Dean’s Faculty Mentorship Award
Research Initiative Supporting Excellence in early careeR development (RISER)
Faculty Award Recipients
Wei Lyu, PhD
Project Title: Effects of Community-based Dental Clinics Expansion on Access to Dental Care and Emergency Department Visits for Dental Conditions among Low-income Individuals
Xichen Mou, PhD
Project Title: Advancing Pooled Data Analysis for Public Health Screening and Biomonitoring
Abu Mohammed Naser Titu, PhD, MBBS
Project Title: Climate Change and Violence: Exploring the Relationship of Ambient Temperature with Mass Shootings, Fatal Police Encounters, and Childhood Firearm Injuries
Call for Proposals
FAQs
Eligible applicants include tenure-track or research track faculty members at the rank of Assistant Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Memphis. Faculty who received the RISER award in the past two years are not eligible to apply. Each faculty may only submit a single proposal as the principal investigator (PI) but can be on multiple proposals as a co-investigator (co-I). Each proposal can only have one PI.
Faculty may resubmit a revised proposal that was not funded in the previous funding cycle; resubmissions should clearly indicate that it is a revised proposal and should include an introduction (maximum: one page) responding to reviewers’ comments. Previous reviews must be attached to the proposal, and the introduction will not be counted in the narrative page limit. In addition, the revised applications should highlight the changes made in the research narrative. Resubmissions lacking the introduction page and previous reviews will be considered non-responsive. Only one resubmission is allowed. However, faculty can apply on a similar theme that was not funded on a previous cycle as a new proposal and there should be major revisions to the proposal.
Budgets will be presented in general categories and require detailed explanations. Although the Review Committee intends to fund projects as closely as possible to the requested amount, it reserves the right to alter the amount depending on the number of proposals received and the funds available. Cost share is not allowed.
Allowable Costs
- Stipend and fringe benefit of undergraduate and graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and technicians are allowed.
- Project supplies
- Travel essential to conduct the project; strong justification must be provided.
- Graduate student tuition
Unallowable Costs
- Salary and fringe benefits of investigators (PI and co-Is)
- Costs in connection with faculty degree requirements
- Food (for use in research/as subject incentives)
- Travel to professional meetings
Application Procedure
- A brief discussion of the background and significance of the proposed idea, including its relation to the present state of knowledge in the field.
- A detailed narrative of the project that includes the objectives, significance of the research, the research task and expected accomplishments during the project, the specific outcomes of the project, a discussion of potential external funding sources, and a timeline.
- A maximum of one page should be devoted to discussing how the proposed research activity will advance the research career of the PI.
- Text that is single-spaced with margins not less than one-half (0.5) inch and using a font size not less than 11 pt.
- A cover sheet attached to the proposal (not counted in the page limit) that includes the project title, the total budget request, the PI name, Division, and e-mail address. The cover sheet also should include a summary of the proposed work.
- Bibliography (should be included as appropriate and will not be counted in the narrative page limitation).
- Two-page maximum biographical sketch for the PI and each co-I that includes the following sections:
- Education
- Professional experience
- Evidence of scholarship: most significant refereed journal articles, books, book chapters, etc.
- Significant accomplishments and contributions
- Other information as appropriate
- Current and pending support. Include current grant funding and pending grant funding. For each grant, provide project title, PI, role of the applicant, and funding agency, duration, and amount.
- A detailed budget following UofM format and budget justification for total project costs that is consistent with the list of allowable costs shown above.
- Appendices are allowed if highly relevant (e.g., letters of support and external review panel comments on related proposals); however, do not use appendices to circumvent page limits.
- If you have received RISER funds before, you must include a brief appendix to your proposal that includes the titles and funding amounts of these awards, along with a description of the impacts of the award(s).
- Please submit the possible federal grant information that you intend to submit during this funding.
Review Process
Applications that are complete and responsive to this announcement will be evaluated by an interdisciplinary Research committee established by the Dean of SPH. The committee will then provide a prioritized list of recommendations for funding to the Dean based on the quality of the proposals evaluated following the review criteria (see below). The Dean will make awards based on the committee's recommendations and available funds.
Research Merit- Does the proposal provide a compelling argument for the funding?
- Does the proposed project represent a significant contribution to the investigator's field of study? If so, how?
- Does the proposal provide a clear statement of overall project objectives?
- Are the proposed methodologies appropriate and accurate?
- Does the proposal provide a sound justification with clear and specific budget information? Is there a timeline, and is it realistic?
- Is the text clearly comprehensible to other academic scholars, some of whom may not be experts in the applicant's field of study?
- Does it significantly improve the chances for funding from existing sources?
- Does the project offer significant opportunities for funding from new source?
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