Grants for Research and School Partnerships (GRASP)

FROM THE OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT FOR RESEARCH AFFAIRS

• Request for applications
• Deadlines
• Criteria for Evaluation
• Principal Investigator Requirements
• Eligibility for Previous GRASP Recipients
• Application Format
• Final Reports
• Application Process
• Contacts
• Previous Awardees

GRASP Request for Applications

• Letter of Intent (LOI)

2025 Notice of Funding Opportunity

• GRASP
• GRASP-MC
• GRASP-FMG
• GRASP-International
• PI Upload Instructions

Deadlines

GRASP, GRASP-MC, GRASP-FMG, GRASP-Intl

Pre Proposal, New Applications and Resubmissions:

• Pre-proposals/LOI (Letter of Intent) must be submitted no later than Monday, July 8, 2024 - 5:00 PM
• New application due date (invitation only): Monday, August 12, 2024 - 5:00 PM
• Earliest start date: January 2025

Criteria for Evaluation

Awards will be based primarily on scientific merit, including significance, innovation, originality of approach, technical merit, and consistency with institutional interests and goals. The quality of co-PI collaboration, the PI leadership plan, justification of the budget, and potential for future funding will also be considered. Inclusion of preliminary data supporting the proposed study is recommended. In the absence of preliminary data, strong literature support for the planned study is required. The focus will be on funding high-impact, paradigm-shifting, innovative projects.  Consequently, the application must clearly describe the potential impact of the project on the field and highlight its innovative elements.  Applications are expected to appropriately address issues of rigor and reproducibility Proposals will be reviewed by a panel of reviewers selected to include those with extramural funding and service on federal grant review panels. A subset of the panel with expertise in social, behavioral and qualitative research may review applications focused on such studies. To the extent that it can be maintained in the review process, applications will be kept confidential, but the abstracts of funded projects will be published.

Principal Investigator Requirements

• GRASP: two faculty co-Principal Investigators from different schools on the LLU campus.
• GRASP-FMG: two co-Principal Investigators. One co-PI must be an LLU faculty member. The second co-PI must be a non-MD healthcare provider or specialist with an advanced degree in a healthcare specialty and an employee of LLU-FMG.
• GRASP-MC: two co-Principal Investigators. One co-PI must be an LLU faculty member. The second co-PI must be a non-MD health care provider or specialist with an advanced degree in a health care specialty and an employee of LLUMC.
• GRASP-Intl: two co-Principal Investigators. One co-PI must be an LLUH faculty member. The second co-PI must be a professional with a post-baccalaureate degree and employed by an international SDA hospital, medical center, college or university.

Eligibility for Previous GRASP Recipients

(One page for each previous GRASP awardee, to be submitted with LOI form): If one or both of the applicants is a previous GRASP recipient, provide the following for each previous GRASP award.

• Published papers:
  • Provide citations for one or more articles that were published or accepted subsequent to the previous GRASP award and that acknowledge GRASP funding support from LLU.
  • Provide a PDF of or hyperlink to the article(s).
• Extramural grant applications:
  • LLeRA number
  • Principal Investigator
  • Title
  • Sponsor name
  • Date of submission
  • Amount
  • Current status (i.e., funded, pending, scored, not discussed, etc.)

Application Format

Text must be 11 point or larger with six lines per inch and margins of at least one-half inch. The sections identified below may not exceed their indicated page limits. Headers, footers, and appendices are not allowed. The following sections are expected:

Title Page (one page): Include the title of the project, names of both principal investigators, their contact information (including institutional e-mail, phone numbers, WhatsAPP Id, Skype Id, Zoom Id, name of department or center), a list of all key personnel involved in the project, and total dollars requested.

Abstract & Key Words (up to 30 lines of text): The project summary/abstract is a succinct and accurate description of the proposed work and should be able to stand on its own (separate from the application). This section should be informative to other persons working in the same related fields and understandable to a scientifically literate reader. Please be concise. State the applications broad, longterm objectives and specific aims, making reference to the health-relatedness of the project. Describe the research design and methods for achieving the stated goals. Be sure that the project summary reflects the key focus of the proposed project....... Four to six keywords are required to identify the general area of research and the principal elements of the study.

Biographical Sketches (up to five pages per investigator): Provide NIH style biosketches of the co-Principal Investigators and key personnel (Other Significant Contributors) in the format provided link (see the Biographical Sketch Format Page and Biographical Sketch Sample at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms/biosketch.htm).

Budget (template generated in LLeRA):  Design a complete budget for up to 24 months of support. Identify amounts for each co-PI, expenditures for salaries, supplies, and miscellaneous costs. Only non-faculty salaries and wages are permitted, however, co-PIs are expected to commit a minimum of 10% effort to the project. GRASP awards may not be used for equipment costing $5,000 or more, travel expenses, or indirect costs. The total budget may not exceed $75,000 with neither co-PI allocated more than $45,000. Consult with a Pre Award team member (ext. 44571 or 909-558-3911).

Budget Justification (one page): Indicate the purpose of supplies, support personnel, and other costs.

Research Plan (6 Pages):

Provide information for the five subsections described below:

1. Introduction to Revised Application (one page, required only for revised applications): Summarize the substantial additions, deletions and changes to your application. In addition, concisely address each of the concerns raised by the previous reviewers.
2. Specific Aims (one page):  “State concisely the goals of the proposed research and summarize the expected outcome(s), including the impact that the results of the proposed research will exert on the research field(s) involved.  List succinctly the specific objectives of the research proposed.” (Text taken from NIH instructions)
3. Leadership Plan (one page):  Both PIs must make major contributions to the project with each individual taking responsibility for approximately half of the study activities.  Indicate the scope of work for each PI.  State how the PIs will coordinate their activities, resolve problems, and allocate responsibilities for management and reporting.
4. Future Directions (one page): Describe the background leading to the present application. State the significance and usefulness of the proposed research to unsolved problems in science, health care, public health, society, the environment, industry, agriculture, etc.
5. Research Strategy (limited to 6 pages):  A total of six pages are allowed for the subsections of Significance, Innovation, and Approach.  Suggested allocations of this space for those three subsections are noted below. (Text taken from NIH instructions)
   • Significance (suggested length, ½ page):  “Explain the importance of the problem or critical barrier to progress in the field that the proposed project addresses.  Explain how the proposed project will improve scientific knowledge, technical capacity, and/or clinical practice in one or more broad fields.  Describe how the concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions that drive this field will be changed if the proposed aims are achieved.” 
   • Innovation (suggested length, ½ page):  “Explain how the application challenges and seeks to shift current research or clinical practice paradigms.  Describe any novel theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation or interventions to be developed or used, and any advantage over existing methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions.  Explain any refinements, improvements, or new applications of theoretical concepts, approaches or methodologies, instrumentation, or interventions.”
   • Approach (suggested length, 5 pages):  “Describe the overall strategy, methodology, and analyses to be used to accomplish the specific aims of the project. . . Include how the data will be collected, analyzed, and interpreted as well as any resource sharing plans, as appropriate.  Discuss potential problems, alternative strategies, and benchmarks for success anticipated to achieve the aims.  If the project is in the early stages of development, describe any strategy to establish feasibility, and address the management of high risk aspects of the proposed work.  Point out any procedures, situations, or materials that may be hazardous to personnel and precautions to be exercised.”
   • Leadership Plan (one page): Both PIs must make major contributions to the project. Indicate the individual research assignments of the PIs. State how the PIs will coordinate their activities, resolve problems, and allocate responsibilities for management and reporting.
   • Future Directions (one page): Briefly describe the future directions to be taken with this project, assuming that this initial phase is successful. For example, describe grants or industry funding to be applied for and how the preliminary data obtained in this first phase will enhance those applications. Also, if this pilot data will allow design of a larger study, describe briefly the anticipated study design for this larger study.
6. References: Include references that demonstrate the need for this research, establish feasibility for hypotheses and procedures, and provide support for the approach.  Include titles and authors.
7. Letters of Support: Letters of support from key personnel and consultants are encouraged.
8. Compliance: When the proposal involves human embryonic stem cells, ionizing radiation, laboratory animals, human subjects, or other elements that requires approval by an oversight committee, integrate the descriptions into the Research Strategy section. If the proposal is awarded, separate applications must be made to the appropriate oversight committee before the work can begin, e.g., Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), Institutional Review Board (IRB), Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC), Stem Cell Research Oversight Committee (SCRO).
9. Final Report: Extensions of the project period will follow NIH guidance. Within 60 days of the end of the project
   period, a final report is due. It should include accomplishments, significant results, manuscripts prepared for publication, and plans for extramural grant applications. Contact Post Award for information, ext 44589.
10. Resubmission Applications: By invitation only
    • All resubmission applications must include: Introduction to Revised Application (one page, required only for revised applications): Summarize the substantial additions, deletions and changes to your application. In addition, concisely address each of the concerns raised by the previous reviewers.

Pre Proposal and Full Application Process:

A Pre Proposal must be accompanied with a pre proposal face page including the signatures of both PIs – submit it to Cindy Dickson (cdickson@llu.edu) or fax (909-558-0244) by 5 PM on the pre proposal deadline. International GRASP direct all inquiries to Wesley James, wjames@llu.edu. If selected an invite to submit a full application will be sent via email. Instructions for both the pre proposal and full application are in the RFA.

Contacts:

• Scientific Merit: Michael Samardzija, ext. 88544
• Eligibility Information:  Cindy Dickson, ext. 44571
• General Technical and Application Guidance: Pre Award, ext. 55160
• Budget Development: Pre Award, ext. 55160
• Award Management: Post Award, ext. 44589

Previous Awardees