2010 CALL FOR GRANT PROPOSALS

The PAEA Research Institute (RI) invites PA faculty to submit proposals to its Research Grants Program. Several grants of up to $7,000 may be awarded from a total of $20,000. The submission deadline is August 1. Funding awards will be made immediately following selection of proposals; principal investigators (PIs) will be honored at this year’s 2010 PAEA Annual Education Forum in Baltimore.

Mission: The PAEA Research Grants Program is intended to foster PA faculty development in the area of research. The program encourages research both on PA education and workforce issues. The program is not intended to fund research on clinical practice.

Objectives: (1) To promote the development of research skills in PA faculty; (2) to advance knowledge of PA education and workforce issues.

Priority will be given for

• Quality of research design
• Collaboration between experienced and less experienced researchers
• Collaboration between researchers from different PA programs
• Submissions from PIs not previously funded by this grants program

To accomplish these objectives, the following new procedures have been instituted for this year’s cycle:

PIs should include a brief paragraph with their proposal submissions indicating whether any of the following collaborative efforts were responsible for their submissions:

• Collaboration between researchers from different PA programs
• Collaboration between experienced and less experienced researchers

PIs should also indicate whether they have been funded in the past by this grants program.

Suggested Research Topics:
PIs may submit proposals on any topic connected with PA education and workforce issues. However, to honor faculty requests for suggested topics, members of the Research Institute developed a list of suggestions under a variety of topic areas within PA education/workforce issues.

Eligibility Criteria:

• The PI must be a faculty member at an accredited PAEA member program and be employed by the educational institution for a minimum of 20 hours per week for the duration of the project. A letter from the program director or dean attesting to the PI's relationship to the PA program is required. No member serving on the RI Subcommittee having oversight for this grant cycle can be a named participant on a PAEA grant; members of the RI without oversight responsibilities are welcome to submit proposals.

• The project must be research oriented. A research question or hypothesis should be the focus of the study. The results of the study must have some application to PA education or workforce issues.

• The grant covers expenses related to equipment, materials, and operations, as well as some labor, personnel, or consulting costs. Institutional indirect, administrative, or facilities costs will not be funded. Matching institutional support is encouraged, but not required.

• All submitted projects must have Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval or evidence of exemption prior to disbursement of funds. Evidence of IRB submission should be included in the proposal appendices at the time of the initial submission.

• The PI must complete the research project within 18 months of the award and submit a final project report (through the appropriate PAEA staff) to the PAEA RI within 90 days of the end of the study. The project will be deemed complete when the final report has been approved by the PAEA RI.

• PAEA funded recipients are expected to submit the findings of their studies to the PAEA Education Committee for presentation at the PAEA Annual Education Forum one year from the conclusion of their projects. (All submissions to the Education Committee are blinded and scored based on the committee’s submission requirements; grant recipients are not guaranteed acceptance.)

Exclusions in the Research Grants Program:

• Indirect or administrative costs
• Capital improvements, construction, or purchasing costs
• General operating expenses
• Fund raising campaigns
• Personal expenses for educational advancement
• Projects that relate to development of new curriculum
• Ongoing projects to improve the classroom
• Travel or other expenses related to the preparation of posters or presentation of findings

Proposal Format Requirements:

• Proposals and all attachments must be submitted as Microsoft Word documents only, with the exception of IRB documentation, which will be accepted in any format. Documents submitted in other software programs, such as .pdf files, will not be accepted.
• Proposals must be in 12-point type, left justified, with 1.5 line spacing, and have 1-inch left and right margins.
• Only seven pages will be accepted for the basic proposal, excluding appendices.
• Proposals must be received electronically no later than 11:59 p.m., EDT, August 1, to be considered.
• Proposals not submitted according to the guidelines will be disqualified.
• Appendices should include the PI's and co-PI's updated two-page CVs.
• A copy of the survey instrument, if one is being used as part of the proposal, must be submitted.
  
  

Formatting Details:

Content should be formatted as follows:

Page	Content
Title Page	a. Title of research proposal b. Names of PI and co-PI c. Date d. Name of PI's and co-PI's PA programs e. PI's email address and phone number
Pages 2–5	Page 2: abstract (200-word limit) Pages 3–5: study rationale, research question or hypothesis, study aims, methodology, evaluation, and potential significance of the project
Page 6	References (may be single spaced)
Page 7	Budget and timeline to complete the study. (The budget should specify the PI's time commitment, activity, and cost as the first line; other persons participating in the project should follow in the same manner.) The budget may exceed the $7,000 cap offered by the RI, but the proposal must specify how any additional costs will be covered. The budget should be sufficiently detailed to account for how personnel will be used, as well as to explain and justify any other requested expenses
Appendices (additional material not included in 7 pages)	PI's and co-PI's current two-page CVs Letter from program director or dean attesting to the PI's relationship to the PA program Paragraph from the PI indicating collaborative efforts with other programs, between experienced and less experienced researchers; and indication of past funding by this grant program MS Word copy of survey instrument, if one is used as part of the proposal Evidence of IRB submission to the PI's institution; IRB documentation will be accepted in any format. Note: IRB approval or evidence of exemption should be included in the initial proposal submission.

Proposals will be accepted only in the above format.
Proposals should be emailed as Microsoft Word attachments by August 1 directly to Eileen Evans, at eevans@PAEAonline.org. If you do not receive a confirmation within two days of submission, please call at (703) 548-5538, ext. 307, to confirm that your submission was received. Questions concerning this grants program should be addressed to the PAEA Research Grants Program Chair, Martha Petersen, at mpeterse@bridgeport.edu.