Pilot Grant Program – Environmental Health Sciences Research Center

Spring 2025 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 ($4,930,000) have produced grant progeny with a value of $51,500,000. This represents a more than 11-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:

Exposomics
Precision environmental health
Mechanistic biology and toxicology
Data science and computational biology
Environmental health disparities, environmental justice, and health equity
Climate change impacts on human health
Nanoplastics and microplastics

In addition, science-based projects are eligible to receive up to $5,000 in additional funds for a community engagement supplement. For more information about the community engagement supplement opportunity, please see the guidelines for application below.

Proposals for laboratory and/or field research will be accepted. 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. 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, 2025: Preliminary communications as outlined
February 1, 2025: Final Submission

Guidelines for Application

Key Dates:

January 15, 2025: Communication with appropriate Center Facility Director (Visit Center Facilities Page to identify the most relevant facility for your proposal)
January 15, 2025: Approval of budget and (if research involves humans) preliminary study design (send to Mindy Sickels Sterbenz at mindy-sickels@uiowa.edu)
February 1, 2025: Proposal submission
April 1, 2025: Expected start date for awards

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:

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 (ie; field sampling, data collection)
Purchase of computer equipment is not allowed
Purchase of food for events is not allowed

Community Engagement Provision:

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 inclusion 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
Inclusion of disenfranchised populations in research that will reduce environmental disparities or improve environmental justice

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 University of Iowa 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

Section and Page Requirements:

Page Limit	Section
1	Cover Page (Title, Investigators, Affiliations, and 250 word Abstract) Public Health Relevance Statement: Describe the relevance of this research to public health in, at most, three sentences. For example, describe how, in the short or long term, the research would contribute to fundamental knowledge about the nature and behavior of living systems and / or the translation of that knowledge to enhance health and lengthen life.
1	Specific Aims
5	Research Strategy including: Project Narrative Significance Innovation Approach with preliminary data (if any) The sections of the EHSRC pilot grant application closely follow the NIH research grant application instructions. For guidance on what to include in the 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 – see NIEHS for more information (https://www.niehs.nih.gov/research/programs/translational/index.cfm)
1/2	Community Engagement supplement (if applicable)
1	Detailed Budget and Justification (up to $6,000 may be budgeted for the combined salary and fringe benefits of the principal investigator)

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)
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 agree to:

Cite support of the EHSRC (NIH P30 ES005605) on all manuscripts, posters, and abstracts emanating therefrom;
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 within six months of project completion in the EHSRC seminar series;
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 2021

Contact Information

For further information regarding the pilot program, please contact:
Technical Advice: Dr. Betsy Stone / betsy-stone@uiowa.edu
Programmatical Information: Ms. Nancy Wyland, Coordinator / nancy-wyland@uiowa.edu

For information regarding resources available through EHSRC Facilities, contact: