Overview: Intramural Grant Opportunities at ACHRI
Each year ACHRI administers competitive funding programs totaling approximately $1.55 million for productive, young and clinician scientists employed by UAMS and affiliated with Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Along with this generous amount of funds, scientists are provided with a wide range of services and resources to assist with the grant submission and management process.
CUMG Awards
The CUMG Award Funds for the Children's University Medical Group (CUMG) award program originate from UAMS. ACHRI administers the fund. Twice a year, productive investigators, young investigators and clinician/faculty/trainee researchers may apply for awards in the amount of $40,000. The total amount awarded per cycle is usually approximately $250,000. The deadlines for submission are September 1 and March 1 of each year. Submissions are peer-reviewed and final funding decisions are made by the Dean of the College of Medicine at UAMS. Award recipients must submit a final report and meet requirements of the award. Eligibility and award requirements, along with a full program description, can be found online at http://achri.archildrens.org/resources/cumg.htm.
The Marion B. Lyon New Scientist Development Program
A generous gift from a private donor endows the Marion B. Lyon New Scientist Development Program. The award was established to promote the career development of young investigators who are initiating independent research careers, but have not yet received NIH funding. Each year, one award in the amount of $50,000 is available on a competitive basis. Award recipients are required to submit two reports for the donor. A full program description can be found online at http://achri.archildrens.org/resources/lyon.htm.
The ACHRI/ABI Competitive Research Grant Program
This intramural grant program is made possible with funds provided to ACHRI from the Arkansas Tobacco Settlement via the Arkansas Biosciences Institute (ABI). The ACHRI/ABI Competitive Research Grant Program was designed to specifically promote the goals of the ABI. Award amounts vary each year. The submission deadline each year is August 1. The program limits eligibility to investigators who are either located or conduct research on the ACH campus and are not currently directly benefiting from an ABI-funded recruitment package. The ACHRI/ABI Review Committee reviews and scores applications, and the president of ACHRI approves final funding decisions. Find a full program description at http://achri.archildrens.org/ABI/ABI Competitive Grant Program FY09.doc.
ACHRI Student and Clinical Staff Research Intramural Grant Program
ACHRI's Student and Clinical Staff Research Intramural Grant Program provides a funding mechanism for graduate students, medical students, and clinical staff to stimulate pediatric research activities and help foster the career development of pediatric researchers. A maximum of $10,000 will be awarded per year by ACHRI. The maximum amount of an award is $2,000 for a period of 12 months. The ACHRI Student and Clincal Staff Research Intramural Grant Program requires that supported students, medical trainees and clinical staff submit for a manuscript publication within 2 years of the end of the budget period. Find a full program description at http://achri.archildrens.org/resources/cumg_info/Student Funding Proposal Final.doc.
Intramural Grant Program Application Process
Upcoming Deadline Reminder
Six weeks before each submission deadline, ACHRI will e-mail a reminder to all potential applicants. If you are not receiving these emails, please contact Amy Stalls (364-3627).
Routing Applications for Approval
Prior to submission, all applications are required to be routed through the applicant’s home department for approval signatures. This process ensures accuracy and efficiency of funds management for awarded intramural grants. Applicants should include the following items for routing:
- Main Application Form
- Description of project
- Complete Budget
- Complete Budget Justification Form
These forms are available at http://achri.archildrens.org/resources/intramural_grant_programs.htm. All applicants are strongly encouraged to begin the routing process at least 10 business days before the submission date. If you have any questions regarding this process, please contact Amy Stalls.
Peer Reviews and Reviewer Comments
Generally, intramural programs use a peer-review system to evaluate, score and prioritize applications. In general, scores range from 1 to 5 with 1 equating to a recommendation for funding and 5 equating to a recommendation for triage. Priority scores are used to rank all applications receiving a score of 1. In general, all applicants will receive the comments of reviewers. Reviewer comments are provided in order to promote learning and progress for applicants who plan to reapply.
Resources for Intramural Applicants
Grant Writing and Editing
ACHRI offers assistance with grant writing. The assistance focuses on editing for grant applications and publication submissions. The service is offered on a first come, first serve basis. Applicants are encouraged to contact a science editor as early as possible in the process. This service has proven to be very valuable for new investigators as well as productive investigators. For more information, contact Phaedra Yount (364-2469) or John Gregan (364-6296).
Budgeting
ACHRI provides limited assistance for budgeting.
Salaries
Applicants should verify all salary and fringe items with their home department’s office of accounting.
The CUMG Award does not cover any salary or fringe items for any U of A system faculty member.
Supplies, Travel and Other Costs
The online program descriptions for each intramural program offer information pertaining to allowable and non-allowable costs. ACHRI is available to answer any questions regarding budgeting. For additional information, contact Lee Smith (364-3581) or Leslie Montgomery (364-6546).
Clinical Human Studies
All applicants who plan to include clinical human subjects testing or any sort of clinical services at ACH in a project must contact Janet Storment (364-2760) prior to application submission. Janet can provide pricing for clinical human studies and assist with planning for nursing/coordinator support and other hospital services support.
Managing an Intramural Award
Institutional Approvals
Activation of an account for an intramural award is contingent upon ACHRI’s receipt of copies of IRB, IACUC or other pertinent institutional approvals. For questions regarding institutional approvals, contact Tanda Grisham (364-3571) about IRBs and Sara Ply (364-2700) about IACUC.
Account Activation Process
Once institutional approvals are received, the account activation process begins. In this seamless process, post-award administration contacts an awarded investigator by email when the account is ready for expenditures.
For CUMG awards, ACHRI places any salary included on an intramural award in a 117 account through UAMS. The accounting section of the award recipient’s UAMS home department is the contact for this portion of the account.
ACHRI assigns all other items to a 036 account through ACH accessible via eRequest. ACHRI’s Post Award Administrator Leslie Montgomery (364-6546) contacts an investigator when his or her 036 account is established. She remains the contact for the 036 account throughout its duration.
Budget Revisions and Other Changes to Intramural Awards
Forms for completing budget revisions and change of PI can be accessed online at http://achri.archildrens.org/resources/intramural_grant_programs.htm.
90-Day Review of Award Accounts
Ninety days prior to the end date of an award, Leslie Montgomery contacts the investigator to complete a 90-day account review. The review assists with budget reconciliation.
Intramural Award Tracking
During the year after an award ends, Amy Stalls will contact the investigator to request a final report. Information collected via final reports is entered into a database. The database allows ACHRI to monitor the impact of intramural funding. Generally, these final reports are a requirement of acceptance of an award and submission of the final report will impact eligibility for subsequent intramural awards.
If you have questions relating to the intramural grant programs, please contact Amy Stalls (phone: 364-3627).