using material that is plastic free or a fully recyclable plastic, able to work with low/high moisture content products and provide shelf life stability over a range of 1 week to 3 months.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is now accepting applications for our Summer Stipends program. The program aims to stimulate new research in the humanities and its publication by supporting the work of individual scholars doing research or writing. Anyone can apply, as long as they are not a degree candidate at time of application. The grant amount is $6,000, and the application deadline is September 25, 2019. Full application information is at: http://www.neh.gov/grants/research/summer-stipends

In a few weeks we will host a webinar about the program, outlining its features, discussing the application process, and answering questions. I will send you information about that webinar as soon as it is available.

We especially encourage you to share this grant opportunity with junior faculty. Although this is a very competitive program, the relatively short application and the focused time period make it a good way for junior faculty to lay the foundation for future grant applications.

As you may know, this program requires all tenured or tenure-track applicants to be nominated by an official on their campus, and institutions can nominate up to two people. (Non-tenure-track faculty, adjunct faculty, staff, retired faculty, community college faculty, and independent scholars are exempt from nomination). We ask that each institution designate one person—usually an academic vice-president or dean—to coordinate the nomination process for its faculty. Prospective applicants, the nominating official, and others involved in choosing your institution’s two nominees should familiarize themselves with the guidelines and application instructions located on the NEH website. Please make sure that there is only one nominating official for your institution.

All applicants must submit their own applications through grants.gov. Nominated applicants must include in their applications the name and email address of the appropriate nominating official. After the September 25 deadline, each nominating official will receive an email directly from NEH asking for verification of the selected applicants. This verification must be received by October 17, 2019.

If applicants have questions, we encourage them to contact a member of the Summer Stipends program staff, at stipends@neh.gov or 202-606-8200.

As directed by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, the Defense Health Agency (DHA) Research and Development Directorate J9 manages the Defense Health Program (DHP) Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) appropriation. The managing agent for the anticipated Program Announcements/Funding Opportunities is the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP).

The FY19 AIMM Program Announcement and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanism are posted on Grants.gov.

Applications submitted to the FY19 AIMM initiative must address at least one of the following Focus Areas:

• Algorithms/tools for decision support in a deployed or operational environment to: diagnose military-relevant disease, illness, or injury; prescribe mitigation and treatment strategies; and/or determine risk of Warfighter return to duty.
• Artificial Intelligence (AI)/deep learning for integrating heterogeneous data streams and analyzing data from wearables to support making informed healthcare decisions. Wearable sensor systems may pertain to, but are not limited to, the following or combinations of the following: infectious disease diagnosis; physiologic status monitoring; informing real-time casualty location and triage; and/or environmental monitoring.
• AI/deep learning for analyzing and interrogating large medical data sets to: identify patterns/predictors of disease, illness, or injury; and/or identify treatment outcomes.

Additional information can be found at the CDMRP site.

AIMM Research Award – Preproposal due July 26, 2019

Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent)

• Supports highly creative and conceptually innovative high-risk research with the potential to accelerate critical discoveries or major advancements that will significantly impact military health and medicine; not intended to support incremental advances on previous or ongoing work.
• Supports applied research efforts that initiate or enhance potential game-changers that may not be supported by other funding mechanisms or core programs.
• Applications must address at least one of the FY19 Focus Areas, which include algorithms/tools for decision support in a deployed or operational environment, and AI/deep learning for integrating heterogeneous data streams and analyzing data from wearables to support making informed healthcare decisions, as well as for analyzing and interrogating large medical data sets
• Cross-cutting, broadly applicable projects with the potential to benefit multiple DoD medical research program areas are highly encouraged.
• Presentation of preliminary data is not required, though not prohibited. 
• Maximum funding of $350,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs)
• Maximum period of performance is 18 months

A pre-application is required and must be submitted through the electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal (eBRAP) at https://eBRAP.org prior to the pre-application deadline. All applications must conform to the final Program Announcement and General Application Instructions available for electronic downloading from the Grants.gov website. The application package containing the required forms for each award mechanism will also be found on Grants.gov. A listing of all USAMRMC funding opportunities can be obtained on the Grants.gov website by performing a basic search using CFDA Number 12.420.

Applications must be submitted through the federal government’s single-entry portal, Grants.gov. Submission deadlines are not available until the Program Announcement is released. For email notification when Program Announcements are released, subscribe to program-specific news and updates under “Email Subscriptions” on the eBRAP homepage at https://eBRAP.org. For more information about other CDMRP-administered programs, please visit the CDMRP website (https://cdmrp.army.mil).

The FY19 Defense Appropriation provides $20 million (M) to the Department of Defense Vision Research Program (VRP) to support impactful military-relevant vision research. As directed by the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, the Defense Health Agency J9, Research and Development Directorate manages the Defense Health Program (DHP) Research, Development, Test, and Evaluation (RDT&E) appropriation. The managing agent for the anticipated Program Announcements/Funding Opportunities is the Congressionally Directed Medical Research Programs (CDMRP) at the U.S. Army Medical Research and Materiel Command (USAMRMC).

FY19 VRP Program Announcements and General Application Instructions for the following award mechanisms are posted on the Grants.gov website.

Applications submitted to the FY19 VRP must address at least one of the following Focus Areas:

• Eye injury or visual dysfunction as related to a military-relevant traumatic event. Examples of military-relevant trauma may include, but are not limited to:
  • Blast, blunt, thermal, or chemical trauma
  • Trauma caused by directed energy weapons such as laser, microwaves, and particle beams
• Diagnosis and treatment of eye injuries in austere environments and prolonged field care settings

Focused Translational Team Science Award (FTTSA) – Preproposal due August 6, 2019

• The overall Principal Investigator (PI) must be an independent investigator at or above the level of Associate Professor (or equivalent) with demonstrated success in leading large collaborative research project(s).
• Leaders of individual projects may be independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent).
• The overall lead PI is required to devote a minimum of 20% effort to this award.

Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.

• Supports a highly collaborative and translational team initiative that will fundamentally advance the understanding and treatment of eye injury and/or visual dysfunction that result from a military-relevant trauma.
• Must address one or more of the FY19 VRP Focus Areas.
• Applications shall include at least three but no more than five distinct research projects that together form a concerted and synergistic effort to address an overarching challenge.
• Preliminary data required for each individual project.
• One of the projects may include a pilot clinical trial where limited clinical testing of a novel intervention is conducted to inform the feasibility, rationale, and design of subsequent clinical trials.
• Must have a detailed Implementation Plan for participating research groups to coordinate efforts, facilitate collaboration, and create synergy.
  • Maximum funding of $5,000,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs) 
  • The maximum period of performance is 4 years.

Investigator-Initiated Research Award (IIRA) – Preproposal due August 6, 2019

Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent). Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.

• Supports studies that will yield highly impactful discoveries or major advancements in research and/or patient care of eye injury and/or visual dysfunction as related to military-relevant trauma.
• Must address one or more of the FY19 VRP Focus Areas.
• Funding Level 1 supports exploratory, high-risk/high-reward research in the earliest stages of development. No preliminary data is required.
• Funding Level 2 supports the advancement of more mature research toward clinical translation. Preliminary data required.  
• It is the responsibility of the applicant to select the funding level that is most appropriate for the research proposed. The funding level should be selected based on the stage and maturity of the research, rather than the amount of the budget.
• Clinical trials are not allowed

Funding Level 1: 

• Maximum funding of $260,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs) 
• The maximum period of performance is 2 years.

Funding Level 2: 

• Maximum funding of $500,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs) 
• The maximum period of performance is 3 years.

Translational Research Award (TRA) – Preproposal due August 6, 2019

Independent investigators at all academic levels (or equivalent).

Preproposal is required; application submission is by invitation only.

• Supports translational research that moves promising laboratory research into clinical applications.
• It is expected that an Investigational New Drug (IND)/Investigational Device Exemption (IDE) application will be submitted during or by the end of the period of performance.
• Must address one or more of the FY19 VRP Focus Areas.
• Preliminary data required. 
• May include a pilot clinical trial component where limited clinical limited clinical testing of a novel intervention is conducted to inform the feasibility, rationale, and design of subsequent clinical trials. 
• Maximum funding of $750,000 for direct costs (plus indirect costs) 
• The maximum period of performance is 3 years

A pre-application is required and must be submitted through the electronic Biomedical Research Application Portal (eBRAP) at https://eBRAP.org prior to the pre-application deadline. All applications must conform to the final Program Announcements and General Application Instructions available for electronic downloading from the Grants.gov website. The application package containing the required forms for each award mechanism will also be found on Grants.gov. A listing of all CDMRP and other USAMRMC extramural funding opportunities can be obtained on the Grants.gov website by performing a basic search using CFDA Number 12.420.

For email notification when Program Announcements are released, subscribe to program-specific news and updates under “Email Subscriptions” on the eBRAP homepage at https://ebrap.org/. For more information about the VRP or other CDMRP-administered programs, please visit the CDMRP website (https://cdmrp.army.mil).