NIH NIGMS' Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) [R25]
WHAT: Limited Submission Proposal for the NIH NIGMS Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) [R25]
WHO: Texas A&M University faculty, including TAES, TEES and TTI personnel.
WHY: Applicants can request support of up to $350,000 in direct costs per year for a maximum of four years.
WHEN: Internal proposal deadline of September 8, 2008.
HOW: Faculty should submit internal proposal via email for review by the internal selection committee.
THE FINE PRINT:
The funding agency, NIH, has limited the number of proposals to one per institution.
BRIEF PROGRAM DESCRIPTION: The NIH NIGMS Postbaccalaureate Research Education Program (PREP) [R25] is designed to encourage individuals from underrepresented groups who have recently obtained their baccalaureate degrees (students graduating no more than 36 months prior to applying to a PREP and are not currently enrolled in a degree program) to complete Ph.D. degrees in biomedically relevant sciences through extensive academic enhancements and research experience. It is the hope of the program that some of the participants might eventually become the scientists who conduct research on cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cancer, arthritis, respiratory diseases, HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, substance abuse and other areas that address reducing health disparities.
PREPs must generate individualized student development plans within the context of a one-year apprenticeship to provide the necessary skills to prepare the students for beginning a Ph.D. program. Eligible institutions may request from five to ten postbaccalaureate positions with a maximum of no more than 10 per year for each year of the grant (i.e., 40 participants for a four-year grant period). The proposed research education program may complement other, ongoing research training and education occurring at the applicant institution, but the proposed educational experiences must be distinct from those research training and research education programs currently receiving federal support.
PREP participants must be able to develop their own hypotheses and design experiments to test these hypotheses. It is expected that at least 75% of PREP participants go onto highly selective Ph.D. programs and that 80% of those students actually obtain the Ph.D. degree. In addition, applicants must include an assessment component that includes specific goals and measurable objectives, indicators to measure success, and measurement of the short- and long-term benefits and/or impacts of the PREP to the participants, faculty mentors, students within the institution, as well as the institution as a whole. The assessment plan must include baseline data and post-PREP follow up of participants.
Applicants can request support of up to $350,000 in direct costs for each year for a maximum of four years. The indirect rate is 8%. The following items are non-allowable costs for the PREP: housing, food or recruitment expenses of any kind; support for faculty research (all faculty preceptors are expected to have their own research support); faculty mentors’ time or effort compensation; cost of workshops or courses with a limited focus of preparation for a specific test (e.g., GRE, MCAT); foreign travel; alterations and renovations; and consortium/contractual arrangements.
More information can be found here.
Internal Selection Procedures and Deadlines
September 5, 2008: Deadline for an email of intent, including the names of the PI and co-PIs, title of internal proposal and a 1-3 sentence description of the project. Send email of intent.
September 8, 2008: Deadline to obtain signatures of approval from your department head and college dean to submit an internal proposal to the Office of Sponsored Projects for review by the internal selection committee. The internal proposal should include:
(1) An executive summary, up to three pages, based on the proposal description as outlined in the NIH program announcement;
(2) Summary budget;
(3) Project and Management Plans (including team members);
The form for completing the internal proposal is here.
This completed form should be submitted electronically for review by the internal selection committee.
*Once your internal proposal has been received with all of the necessary signatures, you will receive an email indicating it will be reviewed by the internal selection committee. If you do not receive the confirmation email, please call 5-1812.*
Please read the RFP carefully for specific requirements of the program here.
Selection of a proposal will be based on NIH guidelines. The needs of the university’s reinvestment plan will also be taken into account.
During the selection process, the internal selection committee may contact departments and colleges for their opinions and commitments. They may also request additional information from PIs.
September 19, 2008: The Internal Selection Committee will notify PIs of the result of the internal competition.
January 22, 2009: Deadline for full proposal.
