PPRT- Application Procedure

Research trainees must be doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows (including Occupational Medicine residents), or full-time faculty at institutions within HHS Region V. Faculty research trainees must not be above the rank of Assistant Professor or Assistant Research Scientist. Proposals that support a doctoral student or a postdoctoral fellow as the research trainee must have a faculty sponsor who will serve as the Principal Investigator and who will be held responsible for the scientific and fiscal integrity of the project. The PI is also responsible for submitting all reports in a timely manner. The faculty sponsor must serve on the “graduate faculty” of the applicant’s institution. (A member of the “graduate faculty” has been approved by his/her institution to serve as chair of a doctoral dissertation committee.)

Electronic submission of applications is required. Your application packet must consist of two PDF files, sent as attachments to [email protected]:

• The first PDF file must include your proposal and appendices.
• The second file must contain either documentation that the research trainee has received training in the Responsible Conduct of Research and Scholarship (RCRS) meeting the NIH guidelines (http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-10-019.html), or a statement attesting to when that training will be completed during the project period. Next, if this file does not provide full documentation of Institutional Review Board (IRB) and/or Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) approval for the research[1], it must contain a statement that the required approval(s) will be finalized before any funded research begins, or (if applicable) a statement that the project does not involve human or animal subjects.
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Deadline: The deadline for applications is 5:00 PM EDT, Wednesday May 1, 2024.   Applications received by Friday, April 19, 2024 will be pre-screened for completeness and compliance with the application guidelines, and feedback will be provided for non-compliant applications.

Each application must provide a detailed budget and budget justification using the PHS Form 398 format (PPRT Budget Template) If the awarded amount is not sufficient to support the proposed work, the applicant must demonstrate the availability of matching funds to assure that the project goals will be achieved by the June 30, 2025 deadline. June 30, 2025 is the final day for all charged invoices to be submitted to a pilot project account. Invoices for charges incurred after this date will not be reimbursed, and unexpended funds will be forfeited and returned. In no case can the direct costs exceed $20,000, nor can the total costs exceed $21,600 (if the maximum 8% indirect cost rate is requested). See Example Budget sheet.

Budgets are to be used exclusively for research expenses associated with the described research or to support the research trainee in the course of their performing this research. Examples include:  necessary equipment and supplies, subject fees, and travel to collect data or present findings. Salary support may be requested for necessary research personnel such as junior faculty, postdoctoral fellows, graduate student research trainees, and undergraduate students; however, salary support must be demonstrated to be directly related to the project. Equipment requests are discouraged and may be eliminated outright from proposals.  Salary support requested for the research trainees must be calculated on the current Kirschstein-NRSA predoctoral award level (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-23-076.html). Funding will not be approved for secretarial support, salary support for senior faculty, hosting costs, graduate fees, tuition, or tuition remission. Please see the following link for a Sample Budget sheet.

All research trainees must receive mentorship for their project. Doctoral and postdoctoral trainees may be mentored by any member of their institution’s graduate faculty. Junior faculty research trainees must receive mentorship from a tenured faculty member. The proposal should summarize the mentoring plan.

Proposals involving Research at Foreign Sites or overseas travel will require additional clearances. If an applicant is considering submitting a proposal for research at a foreign site, the applicant must contact the PPRT Director, Adam M. Finkel, Sc.D., CIH ([email protected]) at least 4 weeks prior to the application deadline (i.e. by April 1, 2024).  Funding for overseas travel requires advance approval from NIOSH, and must be arranged and approved by the PPRT Director in advance.

All proposals submitted to the Pilot Project Research Training Program must conform to the following format in the order specified below.  Applications not conforming to these requirements will be rejected.

1. Cover Page which lists the following information (Required Template: Cover Page):
   1. Project Title
   2. Names, email addresses, institutional affiliations, and roles of key investigators
   3. List of the project titles, key investigators, and application year for all previous successful applications to UM-COHSE’s PPRT program that have been awarded to any investigator participating in the current proposal. (Note: All previous PPRT projects are listed on COHSE’s website at https://live-sph-cohse.pantheonsite.io/research-faculty/pilot-project-research-training-program/pprt-past-projects/) If none received, please note “none received.”
   4. A statement which attests to the fact that the work described in the enclosed pilot grant application is not currently funded by any other grant-administering program.
2. Table of Contents (Separate Page; Template: (Table of Contents)
3. Abstract (1/2 page maximum)
4. Technical Proposal limited to a maximum of seven single-spaced pages.
   1. Specific Aims (1/2 page maximum)
   2. Significance and Impact (1 page maximum)

Please include brief statements that specifically address the following:

1. Which NIOSH Sector or Cross-Sector Programs (http://www.cdc.gov/niosh/programs/)and specific Strategic Goal your application contributes to (https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/programs/prioritygoals.html)
2. How your project contributes to the OH&S needs of HHS Region V
3. How your project may be useful in developing or changing one or more policies (at the national, state, or local levels) that improve OH&S, and how you will communicate your findings and results to policy-makers
4. Qualifications of Investigator (includes research/professional experience of research trainee and faculty sponsor as appropriate, 1/2 page maximum)
5. Research Plan—5 pp. maximum (must include quarterly milestones and deliverables)
6. Timeline showing start/completion times of major activities
7. Budget and Justification (submitted using PHS Form 398 budget format)
8. NIH Formatted Biosketch for each key investigator (https://grants.nih.gov/grants/forms/biosketch.htm)[Note: NIH revised the biosketch format in 2015. This new format is required.]
9. Letter of support from the faculty sponsor/mentor is required for all doctoral student or postdoctoral fellow research trainees. This letter should demonstrate that the research trainee has the appropriate mentoring and advising support necessary to carry out the proposed study and to publish the results of their study findings. Additionally, it should address how this project will aid in the research trainee’s pursuit of a research career in an OH&S discipline.
10. Letter(s) of support from external stakeholder(s) are encouraged if their cooperation is necessary for the completion of the project.
11. References cited in the proposal

Proposals will be reviewed by the Pilot Research Project Scientific Review Committee and applicants will be notified of an award decision by June 30, 2024. Those that are not awarded a pilot grant will be given a summary of the decision as to why their proposal was rejected. Awards are contingent upon the continuation of the federal funding of COHSE for the 2024-25 fiscal year. Proposals will be scored on a 100-point quality scale, using the following weighting factors:

Principal Investigators are responsible for submitting mid-year and final reports on the project by the listed deadlines. Additionally, awardees are required to present their project at our annual Research Symposium held during the University of Michigan’s Winter term. Funding will be available to defray the travel costs incurred by selected individuals, assuming that the 2024-25 Symposium will be held in person.

A brief mid-project report must be submitted no later than February 1, 2025. The mid-project report consists of the completion of the following document: Mid-Project Report Template.

A final report must be submitted no later than August 1, 2025. The final report must include the following sections:

• Final Technical Report (10-15 double-spaced pages, plus additional pages for references and relevant appendices) that includes the following sections:
  • A non-technical vignette of no more than 300 words regarding the funded research, that can be disseminated to a broad audience of occupational health practitioners, policymakers, and the general public. This statement should address what problem was evaluated, why this problem is important, what the research project showed, and what the practical relevance and ramifications of the research are.
  • Introduction/background
  • Methods
  • Results
  • Discussion/Conclusions
  • Plans for follow-up publications and grant applications
  • Description of how the program increased the trainee’s research expertise and capabilities
  • References
  • Appendices (as necessary)
• Photo(s) or other graphics with text caption(s) which you will permit us to post on our website.

Final Reports that do not meet these specifications will be sent back for revisions. Please note that the final report, particularly the vignette and photos, will be used on our website (cohse.umich.edu) to promote the program and to help disseminate the research.

In addition to the above reports, copies of all publications resulting from the project must be submitted to the Pilot Research Training Program Administrator. Please note that you will be contacted at least once a year for at least five years following the completion of your project to request this information.

Finally, all publications that result from PPRT funding should include the following acknowledgement: “This publication was supported by the Grant Number, T42 OH008455, funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or the Department of Health and Human Services.”

Faculty sponsors not meeting the above reporting requirements will be ineligible for future PPRT funding.