Note: This announcement has been superceded and is maintained for
archival purposes only. Select for the current Small
Research Grant Program announcement.
NIH Guide, Volume 25, Number 5, February 23, 1996
Program Announcement
PA NUMBER: PAR-96-028
PT: 34; K.W. 0730050, 1014006
Keywords:
Health Services Delivery
Grants Administration/Policy
Application Receipt Dates: Ongoing Announcement
Agency for Health Care Policy and Research
Purpose
The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) was established to
improve the quality, appropriateness, and effectiveness of health care services
and access to these services.
These purposes are achieved by supporting research and by promoting
improvements in clinical practice and in the organization, financing, and
delivery of health care services.
AHCPR announces a program of small grants, designed to take advantage of
time-dependent opportunities; reduce the costs of developing applications for
small research projects, including demonstrations and evaluations; and shorten
the time and burden of the review process.
Applicants should review the notice of Program Emphases for the AHCPR Small
Project Grant Program before submitting a grant application.
This announcement replaces the printed grant announcement (AHCPR Publication
No. 96-R051) that was published in March 1996.
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. AHCPR urges applicants to submit
grant applications with relevance to the specific objectives of this initiative.
Potential applicants may obtain a copy of "Healthy People 2000" (Full
Report: Stock No. 017-001-00474-0 or Summary Report: Stock No. 017-001-00473-1)
from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington, DC
20402-9325, telephone: 202/512-1800.
Eligibility Requirements
Applications may be submitted by domestic, nonprofit organizations, public
and private, including universities, clinics, units of State and local
governments, nonprofit firms, and nonprofit foundations.
AHCPR encourages women, members of minority groups, persons with
disabilities, and new investigators to apply as Principal Investigator.
Projects can be self-contained or part of a larger effort. However, projects
presented as subcomponents of a larger effort must be sufficiently distinct to
be reviewed and evaluated on their own merits.
The aims of the proposed project must be distinctly different from those of
any pending grant application or funded research project submitted by the
Principal Investigator. The request may not be used to supplement currently
supported projects, provide interim support for projects under review by the
PHS, or obtain funding as a competing continuation of a small grant. Requests
for support for dissertation research will not be considered under this small
grant program. Applications to support dissertations should be submitted for
consideration under the AHCPR Small Grant Program for Health Services
Dissertation Research.
Mechanism of Support
The Program Announcement (PA) will use the small research grant (R03)
mechanism. Responsibility for the planning, direction, and execution of the
proposed project will be solely that of the proposed Principal Investigator. The
total direct costs must not exceed $50,000 for the entire project period. An
application that requests more than this amount will be returned to the
applicant. Support will normally not exceed 24 months.
Research Objectives
Background
The Agency for Health Care Policy and Research (AHCPR) was established by
Congress in 1989 to improve the quality, appropriateness, and effectiveness of
health care services and access to such services. Title IX of the Public Health
Service (PHS) Act gives AHCPR flexibility in review procedures for awarding
grants with direct costs of $50,000 or less. Such grants are called "small
grants." AHCPR uses the small grant authority to support three kinds of
activities: conferences, doctoral dissertations, and small project grants
(including research, demonstrations, and evaluations).
Purpose and Scope of Activity
This program announcement describes the AHCPR Small Project Grant Program,
which provides support for focused research projects, developmental studies, and
high-risk projects. These projects include: research, evaluation,
demonstrations, and pilot studies.
The AHCPR is also interested in projects that involve collaborative efforts
between medical and public health organizations.
Focused Research Projects
Projects can be descriptive or involve the testing of hypotheses. Projects
must be discrete; that is, only projects that can be completed within the
budgetary and time constraints imposed by the small grant program are eligible
for support. Other projects can include: opportunistic, quantitative analysis of
existing secondary data; policy research; evaluations of demonstrations or
programs; case studies; historical, legal, or ethical analysis; or primary data
collection and analysis.
Developmental Studies
Developmental projects can involve feasibility studies or pilot projects.
They can also include formative or exploratory activities such as construction
or modification of a survey instrument, research to test the design of a
large-scale study, and collection and analysis of quantitative or qualitative
information for the purpose of hypotheses generation.
High-Risk Projects
High-risk projects involve the study of a novel issue or problem or the
application of a novel methodological approach. These projects might employ
techniques or theories from other fields, not traditionally linked to health
services research. Such projects have the potential for providing new insights
into methodological or substantive issues. Because these projects may be
groundbreaking, there is also a greater probability that they may not achieve
the desired or planned outcome.
Inclusion of Women and Minorities in Research Study Populations Involving
Human Subjects
It is the policy of AHCPR that women and members of minority groups be
included in all AHCPR-supported research projects involving human subjects,
unless a clear and compelling rationale and justification are provided that
inclusion is inappropriate with respect to the health of the subjects or the
purpose of the research.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) policy resulting from the NIH
Revitalization Act of 1993 (Section 492B of Public Law 103-43) supersedes and
strengthens NIH's previous policies (Concerning the Inclusion of Women in Study
Populations, and Concerning the Inclusion of Minorities in Study Populations),
which were in effect since 1990 and which AHCPR had adopted. The new NIH policy
contains provisions that are substantially different from the 1990 policies. All
investigators proposing research involving human subjects should read the NIH
Guidelines on the Inclusion of Women and Minorities as Subjects in Clinical
Research, which was published in the Federal Register on March 28, 1994
(FR 59 14508-14513), and printed in the NIH Guide for Grants and
Contracts on March 11, 1994, Volume 23, Number 10. AHCPR follows the revised
NIH Guidelines, as applicable.
Applicants may obtain copies of the guidelines from the sources listed above
or from the AHCPR Publications Clearinghouse, listed under "Application Procedures." AHCPR program staff may also provide information concerning
this policy (select "Inquiries").
Application Procedures
There are no set deadlines for submission of the Small Project Grant Program
applications; rather, they are accepted on an ongoing basis.
The research grant application, Form PHS 398 (rev. 5/95), is to be used when
applying for these grants. State and local government agencies may use
Application for Federal Assistance, Form PHS 5161-1 (rev. 9/92), and follow
these submission requirements for copy submission.
Application kits are available at most institutional offices of sponsored
research and may be obtained from:
Division of Extramural Outreach and Information Resources
Office of
Extramural Research
National Institutes of Health
6701 Rockledge Drive,
MSC 7910
Bethesda, MD 20892-7910
Telephone: (301) 435-0714
email:
asknih@od.nih.gov
For AHCPR support, applicants should obtain application kits and materials
from:
AHCPR Publications Clearinghouse
P.O. Box 8547
Silver Spring, MD
20907-8547
Telephone: 800-358-9295
TDD service: 888-586-6340
Mark the "Yes" box and enter "Small Project Grant Program" in Section 2 on
the face page of the application.
Applicants must follow the specific instructions in the research grant
application, Form PHS 398 (rev. 5/95) when preparing the application, with the
following changes:
The section entitled "Research Plan" must not exceed 15 pages in length.
Applicants determine the appropriate length of the areas that must be addressed
in the "Research Plan," but the statement must not exceed the 15 page limit.
In listing references, only literature immediately relevant to the
application may be cited. The reference list is not counted as part of the 15
pages.
No appendices should be included with the application except for survey
instruments. These should be attached if they are judged to be crucial for the
review of the project. The instruments will not count as part of the 15
pages.
Submit a signed and typewritten original of the grant application, Form PHS
398 (rev. 5/95), including the checklist and five signed photocopies (in one
package) to:
Small Grants: Research Projects
Agency for Health Care Policy and
Research
2101 East Jefferson Street, Suite 400
Rockville, MD
20852-4908
This announcement pertains only to applications for grants of $50,000 or less
in total direct costs. Applications requesting support in excess of $50,000 in
total direct costs must be completed in accordance with instructions in the Form
PHS 398 (rev. 5/95) and sent to the following address:
Center for Scientific Review
National Institutes of Health
6701
Rockledge Drive, Room 1040, MSC 7710
Bethesda, MD 20892-7710
Bethesda, MD
20817 (for express/courier service)
Review Considerations
Upon receipt, applications will be reviewed for completeness and relevance to
the AHCPR mission by staff. Incomplete applications and applications proposing
research in areas outside the mission of the Agency will be returned to the
applicant without further consideration.
AHCPR Small Project Grant Program applications are reviewed typically by
three experts. AHCPR selects reviewers on the basis of knowledge and expertise
in areas germane to the application. Federal reviewers may be used when the
expertise of a Federal employee is consistent with the science and topic of an
application.
The reviewers' assessment of technical merit is only one of the factors taken
into account by AHCPR when funding decisions are made.
Statements summarizing the review of applications recommended for approval
are prepared by AHCPR staff. These statements are used by the Agency in making
funding decisions and are sent to the applicant.
For applications that are to be given no further consideration, only minor
editing of the reviewer comments is provided before the information is sent to
the applicant. Summary statements are usually completed within 8 weeks after
receipt of applications.
Applications not selected for funding under AHCPR's Small Project Grant
Program cannot be resubmitted. At AHCPR's discretion, efforts may be made to
resolve problems in applications that hold real promise.
Applicants should not assume on the basis of efforts to resolve these
problems that AHCPR is committed to making an award.
Review Criteria
The review criteria for AHCPR grant applications are:
- Significance and originality of the project.
- Organization of the project.
- Qualifications and experience of the investigators.
- Appropriateness of approach, methods, and data.
- Availability of data, when appropriate.
- Adequacy of facilities and resources for the project.
- Human subjects involvement and protection (when appropriate).
- Representation of women and minorities (when appropriate).
- Appropriateness of the budget, including other sources of funding.
Award Criteria
AHCPR sets aside funding each fiscal year for the Small Project Grant
Program. The amount of the set aside is dependent upon the availability of
funds.
In making funding decisions for small grants, the reviewers' assessment of
technical merit is important, but this alone does not determine what will be
funded. AHCPR takes into account additional factors in making decisions. These
include the focus of the project, potential significance of the study, and the
overall contributions the project will make to the field of health services
research.
Special consideration is also given to new investigators.
The earliest possible date of award is 3 months after the receipt of the
application by AHCPR.
Special Requirements
Allowable Costs and Nonallowable Costs
Expenses allowed under the AHCPR Small Project Grant Program follow the
guidelines described in the Application for a Public Health Service Grant (Form
PHS 398; rev. 5/95) with some exceptions.
Direct Cost Expenditures
Equipment. Small grant projects may not use grant funds for the
purchase of equipment.
Supplies. Grant funds may be used for the purchase of supplies up to a
limit of $1,000. These supplies must be received and used during the project
period.
Federal Employees. Grant funds may not be used to cover the cost of
travel or any payment to a Federal employee.
Alterations and Renovations. Grant funds may not be used to support
facility alteration or renovations of any kind.
Indirect Cost Expenditures
Indirect costs are allowable and will depend on the institution's IDC rate.
This cost is the most recent rate established with the appropriate Federal
cognizant agency.
Conditions of Acceptance of Award
To receive an award, applicants must agree to submit an original and 2 copies
of an abstract, executive summary, and full report of the research results in
the format prescribed by AHCPR no later than 90 days after the end of the
project period. The executive summary should be sent at the same time on a
computer disk which specifies on the label the format used (WP5.1 or WP6.0 is
preferable).
Applicants must also agree to notify AHCPR when a manuscript based on
research supported by the grant is accepted for publication and the expected
date of publication.
Applicants must agree, as well, to notify AHCPR of any plans to publish or
otherwise release significant findings from the project supported by the
grant.
Inquiries
AHCPR welcomes the opportunity to clarify any issues or questions from
potential applicants. Written and telephone inquiries concerning this
announcement are encouraged. The following contacts may provide further guidance
for specific program areas:
Primary Care, Access, and Public Health
Kelly Morgan
Telephone:
(301) 427-1570
Outcomes and Effectiveness Research
Joanne Book
Telephone: (301)
427-1488
Cost, Financing, and Market Forces
Steven B. Cohen,
Ph.D.
Telephone: (301) 427-1406
Organization and Delivery
Irene Fraser, Ph.D.
Telephone: (301)
427-1410
Information Dissemination
Christine G. Williams
Telephone: (301)
427-1360
Computerized Health Information Systems and Standards
J. Michael
Fitzmaurice
Telephone: (301) 427-1227
Fiscal Matters
Mable L. Lam
Telephone: (301) 427-1448
Authority and Regulations
This program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance,
Numbers 93.180 and 93.226. Awards are made under authorization of Title IX of
the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 299-299c-6) and Section 1142 of the
Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1320b-12). Awards are administered under HHS and
PHS grant policies and Federal regulations 42 CFR 67, Subpart A; and 45 CFR,
Parts 74 and 92. This program is not subject to the intergovernmental review
requirements of Executive Order 12372 or to the Public Health System Reporting
Requirements in PHS Circular 93.01.
The Public Health Service strongly encourages all grant and contract
recipients to provide a smoke-free workplace and promote the nonuse 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.
Current as of October 1999
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