AAA Fellows Grant Award Program

Transcription

1 AAA Fellws Grant Award Prgram SCOPE The Fellws Grant Award Prgram (FGAP) is intended t supprt prpsals submitted t natinal r internatinal funding agencies that were scred, and generally wellreceived, but did nt receive funding. It is assumed that mst f these prpsals will have been Natinal Institutes f Health (NIH) in nature, but prpsals t the Natinal Science Fundatin (NSF), ther federal agencies, and internatinal granting rganizatins als qualify. The prgram will prvide shrt-term funding fr either established r yung investigatrs wh have submitted a peer- reviewed grant applicatin t a majr funding spnsr within the last 15 mnths and received a full review but were nt funded. The Principal Investigatr (PI) must be an AAA member in gd standing fr the past 2 years(c- PI's, c-i, r cllabratrs need nt be members). Up t three grants will be awarded annually in amunts nt t exceed $25,000. Each grant will be awarded fr a perid f ne year, withut pprtunity fr a n-cst extensin. The FGAP will prvide up t 30 awards f $25,000 each ver 10 years. VALUE TO THE AAA The establishment f the FGAP will prvide psitive tractin fr the AAA in a number f areas: 1) Fllwing the rganizatin s Strategic Plan, this prgram speaks t fstering the best science undertaken by members, and strngly relates t the AAA s cntinuing cmmitment t science. 2) The FGAP applicant will gain nt nly a grant review by Fellws, but mentrship frm sme f the best scientists in their area, a benefit t bth the applicant and the AAA. APPLICATION SUBMISSION New FGAP applicatins will be slicited thrugh a general annuncement t the membership n September 1 f each year. Submissin deadline fr the FGAP prpsal will be n r arund Octber 15 f that year. A decisin n wh will receive the award will be made by mid-december. The award will begin the fllwing January 1. If an FGAP prpsal receives funding fr the riginal wrk befre FGAP decisins are made, the prpsal must be withdrawn. If funding is received after the FGAP award is made, AAA will nt require the award t be returned. 1

2 The frm f the applicatin will fllw and address the five bullet pints belw under Review Criteria. SELECTION OF REVIEWERS The Fellws Circle will appint a Task Frce f five members fr a 2-year term. The Task Frce will review the applicatin abstracts and assign reviewers frm the Fellws Circle. If sufficient expertise fr a given prpsal des nt fall within the Fellws Circle, then reviewers wh are established investigatrs frm the general membership will be assigned based n their scientific expertise and gegraphic lcatin (fr internatinal applicants). Each grant will be reviewed by three (3) reviewers and reviewers will be asked t review n mre than fur (4) grants per award cycle. REVIEWER CONFLICT OF INTEREST GUIDELINES Reviewers will accept r decline judging assignments based n whether any ne r mre f the fllwing cnflicts exist: Cllabrated with, published with, r therwise had a relatinship with the applicant in the last three years that wuld influence scring. Participated in a review panel that cnsidered the riginal unfunded applicatin but nly if he r she wrte the review. Is emplyed by the same institutin as grant applicant r under active cnsideratin fr a faculty psitin at that institutin. Have a cmpetitive interest that might bias the reviewer s evaluatin fr r against that applicatin r significantly impair the reviewer s bjectivity. Have had a lng standing difference r disagreement with the applicant that is knwn t the prfessinal cmmunity and culd be perceived as affecting the reviewer s bjectivity. Stand t benefit in any way frm the funding f the applicatin. ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW The fllwing eligibility requirements will be cnfirmed fr each applicant in an administrative review by AAA staff. Only applicatins that meet all f the eligibility requirements will be eligible fr review and cnsideratin. T be eligible fr the FGAP, an applicant must: Have been a US r internatinal member f the AAA in gd standing at the time f submissin, and fr tw years prir t submissin, and retain membership during the perid f the Award. Have submitted a peer-reviewed grant applicatin t a majr funding spnsr within the last 15 mnths and received a full review. If scred and reviewer cmments are available, they must be submitted. If n scre r reviewer cmments are available, the applicant must prvide a letter frm the funding surce indicating that the grant applicatin was reviewed but nt chsen fr funding. In additin, if n reviewer cmments 2

3 are available, a cpy f the cmplete initial grant applicatin shuld be submitted. (Nte: Fr internatinal members whse grant applicatins and reviewer cmments r funding agency decisin letters are nt in English, these must be translated t English by the applicant.) Nt exceed $50,000 USD (r equivalent) in direct csts in ttal funding supprt frm ther surces. Applicants must submit an Other Supprt page that will disclse extramural supprt frm all public and private surces, including gvernment and industry, as well as remaining start-up funds, if any. Nt have previusly received (as an investigatr) an FGAP. Resubmissin t the FGAP will nt be permitted unless the applicatin is t supprt a research prject that is different frm any previus FGAP prpsal. Nt be an AAA Bard Member, FGAP Awards Task Frce member, r a member f the Fellws Circle. REVIEW CRITERIA The review f the FGAP will nt be based n the riginal prpsal r its perceived strength as the prpsal was already evaluated and deemed strng. Rather, review will cnsider: A brief descriptin (up t three pages) prvided by the applicant indicating hw reviewer cmments (if prvided) will be addressed, AND; Hw these limited funds will be used t address the issues raised in the review. Ratinale fr the use f the FGAP funds and hw they will impact the research and strengthen the resubmissin f the grant. Hw the utcme will prgress the research and impact the research prpsal. Hw and when the revised r new prpsal will be resubmitted t a majr funding surce, and which funding surce. The inclusin f the applicant s NIH-frmat Bisketch with the applicatin. Additinally, applicants must submit an Other Supprt page that will disclse extramural supprt frm all public and private surces, including gvernment and industry, as well as remaining start-up funds, if any (ne page). This is in additin t submitting the initial reviewer cmments, r additinal dcumentatin (See Administrative Review sectin). APPLICATION SCORING The Reviewer will evaluate the applicatin and assign a scre frm 1.0 fr the mst meritrius t 5.0 fr the least meritrius with increments f 0.5 units. The scre shuld reflect an verall evaluatin f the prpsal based n the initial reviewer cmments. APPLICATION REVIEW COMMENTS Fr each applicatin, the Reviewer will prvide written cmments that address the fllwing: Brief summary f the initial reviewer s assessment f the strengths and weaknesses f the grant. Brief assessment f the plans f the applicant t address the initial reviewers critiques 3

4 If new experiments are prpsed, are they well-designed and scientifically well-justified? Are the methds apprpriate and within the expertise f the applicant? Is the prpsed research reasnable fr the time perid f the funding? Is the apprach fr the prpsal reasnable and the budget apprpriate fr the amunt f the award? If this award is granted, will it strengthen the verall grant and significantly increase the likelihd f future funding? Assessment f whether the planned use fr the FGAP is justified, such as t prvide salary supprt fr the PI r ther persnnel during the perid required fr resubmissin, perfrm new experiments, receive additinal training r generate new data required fr a resubmissin. An verall summary and recmmendatin that ntes the ratinale fr the scre, the strengths and weaknesses f the FGAP applicatin (nt the riginal applicatin), the apprpriateness f the investigatr s plans fr FGAP funds, and pinin n whether r nt this applicatin shuld be funded. REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL APPLICATIONS Fr cnsideratin f internatinal applicants, a designated internatinal reviewer will be asked t prvide a written summary that includes: Infrmatin n the majr funding surce t which the riginal grant was submitted What type f rganizatin is this and what type f research grants d they prvide? Is this a widely recgnized funding surce? Describe the initial review prcess. If the grant was scred, what level scre did it receive within the scring range? If it was nt scred, hw was the grant received by the reviewer? Did the applicant adequately address the cmments frm the reviewer? Prvide any additinal feedback t the FGAP Task Frce regarding the funding surce and the critique f this applicatin. REVIEW OF APPLICATIONS AND SUBMISSION OF REVIEWER SCORES AND COMMENTS Reviewers will access applicatins and submit scres and cmments nline. TRACKING OF RESULTS All recipients f an award will be required t present the results f their research at the annual meeting at Experimental Bilgy the year fllwing receipt f the Award. AAA will reimburse recipients fr up $1,000 in travel csts. All abstracts and publicatins resulting frm the research assciated frm this award shuld acknwledge the AAA FGAP funding. A statement such as This wrk was funded in part by an American Assciatin f Anatmists Fellws Grant Award Prgram grant #[insert yur grant number] is apprpriate. Fr the tw years fllwing the award, AAA staff will request infrmatin frm the awardee abut: Whether the full grant prpsal was funded Awarding agency 4

5 Amunt f award (direct csts nly) Publicatins that derived frm the research that was funded by the FGAP. Full citatins t these articles shuld be prvided. 5