The consequences of excessive and underage drinking affect virtually all college campuses and college students, whether they choose to drink or not. Drunk driving, unsafe sex, and vandalism are among the serious alcohol-related problems that can plague a college campus.
In 1999, NIAAA formed the Task Force on College Drinking. Their work culminated with a report in April 2002, “A Call to Action: Changing the Culture of Drinking at U.S. Colleges.”
In December, 2002, NIAAA issued a Request for Applications (RFA): “Research Partnership Awards for Rapid Response to College Drinking Problems.” This RFA was aimed at established alcohol research scientists who have expertise in college drinking research and who will serve as a resource for college and university administrators.
Discussion
A companion solicitation to the RFA -- Program Announcement PAR-03-133, “Rapid Response to College Drinking Problems” -- was issued by NIAAA in June 2003
This PA provides a rapid funding mechanism for timely research on interventions to prevent or reduce alcohol-related problems among college students. It supports rapidly-developed, high-quality studies of services or interventions that can capitalize on natural experiments (e.g., unanticipated adverse events, policy changes, new media campaigns, campus-community coalitions, etc.)
Key feature of the PA: each awardee is partnering with an awardee under the RFA. Together, these pairs are working with NIAAA to form individual Steering Committees that are collaboratively developing study protocols.
This PA uses the NIH U18 award mechanism (“cooperative agreement”), which provides for up to $200,000 in direct costs per year. The total project period may not exceed 3 years.