Grant Training Center

We hope that you will find this bi-monthly newsletter beneficial. It is not meant to be exhaustive or complete; rather it is an effort to aid you in your grant-seeking experience. We want to assist you in every step of the way and encourage your efforts. If you are in need of any further information, please write or call us. In the meantime, we would like to let you know that you will be receiving this publication twice a month. Each issue will focus on a different area of funding, including federal, foundation, corporate and individual giving. We trust that this information will enhance your understanding of the myriad of changes that are taking place in grant funding. This should prove to be a rewarding experience in enhancing your ability to submit winning grant proposals.

Mathilda E. Harris, Ph.D.
Director

NIH Announces Changes For Submitting Applications

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has announced that the NIH Peer Review Enhancement Initiative will be greatly changed. This includes many changes affecting application submissions for research grants and cooperative agreements (new, renewal, resubmission, and revision) with due dates on or after January 25, 2010. These changes will impact the structure of applications so that they may better align with review criteria, and will include significantly shorter page limits.

Applicants are advised to follow the following steps: carefully read the new changes and the Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA), download new application forms and read the instructions in great detail. Those submitting after January 25, 2010, should use the new forms. They may be submitted either electronically or in the paper version.

Because NIH current grant applications are among the longest used by funding agencies and foundations worldwide, the page limits will be shortened. This will both reduce some of the administrative burden on applicants, reviewers, and staff, and applicants will be able to focus on the essentials of science, avoiding information overload. A full table of page limits is available at http://enhancing-peer-review.nih.gov/page_limits.html.

For more information on these and other regulation changes, please visit the Enhancing Peer Review Initiative page of the NIH website at www.nih.gov

NEH Granted Funding For 319 Humanities Projects Worldwide

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) has announced $20 million in grant awards and funding for 319 humanities projects worldwide. The funded projects consisted of a broad selection, including projects from traveling exhibitions and educational programs, to research fellowships and faculty research by teachers at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Institutions with High Hispanic Enrollment, and Tribal Colleges and Universities. NEH Chairman Jim Leach stated that the grants that were announced emphasized "the broad spectrum of humanities projects funded by the Endowment. From small awards which enable institutions to better preserve and conserve their collections, to larger matching offers that assist organizations with capital improvements, NEH funding supports humanities scholarships and a variety of projects." Along with the many grants announced were the Digging Data Challenge competition and Challenge Grant winners.

Sponsored by four leading research agencies, Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) from the UK, NEH and National Science Foundation (NSF) from the U.S., and the Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) from Canada, the Digging into Data Challenge is an international competition that awards grants for initiatives that promote innovative humanities and social science research using large-scale data analysis. Total project funding came roughly to $2 million. NEH's award of $498,737 supports American scholars from five of the eight winning teams.

Further details of the eight winning projects can be found at http://www.neh.gov/news/archive/pdf/DiggingintoDataProjects_09Dec.pdf

For a complete listing of grants and offers of matching funds state-by-state please visit the following links:

Alabama to Kentucky

Maine to New York

North Carolina to Wyoming

$3.5 Billion For Title I School Improvement Grants

Arne Duncan, U.S. Secretary of Education, has announced the final requirements for $3.5 billion in the Title I School Improvement grants to turn around the nation's lowest performing schools. Funding is provided through $546.6 million from the Department's fiscal year 2009 appropriation, and $3 billion from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Funding for Title I School Improvement grants is made available to states through specific criteria shaped by the Department and competed for by school districts (LEAs). Each school district must distinguish which school it wants to transform, and then determine which of the four model categories (Turnaround Model, Restart Model, School Closure, and Transformation Model) is most appropriate.

Applications are due February 8, 2010, and can now be found at http://www.ed.gov/programs/sif/applicant.html

Information on determining model categories and application criteria can be found at http://www.ed.gov/programs/sif/factsheet.html

U.S. Congress & NSF Conclude FY2010 Agreement

U.S Congress and National Science Foundation (NSF) have concluded the FY 2010 Omnibus Appropriations Conference Agreement. The agreement includes final versions of appropriations through the Commerce, Justice, Science (CJS) spending bill. Funding will be distributed to several areas throughout NSF, to name a few, Education and Human Resources, Major Research Equipment and Facilities Construction, National Science Board, and Related Agencies. As a whole, the conference agreement will provide the NSF with $6.926 billion. This will show an increase of $436 million, or 6.7%, from the FY 2009 level, and a reduction of $118 million, of 1.7%, from the President's request.

For additional information on this and other NSF Congressional highlights, please visit the NSF website at http://www.nsf.gov

New Grant Programs Available Through the HHS

The Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) principal federal entity, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC), has announced two new grant programs, "Information Technology in Health Care: Program of Assistance for University-Based Training Programs (University-Based Training Program)" and "Information Technology Professionals in Health Care: Competency Examination for Individuals (Competency Examination Program)". These two programs were approved through the ARRA, and will sustain the development and training of the skilled workforce required to support wide-ranging adoption and use of health information technology (health IT).

"The workforce development program is expected to generate highly skilled professionals in key roles to meet 85 percent of the estimated need for expansion of the health IT workforce, which will in turn support health care providers and hospitals implement and maintain electronic health records [EHRs] and use them to strengthen the delivery of care," stated Dr. David Blumenthal, National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.

A total of $38 million will be awarded, including $32 million to establish university-based certificate and advanced degree health IT training programs, and $6 million to develop a health IT competency examination program. Additional information about the grants available through the workforce development program can be found at the Department's website at http://www.hhs.gov

Largest Cost Recovery Results in Funding of $1.79 Billion

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), along with other federal and state agencies, has received payment of $1.79 billion due to the largest cost recovery in US history. Under a bankruptcy reorganization of EPA, the Justice Department, American Smelting and Refining Company (ASARCO), Department of Interior, and Department of Agriculture, the payment will fund environmental cleanup and restoration of many sites around the country that have been contaminated by mining operations. A large amount of the payment will be placed in special accounts to be used by EPA to pay for cleanup work in the future, and accounts for restoration of natural resource at the Department of Interior and Department of Agriculture.

Assistant Administrator for EPA's Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance, Cynthia Giles stated that this "landmark enforcement settlement will provide almost one billion dollars to clean up polluted Superfund sites. This will mean cleaner land, water and air for communities across the country."

Additional information on EPA cleanup enforcement can be found at http://www.epa.gov/compliance/cleanup. For enforcement information on non-cleanup matters under all of EPA's criteria, please follow the link to the EPA site at http://www.epa.gov/

Grant Opportunities

CURRENT FEDERAL GOVERNMENT-WIDE OPPORTUNITIES

The United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has announced Source Reduction Assistance (SRA) awards and cooperative agreements in FY 2010 of up to $130,000 per region. This funding will sustain pollution prevention, source reduction, and/or resource conservation projects during FY 2011. The announcement also provides information on changes in the goals of the program, requirements, and criteria for evaluation.

Final Deadline: February 4, 2010

Information on the purpose of issuing SRA awards and the full announcement can be found at http://www.epa.gov/p2/pubs/grants/srap10.pdf.

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), along with NIH and the National Library of Medicine (NLM), is seeking applications for grants awarding for the preparation of book-length manuscripts and other scholarly works of value to the U.S. health professionals, public health officials, biomedical researchers and historians of the health sciences. The grant is proposed to help settle many of the expenses acquired as a result of research, analysis, and presentation of findings.

Final Deadline: February 2, 2010

For the full announcement, please visit the link http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-09-030.html#PartI.

The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is accepting applications for Challenge Grants in U.S. History and Culture. This grant opportunity supports institutions and organizations in strengthening their ability to explore key themes and events in American history, and to help understand how these events may have shaped and/or been shaped by American identity and culture.

Final Deadline: February 3, 2010

Additional information on the program description, award amounts, and eligibility can be found on the full announcement at http://neh.gov/grants/guidelines/CG_UShistory.html

The U.S. Department of Education has posted a funding opportunity for grants under the Advanced Rehabilitation Research Training (ARRT) program. Grants are awarded for projects that seek to enhance the capacity for research on rehabilitation and disability issues. This research will provide training and experience at an advanced level to individuals with doctorates, or similar degrees, and who have clinical or other relevant experience.

Final Deadline: February 9, 2010

Specific information about eligibility and the full announcement can be found in the Federal Register at http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2009/pdf/E9-29586.pdf

TThe National Science Foundation (NSF) is seeking proposals for projects supporting the Innovative Technology Experiences for Students and Teachers (ITEST) Program. The ITEST program answers to current interests and forecasts about the growing demand for professionals and information technology workers in the U.S., and obtains solutions to help ensure the breadth and depth of the STEM workforce. ITEST projects may include students or teachers, kindergarten through high school age, and any area of the STEM workforce. Projects that explore cyber learning, specifically learning with cyber infrastructure tools such as networked computing and communications technologies in K-12 settings, are of special interest.

Final Deadline: February 12, 2010

For further information on the ITEST Program please follow the link at http://www.nsf.gov/funding/pgm_summ.jsp?pims_id=5467