APPLICATIONS ARE NOW AVAILABLE FOR THE FALL 2020 PILOT PROJECT FUNDING CYCLE
The Center of Excellence in Environmental Toxicology is currently accepting applications for the following three (3) different types of pilot project opportunities. Applications are due as follows:
Focus Research Awards: Tuesday, December 1, 2020
Mentored Scientist Transition Award: Tuesday, December 1, 2020
Rapid Response Pilot Projects: Monday, December 21, 2020 (NOTE: The Rapid Response applications will be reviewed within two weeks of submission)
Focus Research Awards:
Applications related to the following research areas are currently being accepted:
- Air Pollution and Lung Health
- Environmental Exposures and Cancer
- Windows-of-Susceptibility
- Environmental Neuroscience
- Opportunity Awards – In addition to the four thematic areas mentioned above, applications are also being accepted for opportunity awards which represent environmental health related research on COVID-19
Applicants can request up to $50,000 for one year. No salary support for the faculty member is allowable. Any standing or research faculty from any Penn School may apply.
Mentored Scientist Transition Award
Provides up to $50,000 per year in salary support to allow a senior postdoctoral researcher or clinical fellow establish independence in environmental health sciences.
Two (2) Types of Rapid Response Pilot Projects
- Request to Obtain Needed Preliminary Data – Provides up to $10,000 to obtain needed preliminary data to support a revised grant application to the NIH or other agency
- Community Engagement Rapid Pilot Project – Provides up to $10,000 for a CEET member to work with a community partner on community engaged research
Please see attached applications for more detailed information.
Please email paula.williams@pennmedicine.upenn.edu with any questions.
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See Previous Pilot Project Award Recipients
Pilot Project Schedule
There are four types of pilot project applications:
- Mentored Scientist Transition Award (MSTA)
- Opportunity Award
- Focused Research Awards
- Rapid Response Pilot Projects
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Pilot-Project Eligibility Requirements by Award Type |
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| Mentored Scientist Transition Award | Opportunity Award | Focused Research Awards | Rapid Response Projects |
| Junior Faculty | Any faculty member | Any faculty member | Any faculty member |
| No previous federal grant support | Environmental health related research any field | Responsive to request for applications | Available to obtain urgent preliminary data for a EHS grant application or to respond to a community-based environmental health problem. |
| Mentorship plan | First-time applicant preferred | ||
| Up to $50K per year for up to 2 years | Up to 50K | Varies | 5 – 10K |
There are three Pilot-Project deadlines per year and applicants can apply for any award of their choice.
| Pilot-Project Competition Deadlines | ||
| Deadline | Review | Earliest Award Date |
| April 1 | May | June 1 |
| September 1 | October | November 1 |
| January 1 | February | March 1 |
Application Process
All applicants are asked to submit a 10-page proposal irrespective of the type of award sought. The application must include: (a) Title of the Application; (b) personal information (name, position, title, affiliation, and contact information); (c) two-page NIH biosketch; (d) list of current and pending grant support; (e) an abstract: (f) a statement on how this project may lead to extramural funding in Environmental Health Sciences (EHS); (g) specific aims; (h) significance which must state the relevance to environmental health or toxicological research; (i) preliminary studies; (j) methods; (k) references; and (l) justified budget. The references and budget are not counted towards the page limitation. In addition, each award category has its own additional application requirements that do not count towards the page limitation.
Mentored Scientist Transition Award– The application must contain a letter from a faculty sponsor describing the mentorship plan and time-line to seek independent grant funding. If the junior investigator works in the faculty sponsor’s laboratory, the applicant must provide a copy of the mentor’s Other Support page and NIH biosketch to show that the proposal does not overlap with the sponsor’s funded research and is independent.
Opportunity Award in EHS- No additional information is required. But applications that use the CEET facility Cores: Integrative Health Sciences Facility Core, Translational Biomarker Core, or the CEET Informatics Core will be given strong consideration. In addition proposals that seek to answer an environmental health research question identified by the Community Outreach and Engagement Core are encouraged.
Focus Research Awards– The application must contain a paragraph indicating why it is responsive to the focus award area. Focused areas change based on intramural support from partner Departments, Centers and Institutes. Focused areas in the immediate future will be in epigenetics and Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention. Applicants should contact the Center Administrator to determine which focused areas are being considered for funding in any given cycle.
Rapid Response Pilot Projects – These applications are for any investigator in the Standing Faculty at the University of Pennsylvania who seeks an investment of 5-10K to obtain urgent preliminary data for a EHS grant application or who wish to respond to a community-based environmental health problem. The application must include a Letter of Support from the Director of the CEET Community Engagement Core and the community partner/organization.
Budgets
Mentored Scientist Transition Award (MSTA) applicants can request up to $40K per year for up to two years. All other categories can request up to $50K for a one year period.
