University of Minnesota
University of Minnesota
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UMASH


UMASH Pilot Projects Request for Proposals

Application Deadline: March 15, 2013

The Upper Midwest Agriculture Safety and Health Center is requesting applications for small grants ranging from $5,000 to a maximum of $20,000 to address health and safety issues related to agricultural workers and their families. The UMASH is specifically interested in projects that address concepts outlined in the NIOSH National Occupational Research Agenda (NORA) for agriculture, integrates the philosophy of a One Health model (further reading: http://www.onehealthinitiative.com/, http://www.cdc.gov/onehealth/ ) into agricultural safety and health, and address issues important to the agriculture industry in the Upper Midwest.

As part of this RFA, UMASH encourages proposals that specifically follow-up on consensus ideas developed through the Finding Common Ground Forum: Improving Animal and Worker Health and Welfare (see link at right). A minimum of $20,000 will be dedicated to projects that address worker health and safety and include these consensus ideas. Smaller projects in the $5,000 to $10,000 range that develop these ideas are particularly encouraged.

This announcement is open to investigators working in academic, government, community, industry or health care settings who have the knowledge, skills, and ability to carry out the proposed work.

The UMASH pilot project program will consider proposals that meet one or more of the following criteria:

  1. Develop innovative ideas in agricultural safety and health research, education, and outreach that have high probability of obtaining additional funding.

  2. Conduct exploratory activities to characterize emerging issues related to the health and safety of agriculture workers and their families.

  3. Create new partnerships to address health and safety of agriculture workers and their families by bringing together multidisciplinary expertise to initiate new and innovative activities, e.g. a symposium or conference to develop a new collaboration (it is anticipated these would be lower cost activities).

  4. In addition, one $5,000 award will be provided to support collaborative and innovative research on swine production topics specifically related to producer/workplace health and safety. Proposals should justify why the topic is relevant to the swine industry, how the study will impact/protect workplace safety, and how the outcomes will be applied on-farm. This award is made possible by a contribution from the National Pork Board.

A final report summarizing research activities and results must be received within one month of the end of the grant funding period. In addition, investigators will be expected to complete a poster and/or provide a short presentation of their project results at a UMASH meeting. Costs to attend the meeting can be included in the budget.

It is anticipated that these projects will be completed in one year or less.

Application Instructions

Application Deadline: March 15,2013

Download Application Forms:

Application:  To apply for these grants, the following materials must be received by March 15, 2013:

  1. Abstract: A 250 word abstract that includes a summary of the proposal (below).

  2. Proposal: A short, single-spaced proposal, three pages maximum using 11 point (or larger) Arial font for items A-E below, outlining the proposed research project. Required elements include:

    1. Objectives and specific aims. Proposals addressing the Finding Common Ground Consensus ideas should explicitly identify the topic in this section.
    2. Significance and how the project is important to agriculture in the Upper Midwest
    3. Innovation; what new knowledge or ideas this project will help develop
    4. Approach; must be concise, but sufficiently detailed to evaluate the potential success of the project
    5. Anticipated results and plans for developing future opportunities
    6. Timetable
    7. References
  3. Application/Budget Form [Download Budget Form (Word)]


    Eligible Expenses:     If there is clear justification of the need for expenditures and a clear explanation of their direct relevance to the proposed research, these awards may be used for any category of research-related expenses, with the following limitations.

    • Faculty salary support may not exceed 5% for each faculty member.
    • Travel must be directly related to the aims of this project.
    • Indirect costs are not permitted.

  4. Budget Justification: Should not exceed one page; a description of each item listed in the budget should be included with an indication of its relation to the proposed work.

  5. Biographical sketch: A short (no more than two pages) biographical sketch or resume for key personnel detailing qualifications to conduct research. Provide: (a) name, degrees, title, institution; (b) positions and honors in chronological order; (c) selected peer-reviewed publications.

  6. Human or Animal Subjects: Statement addressing plans for use of human or animal subjects in research. IRB approval must be received prior to distribution of funds. The IRB must be registered with the DHHS Office of Human Research Protections and have completed a Federal-wide Assurance.

  7. Letters of Support: Required if the project is dependent on the cooperation of any organization, health care facility, business or other institution.

  8. Compliance Form:  Completed Compliance and Signature Form [Download Form (Word)]


Submission Instructions:

To facilitate review and distribution applications will be accepted in electronic format only. Submit all application materials no later than March 15, 2013 to Bruce H. Alexander, PhD at umash@umn.edu.

Application Review Criteria

Review criteria for proposals submitted to the Pilot Program include the following:

Technical Score (50%), including an assessment of:

Programmatic Score (50%):
The programmatic score will be based on the following criteria. It is not expected that the pilot projects will meet all areas, but the degree to which they meet specific or multiple areas is important.

Questions? Contact: 
Dr. Bruce H. Alexander
Phone: 612-625-7934
Email: umash@umn.edu

The NIOSH-funded UMASH Pilot Research Training Program (U54 OH010170) must be acknowledged in all associated publications. In addition, the following statement must be included in all publications arising from this research: “The contents of this effort are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official view of the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or other associated entities.”

 

 
 

 

FCG Consensus Ideas

Consensus Ideas