Research Initiative Fund

2007- 08
Application Guidelines
(Revised January 2007)

The Research Initiative Fund assists Mary Baldwin College faculty to develop outstanding projects that involve students in the pursuit of new knowledge. For 2007-08, research may be in any discipline but must relate in some way to public health.

Previous Awardees
2006-07
2005-06

Previous awardees ARE eligible for additional support from the Fund.

Application Deadlines

Completed application forms (MSWord) submitted by February 1, 2007, will receive full consideration. After February 1, applications will be evaluated on a rolling basis until available funds are committed.

Available Support

In 2007-08, the Research Initiative Fund is being supported through the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Extramural Associates Program. A total of $20,000 will be available to support up to three pilot research projects. The budget request should include a stipend for the principal investigator and other expenditures necessary to successfully support the pilot study. Budgets for pilot projects typically include such costs as:

academic year release time support (adjunct replacement, with advance approval from the Vice President of Academic Affairs);
summer stipend support (paid at course overload rates);
stipends for consultants or other temporary professional personnel;
wages for research assistants, student co-researchers, or other support personnel (see description of Research Assistant funding);
support for specialized training or workshops, including funds paid to a mentor or consultant to provide such training;
funds spent for supplies, equipment, software, or materials; and
cost of travel within the United States (including travel for student co-researchers).

Evaluation Criteria

Projects are evaluated on the basis of “absolute” and “competitive” criteria. Projects are first evaluated on the basis of the absolute criteria; top-ranked proposals are then evaluated on the basis of the competitive criteria.

Absolute Criteria

Projects must be of outstanding scholarly quality and:

have the potential to provide the basis for, or be a part of, a sustainable, long-term direction for the applicant's research, scholarship, or creative activity;
be part of a plan by the applicant to seek external funding;
involve students as research assistants or co-researchers and/or have the potential to develop fruitful directions for senior projects; and
bear a relationship to public health issues, including basic, biomedical, and behavioral research.

Competitive Criteria

Projects may:

involve collaborative work between two or more Mary Baldwin College faculty (whether or not all participants receive support from the Fund);
capitalize on elements of the Strategic Plan, Quality Enhancement Plan, programmatic strengths, and/or unique resources;
establish or enhance collaborative relationships with researchers at other institutions.

The primary applicant (Principal Investigator/Project Director) must be a full-time faculty member at Mary Baldwin College . Project teams may include other individuals, including part-time or adjunct faculty, students, staff, or temporary personnel.

Application Process

There is a two-stage application process.

Preliminary Proposals. Preliminary proposals should be submitted via e-mail, using the attached application form (MSWord), to Lydia Petersson, director, Office of Sponsored Programs and Research Development, lpeterss@mbc.edu. Applications will be reviewed and evaluated by the Research Development Committee. Applicants will be notified approximately two weeks after submission regarding the placement of their proposals into one of the following categories:

Recommended for Funding. Upon submission of a final proposal, the application will be forwarded to the Extramural Associates Program of the National Institutes of Health with a recommendation for funding.

Recommendation Deferred. The application cannot be recommended for funding immediately, but may be recommended at a later date if funds remain available.

Not Recommended. The application will not be recommended for funding in this cycle.

Final proposals. Finalists whose preliminary proposals have been recommended for funding must 1) incorporate any feedback from the evaluation process; 2) prepare a final budget request; and 3) submit a final proposal, through the MBC Office of Sponsored Programs and Research Development, for verification to the National Institutes of Health Extramural Associates Program. The following PHS 398 application form pages must be completed: face page; pages 2 -5; modular format budget page, biographical sketch; checklist page; personal data form page; and targeted plan enrollment form. Additional guidance will be provided to finalists at the time of submission. Allow three months from the time of submission of the proposal to NIH until the anticipated start date of the project.

No work may begin on projects until written confirmation of approval has been received from the NIH Extramural Associates Program. Proposals involving human subjects or animal (ALL vertebrates) use must have clearance from the IRB or IACUC respectively before the final proposal will be forwarded to NIH.

Additional Information

For additional information, contact Lydia Petersson (lpeterss@mbc.edu ) or Maria Craig (mcraig@mbc.edu ) in the Office of Sponsored Programs and Research Development (x7235).

Funds to support the Research Initiative Fund are provided by the National Institute for Child Health and Human Development's Extramural Associates Program, which is dedicated to improving research opportunities at women's and minority institutions.