Grant Guidelines

Center for Excellence in Children’s Nutrition Small Research Grants
Sponsored by Mead Johnson & Company

I. Purpose

The primary objective of these grants is to support the development of research in nutrition with a focus on children ages 1-6. Eligible projects may be biomedical, epidemiological, behavioral or clinical. They may include laboratory or non-laboratory research projects that focus on nutrition in growing children. Also, projects may focus on inpatient or outpatient studies or on epidemiological or community-based research that is social or behavioral in nature. These awards are intended to provide funding for initial pilot studies that will lead to grant funding for larger studies and/or published work.

II. Funding

We will award one grant for a period of one year, in an amount of up to $20,000 in direct costs. The funding cycle for this grant will be November 1, 2009 to October 31, 2010. Expenditures may begin at any time after the start date, but the award must be expended within the dates given at the time of its dispensation.

III. Eligibility

Only faculty members from UNC-Chapel Hill are eligible to apply.

IV. Application Procedure

PART 1: Letter of Intent
Please submit a Letter of Intent and an NIH-style Biosketch. The deadline for receipt of Letters of Intent and Biosketches is September 1, 2009. The letter should include your hypothesis and the questions you wish to ask. It should also provide a brief overview of the nature, significance to nutrition of growing children, and experimental approach of the proposed research. Tell us if you consider the data your research will generate to be pilot data or if it will answer your major question; what you will do with the pilot data generated; and where this research will lead. Also, include the estimated total project cost. Letters of Intent are limited to one page. Letters should be e-mailed to Dr. Steven Zeisel.

A Review Committee will evaluate Letters of Intent and notify all applicants. Selected applicants will be asked to submit a full proposal.

PART 2: Proposal
If your Letter of Intent is selected, the full proposal and required documentation should be e-mailed to Dr. Steven Zeisel.

1. Applications must be received by Friday, October 9, 2009. A complete application should include: cover sheet, text, budget, budget justification, Biosketch and Other Support, and abstract (see #2-7 below). An electronic copy of the proposal and abstracts should be e-mailed to Dr. Steven Zeisel.
2. A link to the required Cover Sheet can be found below.
3. The main text of the application is limited to 5 pages (single-spaced). The cover sheet, human subjects, references, budget, budget justification, abstract, and appendices are not included in the 5-page limit. Reviewers may not read appendices, so please make sure that your application is interpretable without appendices.
4. The text should follow the NIH PHS398 format: specific aims, background and significance, previous studies, research plan, human subjects, vertebrate animals, collaborators, and references. Limit the space given to specific aims, background, significance, and previous studies. The majority of the proposal should be devoted to the research plan. Use at least one-inch margins; and the font should be either 12-point Times New Roman or 11-point Arial.
5. Use “Form Page 4: Detailed Budget for Initial Budget Period” from the NIH PHS398 application to present your one-year budget. The accompanying justification should be sufficiently detailed so that reviewers can assess whether the proper resources have been requested. Inadequate justification may result in lower scores and/or lower funding. Note that applicants can request up to $20,000 in direct costs for one year only (negotiated indirect cost rate is 26%). The template for budget pages is available by clicking here.
6. Applicant must submit an NIH-style Biosketch and Other Support page (containing funding amount and project effort for all funded research). If the investigator has received other grant support for the proposed research or similar research in the past, please include relevant funding information. Templates for Biosketch and Other Support are available here. Biosketches for co-investigators are appropriate.
7. Applicant must submit a scientific abstract that summarizes your proposal for review committee members no longer than half (1/2) a page long.
8. Click here for a pdf of the application cover sheet.
9. Click here for a pdf of the review procedures and regulations.