Centers of Excellence planning grants

Deadline Date

None.

Introduction and purpose

With the support from the Senior Vice President for Research and in partnership with the participating colleges, including the College of Medicine, and other Intercollege Research Institutes at Penn State, The Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences invites planning grant applications to assist faculty for the development of Research Centers of Excellence in a variety of organizational settings.

These Centers are catalyzed by a small investment from The Huck Institutes through planning grants and they will be ultimately supported by Center members with grants from federal agencies, with the Huck Institutes taking a supporting role in their development and evolution.

The Huck Institutes provides support for developing Centers of Excellence in the belief that a cooperative research effort accelerates the acquisition of knowledge more effectively than does a simple aggregate of research projects without interaction and thematic integration.

The Huck Institutes is particularly interested in encouraging new scientific directions in developing a Center of Excellence. This mechanism is viewed as an opportunity to bring in scientists who have not traditionally been supported by the major life science funding agencies like NIH and NSF. However, all Centers must have objectives that relate to a central theme.

The purpose of this program is to expand the scientific diversity of Penn State faculty by encouraging them to develop the qualities of a strong research center and become competitive for Center Grants or Program Projects or Training Grants.

Planning grant strategies may focus on a specific research theme or integrate a broader spectrum of research that may include cross disciplines like material science, engineering science, clinical science, etc. All approaches to planning grants are encouraged as long as they take advantage of the full range of the organization's capabilities.

The planning grants will be made available for durations of 2 to 3 years. A single planning grant can receive up to $125,000 in direct cost support for a single year. Depending on reviews and targeted agency program continuance, a second and third year of support (up to $125,000 for each year) may be requested. A single planning grant could therefore receive up to $250K to $375K in funding over a 2 to 3-year period.

A proposal to establish a federally sponsored center will be the output of the effort.

Rationale

A number of funding federal government agencies like NIH, NSF, DOE, DOD, USDA and others have allocated significant funds for the purpose of conducting large interdisciplinary projects through the establishment of centers. The Pennsylvania State University needs access to these funds to build its programs and enhance its academic reputation on the national and international stages. The resources available to the Huck Institutes in conjunction with the funds from "Tobacco Formula Funded Health Research Program" as well as resources from other Inter College Research Institutes at Penn State will be used to establish Centers of Excellence in the life science-related areas, particularly cutting-edge cross disciplines like bionanotechnology. Also, those that capitalize on the genomics/ proteomics/ bioinformatics infrastructure investments made at The Huck Institutes are encouraged; however, proposals will not be limited to these cross-disciplinary areas alone. To further develop as a university, Penn State University must improve its ability to compete for these large center grants, program projects and training grants. The planning grants will help organize the University's efforts in this area and improve proposal quality.

Eligibility for submission

To be eligible to submit a Planning Grant proposal, a Center of Excellence is required to have a plan for the financial requirements to sustain it. This helps to provide for the minimum funding needed to support a vital research agenda and to ensure that the Center can support graduate students and research projects. In general, Center members should be individually well-funded faculty from external sources, such as Federal agencies.

Letter of intent

A letter of intent describing the proposed Center of Excellence must be submitted electronically to the Huck Institutes for internal review (send letters to jeb2@psu.edu). The letter should include a brief description of the research focus of the potential Center and a list of the participating faculty members (limited to 1 page maximum). The Huck Institutes' review panel must approve the letter of intent before a proposal for a planning grant award will be accepted. Approval decisions will be made periodically, but no later than one month after receipt of a letter of intent. Proposed Centers that fit within the university collaborative scope, are considered potentially viable to the research area, and do not significantly duplicate the research focus of other Centers funded in the program, will be encouraged to submit proposals for a planning grant.

Overall project description

Describe the model of the envisioned Center, including:

• The Center's proposed structure/organization, policies, operational procedures, operational requirements and guidelines
• A one or two page description for each envisioned research project, including a discussion of its relevance and appropriateness for the Center
• The management and staffing plan, including a plan to address diversity
• The cost and sources of funding for the proposed Center

Detail how the objectives of the planning grant will be achieved; this should include:

• An outline for regular meetings of the Center faculty with external advisors as well as the Huck Institute's review panel that is designed to determine the research agenda and its viability
• A description of the roles the proposed Center Director and other researchers will have in performing this planning study
• A discussion of managerial experience of the proposed Center Director.

Format of planning grant, and what to submit

Applicants are asked to submit six copies of the proposal of up to 15 pages and all appended materials to The Huck Institute's Office, 201 Life Sciences Building. An electronic version of the main proposal without appendices should be transmitted to jeb2@psu.edu. A complete proposal package will contain the following items organized in the following order with the appropriate documents indicated as Appendices A-C:

1. Executive Summary: The executive summary will be used as a review document. It should be well written and should cover all aspects of the proposal. Include a general analysis of the research theme on which the proposed Center plans to focus; how that scientific theme relates to the research interests and needs, especially in those areas of research that could be considered appropriate for the university. Give a brief description of the research focus of the potential Center. Include a brief description of the capabilities of proposed Center Members to address the research interests and needs noted above, including infrastructure.
2. The Mission Statement for the proposed center: A clearly stated mission for the center is important.
3. Introduction: In no more than two pages, describe the technical focus of and need for the Center. Describe the technical area, the multidisciplinary approach, the research required and the expertise and resources that will be used to address this need. The proposal should reflect the unique combination of the participating faculty members' research interests, capabilities, and potential for working with other Inter College Research Institutes. These features should be discussed in sufficient detail to facilitate review in accordance with the Program requirements.
4. Center Structure and Operations: Organizational structure, administration of the center and its governance must be addressed in the proposal. In addition, the applicants must discuss the following issues in their proposals: Evidence of Department/ College involvement and participation; Available facilities and infrastructure; A Director responsible for all activities of the Center, with evidence of the Director's management capability beyond research experience; The role of members in the Center and the specific benefits of membership categories; (Use the Sample Membership Agreement as a guide); A plan to address diversity; and Membership and composition of the policy committee.
5. Plans for the development of Core Facilities; Uniqueness of these.
6. Description of the Individual Projects: A succinct description of the research projects to be conducted by center members.
7. Plans for obtaining sustainability of the Center: A description of how the planning grant will prepare the group for a successful competition. A description of the potential funding agencies that the center would target should be provided. Where appropriate, PIs should also append a description of the targeted federal program and the website URL of the federal announcement of that program. The tentative timetable for the proposal submission to a federal agency should be included.
8. A statement indicating how the center would fulfill federal RFP requirements, including diversity and gender representation.
9. Names and addresses of faculty members (include department and college affiliations and two-page CVs) who would comprise the center. (Append CVs as Appendix A).
10. If applicable, please list the in-state or out-of-state collaborators that will be recruited and from what institutions.
11. If applicable, list the private industry partners and explain how they will participate in the activities.
12. A detailed budget plan must be provided. Include a description of any departmental or college support that will aid the project.
13. Target Dates for Proposal Submission: There are no specific target dates for submitting a Center Grant or a Program Project or a Training Grant, but grant proposal must be ready within 24 to 36 months of award of a planning grant. Please note that The Huck Institutes would facilitate and fund external reviewers for the internal review (site visit), when the Center is ready to submit an external grant (whether it is a program project or a center grant).
14. Matching: Departmental and College support to match University funds will be considered in the review process. The proposals that leverage matching funds will be favorably reviewed. Letters of support from the host Department and the Deans of the Colleges involved should be appended (Appendix C). These letters should note that the Center's concept and proposed research agenda have the potential for receiving support from federal agencies and that the Department and College would provide all the support needed if the Center were formed.

Expenditure

Each planning grant awarded may be for up to $125,000 per year. Funds may be expended for any type of planning grant activity. The second year of funding will be contingent on the quality of the reviews from the first year progress report. Some of approved expenditure categories include, but are not limited to: release from teaching responsibility, conferences, travel, supplies, communications and the hiring of consultants (including external reviewers) and assistants. Up to two months of summer salary for the PI may be requested. It is unlikely that additional summer salary would be approved. A one-page budget justification should be a part of the proposal and describe how the expenditure of funds will help develop the proposal.

The review process

A select faculty review committee comprised of members recommended by the Deans of the Participating Colleges will be empanelled. The Director of The Huck Institute for Life Sciences and the Associate Vice President for Health Sciences Research and the Vice Dean for Research and Graduate Studies, The College of Medicine at Hershey, will lead this review. External reviewers, depending on the type of review required, may review some proposals.

Judging criteria

The criteria are as follows:

1. Quality of the research presented.
2. Quality and productivity of the faculty involved.
3. Quality and value of the partnerships proposed both including, colleges within and outside Penn State (you may partner with federal labs!).
4. Do the grant activities during the planning phase foster the creation of an outstanding proposal?
5. Is the budget adequate and reasonable?
6. Is the expenditure of planning grant funds commensurate with the amount of money that can be obtained?
7. How much cost sharing in the form of departmental and college support? While NOT required, it is beneficial to the success of the proposal.
8. Adequacy of the proposal in meeting federal goals as described by the mission statement.

When grants will be made available

Proposals will be considered on a monthly basis. Successful applicants will be notified approximately thirty days after the submission date. The Huck Institute for Life Sciences will establish an account for each successful award. Expenditures will be managed following Penn State University policies and procedures.