The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is pleased to announce the second round of the New Connections Initiative: Bringing Diversity to RWJF Grantmaking and Increasing Secondary Data Analyses. This three-year program is designed to expand the diversity of perspectives that inform RWJF programming and introduce new researchers and scholars to the Foundation.

The New Connections Initiative seeks scholars who have historically been underrepresented in research activities supported by RWJF. This includes people from ethnic or racial minority groups, first-generation college graduates and people from low-income communities.

The New Connections Initiative will support research activities that address specific questions identified by RWJF programming teams. This second round will consider questions from six teams:

• Human Capital
• Pioneer
• Public Health
• Quality/Equality
• Vulnerable Populations and
• Healthy Eating Research. (Available December 8, 2006)

Applicants can find a complete list of questions from these teams at the program website www.rwjf-newconnections.org. The New Connections Initiative will provide funding for up to 12 awards per year. All funding is expected to last one year. Senior Consultants are eligible to receive up to $50,000 in either contracts or grants. Junior Investigators are eligible for grants only of up to $55,000, including funding for a consultant and methodological training. All funding for the Junior Investigators will be made to their home institution. This program will not support research outside of Foundation-identified questions and projects.

Brief proposals for this round of the New Connections Initiative are due no later than Wednesday, December 28, 2006 at 3:00 pm EST.

Proposals must be submitted online via the RWJF Grantmaking Online system at http://grantmaking.rwjf.org/nci2. If you have any questions regarding the proposal process or the program, please direct them to Nicholas Pelzer at 609-627-5769 or rwjf-newconnections@rwjf.org.