Fiscal Year 2008-2009

Guidelines for Preparation and Submission of CVM Grant Proposals

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Applications Due: Monday, March 24, 2008, 3:00 PM

LATE SUBMISSIONS WILL NOT BE REVIEWED

This program supports basic and applied biomedical and veterinary research.   The CVM Competitive Research Grants Program provides awards from State allocations.  Problems of relevance to the State of North Carolina are especially relevant to this program. One goal of this program is to provide seed money for research projects (either basic, applied, or clinical) that have a strong potential for generating extramural funding from federal, state, industrial, foundation, or private sources. The program is also intended to foster the career development of faculty that are in the earliest stages of their career.  Investigators that have substantial funding from extramural sources must provide a justification statement of why they should receive additional funding from the CVM Competitive Grants program.  The CVM Competitive Research Grants Program is a unique funding source, awards that are more appropriate for funding from existing federal, state, industrial, foundation, or private sources will receive a lower priority for funding.

The maximum amount of funding per proposal depends on the category of proposal.  Feasibility grants have a maximum award value of $7,500.  All other grant categories have a maximum award value of $15,000.  Individual investigators are eligible for a maximum of $15,000 on projects for which they are a principal investigator. There is no limit to the number of grants that a co-investigator can serve on.

All funds must be expended before the end of the State fiscal year in which they are awarded.  Written requests for carry-over of funds must be addressed to the CVM Associate Dean for Research and will be considered on a case-by-case basis.  Only a single extension will be considered.

An award will not be issued until all assurances (e.g., IACUC or IRB) are in place.

Faculty appointed to an academic rank (Assistant Professor, Research Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, Research Associate Professor, Professor, or Research Professor), or a clinical track rank in the College of Veterinary are eligible for funding as a Principal Investigator or Co-Principal Investigator. Faculty appointed in a 'Visiting' position or faculty from other departments or agencies are not eligible for direct funding, but they may participate as a Co-Investigator or Collaborator. The maximum amount of funding per proposal depends on the category of proposal.

Categories of Research Proposals:

Standard Proposal: In most cases this will involve requests for hypothesis-driven research. The request is from a single PI (single budget) or multiple PIs (separate budgets for Co-PI is optional).

Clinical Study: In most cases this will involve requests for funds to examine a new hypothesis. The request is from a single PI (single budget) or multiple PIs (separate budgets for Co-PI is optional).

First Award: This option is available to faculty who have not previously been awarded CVM funding as a PI.  A PI may be awarded only one First Award. First Awards will receive priority for funding.  During the past three years approximately 80% of the money available through this program has been awarded to First Award grant recipients.

Feasibility Study: Request for funds to develop a new research technology, to establish a new method in the PI's lab, or to obtain preliminary data in support of a novel hypothesis.

Evaluation of Proposals

Each proposal will be assigned to two members of the CVM Research Committee. The Primary and Secondary Reviewers have the responsibility of providing the major critique during evaluation. The Primary Reviewer is responsible for summarizing written and verbal comments from all members of the CVM Research Committee.

Each proposal will be scored internally by each committee member. This score will be used for internal purposes only in order to generate a relative ranking. It is the relative rankings that will be used to determine which proposals will be funded. Each proposal will be evaluated using the following criteria:

Readability: Have the proposal guidelines been strictly adhered to? Failure to adhere to the guidelines may result in the proposal being excluded from further consideration. Is the proposal easy to read? Is it comprehensible by colleagues who are not experts in your area?

Originality and Merit: Is the idea and experimental approach novel? Is the hypothesis clearly stated and is it testable? Are the specific aims consistent with the hypothesis? If successful, is the research likely to lead to funding from extramural sources?

Feasibility: Does the PI or Co-PIs and collaborators have the necessary expertise(s) and facilities to complete the work within the prescribed time-limit? Is there sufficient technical effort (faculty, technicians, graduate students, residents) to accomplish the tasks? Is the design of the experiment and the number of observations (animals, cultures, etc.) sufficient to detect statistical differences between proposed treatments? Was consideration given to expected results and potential pitfalls?

Relevance: Is the problem a relevant one for use of State-supported funds? Has the PI or Co-PIs provided a persuasive argument about the relevance of the research? Is the proposed research consistent with the mission and goals of the College of Veterinary Medicine?

Scholarly Productivity: Does the PI or Co-PIs have a record of scientific accomplishment from previous State-supported funding? Have publications resulted from previous studies? Has extramural funding been acquired because of prior State-supported funding?

Interdisciplinary: Does the project involve the participation of CVM investigators with expertise in different disciplines? Interdisciplinary proposals will be favorably received by the Research Committee.

Appropriateness of Budget: Are the funds requested appropriate and well justified for the proposed work? Budgets will be critically evaluated for appropriateness and lack of overlap with other funding sources.  All investigators should thoroughly complete section B.7 under the instructions for Research Productivity from Previous State Funding.

Revisions:  An investigator may be required to submit a revised proposal to the Research Committee before a final award is made.  Grant revisions should clearly indicate changes made to the grant proposal in response to the Research Committee’s review.  A written rebuttal for any points raised the critique that are not addressed in the revised grant proposal are also required.  Revised proposals will be reviewed by the Primary and Secondary Reviewers.