Pilot Grant Program – Environmental Health Sciences Research Center

Spring 2026 Request for Applications (RFA)

The Pilot Grant Program is a highly valued component of the EHSRC, serving both the research and training missions of the Center. This program has helped advance the careers of numerous talented investigators by nurturing innovative ideas and creating opportunities for further grant support and publication in environmental health. Since the founding of the EHSRC, investments in the Pilot Grant Programs ($4.5 million) have produced grant progeny with a value over $67 million. This represents a more than 14-fold return on investment. Betsy Stone directs the Pilot Grant Program.

Goals:

The goals of the pilot program are to:

Provide initial support for junior investigators to establish new lines of environmental health research
Provide services of state-of-the-art facility cores to pilot grant investigators to enhance their research
Facilitate exploration of innovative new directions in environmental health for established investigators
Stimulate investigators from other disciplines to apply their expertise to environmental health research
Foster new interdisciplinary collaborations through awarding of pilot projects to investigators that have not previously worked together

Research Interests:

The EHSRC Pilot Grant Program seeks innovative, environmental health-related research proposals aligned to the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Strategic Plan, with research priorities in exposomics, precision environmental health, mechanistic biology and toxicology, data science and computational biology, divergent environmental health outcomes among different groups, and human health impacts of extreme weather. We encourage applications that build upon the research strengths of the EHSRC and respond to environmental health concerns of Midwestern residents and rural communities, including water quality, indoor and outdoor air quality, chemical contaminants in the environment, natural disasters, and the cumulative effects of environmental hazards. We also encourage research that advances understanding cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases due to inhaled environmental exposures, including identification of novel biomarkers in biological samples, personal monitors to assess exposures, big data/machine learning and multi-omic approaches, and the assessment of individual and combined exposures over the lifespan. The EHSRC provides Core Facilities to support research in exposure assessment and pulmonary toxicology, and to enhance clinical and translational studies relevant to environmental health science.

We encourage applicants to apply for an additional $5,000 for a community engagement project to supplement their pilot grant, per the guidelines below.

Proposals for laboratory and/or field research will be accepted. Proposals may support the re-submission of previously submitted/un-funded NIEHS applications. The EHSRC is not authorized by NIEHS to fund pilot projects that meet the definition of clinical trials.

Current Deadline

January 15, 2026: Preliminary communications as outlined
February 2, 2026 at 5:00 pm: Final Submission

Grant applications, in the form of a single PDF file attachment, should be sent to ehsrcpilotsubmissions@team.uiowa.edu via e-mail by the stated deadline.

Guidelines for Application

Key Dates:

January 15, 2026: Communication with appropriate Center Facility Director (Visit Center Facilities Page to identify the most relevant facility for your proposal)
January 15, 2026: Approval of budget and (if research involves humans) preliminary study design (send to Mindy Sickels Sterbenz at mindy-sickels@uiowa.edu)
February 2, 2026 at 5:00 pm: Proposal submission
April 1, 2026: Expected start date for awards

Grant applications, in the form of a single PDF file attachment, should be sent to ehsrcpilotsubmissions@team.uiowa.edu via e-mail by the stated deadline.

Funding Available:

Funds up to a maximum of $40,000 will be awarded directly to an investigator for a one-year period. Of this, up to $6,000 may be budgeted for the combined salary and fringe benefits of the principal investigator. We expect to make approximately 4 – 6 awards to meritorious applications.

Budgetary Restrictions:

All Pilot Grant funds must be spent domestically. If a project has components outside of the United States, those components cannot be funded through this grant.
Salary and fringe for the Principal Investigator must not exceed $6,000
Travel expenses are not allowed, unless clearly for the purpose of conducting research (i.e., field sampling, data collection)
Publication fees are not allowed
Purchase of computer equipment is not allowed
Purchase of food for events is not allowed

Community Engagement Guidelines:

Science-based projects are eligible to receive up to $5000 in additional funds for a community engagement supplement. Any pilot proposal with a community component should consult with Brandi Janssen in the EHSRC Community Engagement Core (CEC) and/or attend an EHSRC Community Engagement Workshop prior to submitting a supplement proposal. The community engagement supplement requires an additional project description (not to exceed one half page) and should be included in the proposal budget, budget justification, and research schedule.

Approaches for the community engagement supplement could include (but are not limited to):

Citizen science projects in which community members participate in data collection and/or analysis
The incorporation of a community stakeholder advisory board or other mechanism that provides regular community input and feedback to the investigators to ensure that project results are relevant to community concerns

Specific Aims Review (optional):

The EHSRC Career Enhancement Program offers Specific Aims Review Meetings on request. They are open to all Center investigators preparing to submit a grant proposal and seeking feedback from other EHSRC investigators. In addition, EHSRC Pilot Grant applicants are encouraged to submit their Specific Aims for review prior to the due date as an option in the proposal process. All Center investigators, particularly early-stage investigators, are welcome to participate in Specific Aims Review Meetings.

Please contact Rose Phillips if you would like to schedule a Specific Aims Review meeting. Investigators should forward their Specific Aims page one week before the meeting to allow EHSRC investigators to review the application before the meeting.

Submission

Eligibility:

Researchers from the University of Iowa or Iowa State University who are eligible to apply for K or R01 grants from NIH may apply. This specifically includes Post-doctoral Fellows, Post-doctoral Scholars, Faculty (all ranks), Research Scientists, Research Engineers, Associate Research Scientists, and Associate Research Engineers. Students and staff may not be investigators but may be designated to receive salary support and should be listed in the budget.

We specifically encourage the following applicants:

Junior investigators with interests in pursuing environmental health research
Senior investigators who wish to move into new directions or into new collaborations within the environmental health sciences research arena

Applications will also be considered from researchers at academic institutions in Nebraska, Kansas, or Missouri, provided they meet all other eligibility requirements. No more than 2 awards will be made to researchers outside the University of Iowa.

Section and Page Requirements:

Page Limit	Section
1	Cover Page (Title, Investigators, Affiliations, 250-word Summary/Abstract, and three-sentence Project Narrative)
1	Specific Aims
5	Research Strategy including: Significance Innovation Approach with preliminary data (if any) The above sections of the EHSRC pilot grant application closely follow the NIH research grant application instructions. For guidance on what to include in the summary/abstract, project narrative, significance, innovation, and approach, please see this application guide.
2	Additional required information: Research schedule and milestones. Description of plans to engage with and utilize EHSRC facilities. Potential for future grant support- outline a specific path to future funding through NIEHS. Include conversations with a program administrator at NIEHS about your larger application idea(s). Specifically list RFAs you will apply for. Translational Research – describe how the proposed research be translated into concrete strategies that protect and improve human health, following the NIEHS translational research framework.
1/2	Community Engagement supplement (if applicable)
1	Detailed Budget and Justification

Grant applications, in the form of a single PDF file attachment, should be sent to ehsrcpilotsubmissions@team.uiowa.edu via e-mail by the stated deadline.

Other required documents are:

NIH Biosketches for Each Investigator
EHSRC Routing Form
Letter of support from appropriate EHSRC Facility Director(s)
- When requesting LOS from Facility Director(s), please provide your application Cover Page (see instructions above for required contents)
Letter of commitment from collaborating institution(s), if applicable
Letter from community collaborating institution(s), if applicable

Principal Investigator/Awardee Responsibilities

The first individual listed as an investigator of a pilot grant is the corresponding author, and will be responsible should the pilot grant be funded for the timely completion of the research and the appropriate expenditure of funds.

Prior to issuance of a pilot grant, the awardee must submit a Data Management and Sharing (DMS) Plan that complies with NIH requirements, as well as IRB or IACUC approval as applicable. In addition, the awardee must agree to:

Conduct gold standard science, including management and reporting of data following Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR) data principles;
Cite support of the EHSRC (NIH P30 ES005605) on all manuscripts, posters, and abstracts emanating therefrom;
Make manuscripts accepted for publication immediately available in PubMed Central (PMC);
Spend the funds within the one-year award period (carryover requests are strongly discouraged);
Submit a two-page progress report within three months of project completion;
Present completed work to the EHSRC through the seminar series or other meeting;
Submit a photo for use in publicizing the program.

Pilot Grant Proposal Study Section:

Primary Reviewer (May be outside EHSRC)
Secondary Reviewer (May be outside EHSRC)
Internal Advisory Committee Members (N=14)

Proposal Review Criteria:

Relevance to EHSRC goals
Relevance to the NIEHS Strategic Plan
Originality and scientific relevance
Validity and reliability of methods
Qualifications of investigators
Special consideration for junior faculty, or new directions
Use of EHSRC facilities
Likelihood of future extramural funding
Appropriateness of the budget

EHSRC PGP Reviewer Guidelines

Contact Information

For further information regarding the pilot program, please contact:
Technical Advice: Dr. Betsy Stone / betsy-stone@uiowa.edu
Programmatical Information: Ms. Rose Phillips, Coordinator / rose-phillips@uiowa.edu

For information regarding resources available through EHSRC Facilities, contact: