Limited Submission Internal Deadline: National Institute of Health NEI Center Core Grant for Vision Research (P30 Clinical Trial Not Allowed)

Limited Submissions: Internal Call for Proposals
National Institute of Health 

NEI Center Core Grant for Vision Research  

(P30 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) 

Internal Deadline: 11:59PM, Monday, July 5, 2021 

 

*Please distribute to relevant faculty* 

Key Dates 

ORD Internal Deadline: 11:59PM, Monday, July 5, 2021 

NIH Full Proposal Deadline: September 30, 2021 

Important Information

Number of Applications per Institution: Only one application per institution is allowed.

To Apply

Submit the following via LAMSeS by 11:59PM, Monday, July 5, 2021.

1. PI/Proposed team member’s CV/NIH Biosketch (five-page maximum)
2. Project Summary (two-page maximum)
3. List of potential/committed collaborators (internal and external to UNC)
4. Names of three internal (to UNC) experts who could speak knowledgeably about the candidate’s research and who could potentially serve on an internal review panel.
   • Please do not include the names of faculty named on the project, chairs, deans, directors, direct reports, or others who have a conflict of interest. 
   • Please notify all potential internal reviewers before submitting the pre-proposal packet to ORD.

Award Information

 

Award Budget: Institutions may request direct costs of up to $2,000,000 over a five-year period in support of a Core Grant to institutions having 8 to 19 eligible grants. Institutions having 20 or more eligible grants may request direct costs of up to $2,500,000 over a five-year period.

 

Award Project Period: The maximum project period is 5 years.

Program Overview

 

The NEI Center Core Grant combines three or more Resource and/or Service Cores for a group of R01 investigators to enhance their research, consolidate resources, avoid duplication of efforts, and/or contribute to cost effectiveness by providing a service with lower costs or higher quality than could be attempted for independent projects by several individual Program Directors/Principal Investigators (PD(s)/PI(s)). Shared resources and facilities that are accessible to a group of independently funded investigators lead to greater productivity for the separate projects and can provide instrumentation and facilities that are too costly to be maintained by an individual investigator. The design and purpose of each Center Core may vary in how it serves its users. This program is designed to enhance an institution’s environment and capability to conduct vision research and to facilitate collaborative studies of the visual system and its disorders.

 

A NEI Center Core Grant should increase the productivity and impact of research in eligible projects of the Core users, and should create a collaborative environment to increase scientific interactions. A strong research base of funded projects is an eligibility requirement and a major factor in obtaining an NEI Center Core Grant award.

 

NEI-supported Center Cores should consist of discrete units or Cores, each devoted to a specific activity that would be impractical or less efficient to support on an individual research project grant.  The purpose of each Core is to support a resource or service that enhances or facilitates the research efforts of a group of independent investigators, each having NEI funding. Cores may involve the purchase and maintenance of shared instruments. Sharing of NEI Center Core Grant resources and services with other NIH-funded collaborators and with investigators new to vision research is encouraged.

The Administrative Core: supports the overall management of the Center Core which includes an organizational structure sufficient to coordinate and integrate the activities of the Resource and Service Cores, and to determine the distribution and utilization of funds.

The Resource Cores: facilitate the production of materials for research, or support the purchase, maintenance, and technical support of shared equipment. Examples may include, but are not limited to: confocal microscopy, electron microscopy, tissue and cell culture services, genotyping, microarray analysis, mass spectrometry, high throughput sequencing, database management, hybridoma production, laboratory animal resources, image analysis, and brain and eye imaging. Resource Cores may also help support computer experts, biostatisticians, and other individuals who can assist or collaborate with participating investigators in conducting vision research.

The Service Cores: support essential laboratory or technical services provided by one or more highly skilled persons. Examples of this type of core include, but are not limited to an electronics shop, a machine shop, and photography services.

Studies involving human subjects are not allowed. However, Core resources and services can be accessed for secondary studies that use human specimens, cell lines, or data provided that these have been stripped of identifiers and appropriate approvals have been obtained through the individual research grants that support collection of human subject material.

 

Eligibility

The applicant institution must have 8 or more eligible grants. Eligible grants are defined as active NEI-supported R01s. Grant applications in administrative extensions, with or without additional funds, are not eligible. Administrative supplements, revisions, and sub-contracts cannot be counted toward eligibility.

Review Criteria

Significance: Does the Center Core address an important problem or a critical barrier to progress in the field? Is the prior research that serves as the key support for the proposed project rigorous?  If the aims of the Center Core are achieved, how will scientific knowledge, technical capability, and/or clinical practice be improved? How will successful completion of the aims change the concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions that drive this field? Does the Center Core provide resources and/or services to meet the scientific needs of the research base? Will the Center Core be used by multiple investigators? What is the likelihood that the Center Core will increase efficiency, accelerate progress, and promote new research directions and scientific collaborations among the Senior Persons and other users? 

 

Investigator(s): Are the PD(s)/PI(s), collaborators, and other researchers well suited to the project? If Early Stage Investigators or those in the early stages of independent careers, do they have appropriate experience and training? If established, have they demonstrated an ongoing record of accomplishments that have advanced their field(s)? If the project is collaborative or multi-PD/PI, do the investigators have complementary and integrated expertise; are their leadership approach, governance and organizational structure appropriate for the project?   

 

Innovation: Does the application challenge and seek to shift current research or clinical practice paradigms by utilizing novel theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions? Are the concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions novel to one field of research or novel in a broad sense? Is a refinement, improvement, or new application of theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions proposed? Does the Center Core use innovative ways to communicate or integrate activities among the Resource/Service Cores, or across basic and clinical research? Are there innovative methods for allocating resources or promoting new cross-departmental or multi-disciplinary collaborations?    

 

Approach: Are the overall strategy, methodology, and analyses well-reasoned and appropriate to accomplish the specific aims of the Center Core? Have investigators included plans to address weaknesses in the rigor of prior research that serves as the key support for the proposed project? Have the investigators presented strategies to ensure a robust and unbiased approach, as appropriate for the work proposed?  Are potential problems, alternative strategies, and benchmarks for success presented? If the project is in the early stages of development, will the strategy establish feasibility and will particularly risky aspects be managed? Have the investigators presented adequate plans to address relevant biological variables, such as sex, for studies in vertebrate animals or human subjects? If the Center Core involves human subjects and/or NIH-defined clinical research, are the plans to address: 

1) the protection of human subjects from research risks, and

2) inclusion (or exclusion) of individuals on the basis of sex/gender, race, and ethnicity, as well as the inclusion or exclusion of individuals of all ages (including children and older adults), justified in terms of the scientific goals and research strategy proposed?

Are there plans to establish and maintain communication and cooperation among Senior Persons and other users? Are there adequate management plans for the Research and Service Cores, including implementation, allocation, NEI-R01 grantee user prioritization, quality control, and utilization of the Cores? How well does the management plan address accountability, flow of authority, dispute resolution, evaluation and integration with the institution’s fiscal and academic administrations?

 

Environment: Will the scientific environment in which the work will be done contribute to the probability of success? Are the institutional support, equipment and other physical resources available to the investigators adequate for the project proposed? Will the project benefit from unique features of the scientific environment, subject populations, or collaborative arrangements?    

Additional Information

Full Solicitation: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-20-051.html

 

For additional information, please contact the Limited Submissions Team with questions at Limited_Submission@unc.edu.

 

 

 

Limited Submissions Team

Office of Research Development

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill