PAR-00-022: MBRS INITIATIVE FOR MINORITY STUDENT DEVELOPMENT (IMSD)

Department of Health
and Human Services (HHS)

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MBRS INITIATIVE FOR MINORITY STUDENT DEVELOPMENT (IMSD) Release Date: December 9, 1999 PA NUMBER: PAR-00-022 (This PA has been reissued, see PAR-05-132) National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS) Application Receipt Date: February 1 PURPOSE The Initiative for Minority Student Development (IMSD) encourages the development and/or expansion of innovative programs to improve the academic and research competitiveness of underrepresented minority students and to facilitate their progress toward careers in biomedical research. The application may be directed toward the development of underrepresented minority scientists who are in any phase of their career development, from the undergraduate level through the Ph.D. Applications proposing to develop the competitive research skills of medical students and post-clinical doctoral students (e.g. recent clinical doctorates with M.D., M.D./Ph.D., D.V.M., or D.D.S degrees) are also permissible. Programs developed under this initiative must be specifically designed to target underrepresented minority students majoring in the biomedical and behavioral sciences or in medical, dental, or veterinary training who are interested in pursuing research careers. For the purposes of this program announcement, underrepresented minority students are individuals belonging to a particular ethnic or racial group that has been determined by the applicant institution to be underrepresented in biomedical or behavioral research. Nationally, individuals who have been found to be underrepresented in biomedical or behavioral research include, but are not limited to, United States citizens who are African Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans and Natives of the U.S. Pacific Islands. The term "science" is used in this program announcement to mean the natural, physical, and behavioral sciences and mathematics relevant to biomedical research. HEALTHY PEOPLE 2000 The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the health promotion and disease prevention objectives of "Healthy People 2000," a PHS led national activity for setting priority areas. This Program Announcement (PA), MBRS Initiative for Minority Student Development (IMSD)is related to one or more of the priority areas. Potential applicants may obtain a copy of "Healthy People 2000" at http://odphp.osophs.dhhs.gov/pubs/hp2000 ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS The Institution Applications may be submitted by domestic private and public educational institutions. In general, applicant institutions are those with fully developed and funded research programs, since IMSD supports student development and not faculty research. Therefore, institutions holding active MBRS SCORE (Support for Continuous Research Excellence) or RISE (Research Initiative for Scientific Enhancement)grants are not eligible. Students It is the responsibility of the Grantee Institution to monitor the qualifications of students prior to their MBRS participation. A student participating in the MBRS program must be a citizen or a non-citizen national of the United States or have been lawfully admitted for permanent residence. (A non-citizen national is a person who, although not a citizen of the United States, owes permanent allegiance to the U.S. They are generally persons born in lands that are not States, but are under U.S. sovereignty, jurisdiction, or administration, for example American Samoa.) An individual lawfully admitted for permanent residence must possess an alien registration receipt card (I-151) or (I-551) prior to appointment on the grant. Individuals on temporary visas are not eligible for support from the MBRS program. MECHANISM OF SUPPORT Awards under this program will use the institutional education project (R25) grant mechanism. Responsibility for the planning, direction, execution of the programmatic activities, and tracking participants for evaluation of the outcomes of the proposed project will be solely that of the grantee institution. The total project period for an application submitted in response to this program announcement may not exceed four years and is renewable. Indirect costs will be paid at 8% of the direct costs, minus appropriate exclusions. A budget for each year must be provided. OBJECTIVES The objective of the IMSD program is to significantly increase the number of competitive underrepresented minority students entering careers in biomedical research. This objective will be realized by promoting the initiation and development of new programs, as well as the expansion and enhancement of existing programs, that foster an increase in underrepresented minority students in biomedical research careers. NIGMS recognizes the heterogeneity in institutional settings and institutional missions. Therefore, the emphasis of this initiative will be on the institution"s program, as defined by its own goals and specific measurable objectives, to make a substantial contribution to ameliorate the under- representation of minority groups in biomedical research. Some institutions may opt to motivate undergraduate students. Other institutions may be prepared to train graduate students. Still others may wish to motivate and develop the research skills of students in, or recently graduated from, medical schools or other biomedically-relevant professional schools. Applicants should note that evaluation of progress is a necessary component of every MBRS program, this program requires that each institution set its own goals and measurable objectives, identify baseline data, and establish milestones for gauging accomplishment. INCLUSION OF WOMEN AND MINORITIES IN RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS It is the policy of the NIH that women and members of minority groups and their sub-populations must be included in all NIH supported biomedical and behavioral research projects involving human subjects, unless a clear and compelling rationale and justification is provided that inclusion is inappropriate with respect to the health of the subjects or the purpose of the research. This policy results from the NIH Revitalization Act of 1993 (Section 492B of Public Law 103-43). All investigators proposing research involving human subjects should read the "NIH Guidelines For Inclusion of Women and Minorities as Subjects in Clinical Research," which have been published in the Federal Register of March 28, 1994 (FR 59 14508-14513) and in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts, Vol. 23, No. 11, March 18, 1994 available on the web at the following URL address: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/not94-100.html INCLUSION OF CHILDREN AS PARTICIPANTS IN RESEARCH INVOLVING HUMAN SUBJECTS It is the policy of NIH that children (i.e., individuals under the age of 21) must be included in all research involving human subjects conducted or supported by the NIH, unless there are scientific and ethical reasons not to include them. This policy applies to all initial (Type 1) applications submitted for receipt dates after October 1, 1998. All investigators proposing research involving human subjects should read the "NIH Policy and Guidelines on the Inclusion of Children as Participants in Research Involving Human Subjects" that was published in the NIH Guide for Grants and Contracts, March 6, 1998, and is available at the following URL address: http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/not98-024.html Investigators also may obtain copies of these policies from the MBRS program staff listed under INQUIRIES. Program staff may also provide additional relevant information concerning the policy. APPLICATION PROCEDURES Applications are to be submitted using the grant application form PHS 398 (rev. 4/98). Applicants are strongly urged to contact MBRS program staff (listed under INQUIRIES)at an early stage to request the IMSD-specific supplemental instructions for Form PHS 398 and application kit. Application kits are also available at most institutional offices of sponsored research and may be obtained from the Division of Extramural Outreach and Information Resources, National Institutes of Health, 6701 Rockledge Drive, MSC 7910, Bethesda, MD 20892-7910, telephone (301) 435-0714, Email: GrantsInfo@nih.gov. The application is also available at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms.htm An applicant planning to submit a new (Type 1) grant application requesting $500,000 or more in direct costs for any year must contact the Chief, MBRS Branch (see INQUIRIES) before submitting the application, i.e., as plans are being developed. Furthermore, the applicant must obtain agreement that NIGMS will accept the application for consideration for award. Finally, the applicant must identify, in the cover letter that is sent with the application, the staff member who agreed to accept assignment of the application. The policy is available at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/not98-030.html. The title and number of the program announcement must be typed on line 2 of the face page of the application form and the YES box must be marked. Submit an original of the application, including the Checklist, and three photocopies of the signed application in one package to: Center for Scientific Review National Institutes of Health 6701 Rockledge Drive, Room 1040 - MSC 7710 Bethesda, MD 20892 Bethesda, MD 20817 (For Express/Courier Service) Application receipt date is February 1. At the time of submission, two additional copies of the application must also be sent to: Dr. Helen Sunshine, Chief, Office of Scientific Review National Institute of General Medical Sciences Building 45, Room 1 AS.13 45 Center Drive, MSC 6200 Bethesda, Maryland 20892-6200 Applicants are strongly encouraged to contact MBRS program staff at an early stage for assistance and guidance in developing an application UNIFIED PLAN Applicants should describe the other type(s) of support available for the scientific development of underrepresented minority students at their institutions. Applications from academic institutions with funding for student development programs such as, but not limited to, Bridges to the Baccalaureate, Bridges to the Doctorate, National Research Service Award (NRSA) training grants (e.g., NIH pre- and post-doctoral T32 grants or MARC T34 grants), NIH minority supplements, National Science Foundation grants or Howard Hughes Medical Institute grants, should define the relationship between those programs and the IMSD program. EVALUATION Institutions should note that evaluation is a mandatory component of the IMSD program, this program requires that each institution set its own specific goals and measurable objectives. The NIGMS recognizes that educational institutions are diverse in institutional environment and mission. Therefore, the emphasis of the evaluation activities of the MBRS IMSD Program will be on improvement as defined in the specific goals and measurable objectives and milestones that the applicant institution sets for itself. NIGMS is hoping to achieve a significant increase in the numbers of underrepresented minorities going on to biomedical research careers. Therefore, in the progress report in each renewal application, both competing and non- competing, the program director must describe what difference the award has made towards meeting this goal. Applications should include: (1) the overall goals, (2) specific MEASURABLE objectives, 3) baseline data and a plan to evaluate whether the proposed objectives have been met, (4) methods to measure the efficacy of specific interventions, and (5) milestones for gauging intermediate states of accomplishments. APPLICATION CONTENT The MBRS IMSD program is institutional in scope. Its purpose is to encourage the development and/or expansion of innovative programs to improve the academic and research competitiveness of underrepresented minority students at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-clinical doctoral levels and to facilitate their progress toward careers in biomedical research. Therefore, the application layout and organization should reflect the institutional nature of the proposed program and should be presented as an integrated set of developmental activities. In general, the overall goals and specific measurable objectives (including anticipated milestones) should reflect what the institution expects to accomplish as a result of implementing the developmental activities described in the application. The application should propose an integrated program whose component parts, the developmental activities, work together to support the overall goals and objectives of the proposed program. The Overall Application Applicants should describe their proposed program in detail. They should explain how the program will meet their institutional goals and specific measurable objectives and how meeting these institutional goals will fulfill the objectives of this initiative. The applicant should describe the institution"s experience in training its students from underrepresented minority groups in the sciences. In this section applicants should include information for the past four years on the number of minority students enrolled and receiving baccalaureate, masters, or Ph.D. degrees and data on the subsequent careers or education plans of the institution"s underrepresented minority graduates. The application should typically include: o Overall goal and specific measurable objectives, o Overall evaluation plan, including baseline data and milestones for accomplishments o Information on student pool, and a plan for attracting and retaining the desired student pool, o The criteria to be used in the selection of, and steps taken to recruit and retain the student participants in this program, o Credentials of participating teaching and research faculty, o The methods, expertise available, and the criteria to be used for program evaluation. In this context, the institutional data for the previous four years on underrepresented minority student training will serve as a baseline for the specific measurable objectives proposed. Student Development Plan Applicants should provide detailed information on their plans to prepare students for, and participate in, biomedical research. This information includes: o Description of the academic or other related problems (that hinder the student"s progress to a research career) that are being addressed by the proposed activity/intervention, o Goal and specific measurable objectives for the activity, o Detailed description of the proposed activities to ameliorate the identified problem, o Rationale for and feasibility of the approach chosen, o Information on participating faculty and other resources including letters of commitment to mentor/train, and o Evaluation plan. Examples of Student Development Activities Institutional programs must be designed with special attention to the needs and special requirements of underrepresented minority students who are pursuing biomedical research careers. For example, they may include, but are not limited to, the following: o Research opportunities for undergraduate students matriculated at the applicant institution, o Research and learning opportunities at the applicant institution for underrepresented minority undergraduate students who are interested in research careers in biomedical and behavioral sciences, o Research training opportunities in biomedical and related fields for graduate students and medical or other professional students, o Research oriented programs leading to a research career for post-clinical doctoral students, o Research-oriented technical training courses or workshops for graduate students enrolled at the applicant institution, o Research and other training experiences as a prerequisite to enroll in doctoral degree programs, o Training preparatory to effect a career change to biomedical or behavioral research for persons trained in mathematics, computer sciences and other quantitative sciences and o Activities to improve scientific communication skills of IMSD supported students, such as scientific writing, and student travel for presentation of research at scientific meetings. In addition, while routine research support is not allowable, funds may be provided to strengthen the research capabilities of faculty who are uniquely successful in the mentoring of underrepresented minority students or who are critical to the development of an environment supportive of minority students. Mentoring activities. Institutions need to describe new programs or modifications and/or additions to their existing programs that would encourage and facilitate minority students to enter research careers. Request for support of existing efforts and programs related to the objectives of this announcement must be well justified. Allowable Costs The budget request may include the reasonable costs of administering, coordinating, and evaluating the program. Requests for equipment, supplies, travel, and other expenses for program operation should be specifically justified. Salary support for the Program Director is allowable up to 25 percent effort depending upon the magnitude of the proposed activities. Student (undergraduate and graduate) remuneration through salary/wages and/or other forms of compensation paid in lieu of wages for participation in research experiences may be requested, provided the following conditions are met: o The student is performing necessary work. o There is an employer-employee relationship between the student and the institution. o The total compensation is reasonable for the work performed, and o It is the institution"s practice to provide compensation for all students in similar circumstances, regardless of the source of support for the activity. Graduate students are allowed tuition costs as part of a compensation package. When requesting support for a graduate student, the applicant institution should provide in the budget justification section of the application the basis for the compensation level. NIGMS staff will review the requested compensation level and, if it is reasonable and justified, will provide compensation up to a maximum of $26,000 (http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/not98-168.html). Clinical post-doctoral students should be compensated at a rate commensurate with that of other post-doctoral employees at the institution. It is an expectation of NIGMS that students who are enrolled in a Ph.D. program as part of the IMSD program will not be excluded from support from other non- federal or federal graduate training sources, for which they are eligible. Students cannot concurrently hold another federally-sponsored stipend or fellowship or any other federal award that duplicates the IMSD support. However, students may make use of Federal educational loan funds and assistance under the Veterans Readjustment Benefits Act (G.I. Bill), or may receive funds from a Pell Grant, based on financial need. Such funds are not considered supplementation or compensation. Unallowable Costs Undergraduate tuition, housing, food, or recruitment expenses of any kind are not allowable under this program. Support for textbooks, incentives, memberships, and Internet subscriptions are not allowable. Release time for faculty mentoring is not allowable. Support for faculty research is generally not allowable, since faculty mentors are expected to have their own research support and an active research program capable of supporting the development of MBRS students. KEY PERSONNEL The program director is responsible for the overall execution of the program. Unless otherwise stated in the application, the program director will have the overall responsibility for all projects/activities (e.g., mentoring activities, organization of communications skills programs, special methods workshops etc.) and as well as student career tracking plans. The names and qualifications of the program director, the directors of individual projects within the program (where appropriate), and any other key personnel, shall be listed in the application under Key Personnel and their Biographical Sketches should be included. REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS (New and Competitive Renewal Applications) Upon receipt, NIH staff will administratively review applications. Applications that are incomplete and/or do not conform to the guidelines of the PHS Form 398, the IMSD policy, or supplemental instructions will be returned to the applicant without further consideration. After administrative review, applications will be evaluated in accordance with the criteria stated below for scientific and technical merit by appropriate peer review groups. The National Advisory General Medical Sciences Council will provide the second level of review. Review Criteria for the Student Development Plan The anticipated effectiveness of the program in making a difference relative to the current base line data (based on previous experience for new applications or the last four years for competitive renewals) will be assessed, some of the factors considered include o The extent to which the program"s plan may be expected to meet the goals and specific measurable objectives of the applicant institution, as well as those of IMSD initiative, o The rationale for the educational/research activities to increase students interest in research careers, and identification of the specific limitations these activities would ameliorate, o Evidence of the ability to deliver high quality programmatic projects/activities, and o The appropriateness of the applicant"s plan for the evaluation of the impact of the programmatic activities. Review Criteria for the Overall Application o Suitability of overall goal(s) and specific objectives in relation to the applicant institution’s academic strengths, o The availability of significant numbers of underrepresented minority students in the participating science department(s) who are potentially interested in research careers in biomedical and health-related fields, o The past training record of designated preceptors, measured by the success of former trainees of any ethnic group, in establishing independent and productive research careers, o The caliber of the proposed preceptors as researchers, including their successful competition for research support, o Suitability of evaluation plan, including appropriate baseline data and milestones for accomplishments, o The qualifications and experience of the Program Director, faculty and staff to carry out the proposed program, and o Evidence of institutional commitment, and strength of the efforts of the institution, to foster the professional development of underrepresented minority scientists. Other Considerations o The budget and cost-effectiveness of the program, including its appropriateness to the scope of the program, and the number of students involved, AWARD CRITERIA The MBRS program"s mission is to increase significantly the number of underrepresented minorities professionally engaged in biomedical research. Towards this end, priorities for funding will be based on the technical merit of the application, and the likelihood that the applicant institution can further the goals of the MBRS program. Awards will be made only to institutions with financial management systems and management capabilities that are acceptable under NIH policy. Awards will be administered under the NIH Grants Policy Statement. INQUIRIES Written and telephone inquiries are encouraged. The opportunity to clarify any issues or questions from potential applicants is welcome. Questions on the program and its policies should be directed to: Ernest D. Marquez, Ph.D. Chief, MBRS Branch National Institute of General Medical Sciences, NIH Building 45, Suite 2AS.37 45 Center Drive, MSC 6200 Bethesda, Maryland 20892-6200 Telephone: (301) 594-3900 FAX: (301) 480-2753 E-mail: marqueze@nigms.nih.gov Questions on the review of applications should be directed to: Helen R. Sunshine, Ph.D. Chief, Office of Scientific Review National Institute of General Medical Sciences, NIH Building 45, Room 1 AS.13 45 Center Drive, MSC 6200 Bethesda, Maryland 20892-6200 Telephone: (301) 594-2881 FAX: (301) 480-8506 E-mail: sunshinh@nigms.nih.gov Questions on grants management and fiscal matters should be directed to: Antoinette Holland Grants Management Supervisor National Institute of General Medical Sciences, NIH Building 45, Room 2AN.50 45 Center Drive, MSC 6200 Bethesda, Maryland 20892-6200 Telephone: (301) 594-5132 FAX: (301) 480-2554 E-mail: hollanda@nigms.nih.gov AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS This program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance No. 93- 375. Awards are authorized by sections 301 and 405 of the Public Health Service Act, as amended, and administered under PHS grants policies and Federal Regulations 42 CFR part 52c, 45 CFR part 74, and 45 CFR part 92. See also Senate Appropriations Committee Report, No. 92-316, July 29, 1971, Executive Order 12900 , Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans February 22, 1994, and Executive Order 12876, Historically Black Colleges and Universities, November 1, 1993, and Executive Order 13021, October 21, 1996 and Outline of Work Plan, August 18, 1998, White House Initiative on Tribal Colleges and Universities. Applications are not subject to the intergovernmental review requirements of Executive Order 12372 or Health Systems Agency review. The PHS strongly encourages all grant and contract recipients to provide a smoke-free workplace and promote the non-use of all tobacco products. In addition, Public Law 103-227, the Pro-Children Act of 1994, prohibits smoking in certain facilities (or in some cases, any portion of a facility) in which regular or routine education, library, day care, health care or early childhood development services are provided to children. This is consistent with the PHS mission to protect and advance the physical and mental health of the American people.

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