2009 STUDENT SUMMER RESEARCH AWARDS

BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH INITIATIVE

(BRI) RISE PROGRAM

Mini-grants are available to fund student summer research awards in Biomedical Sciences through a Program Development Award from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (RISE Program). Awards, up to $3000 each (with convincing budget justification) will be awarded for summer 2009. Selection of awardees will be based on scientific merit of the proposed project and the overall quality of the application. Applications will be reviewed and assessed according to the published criteria (see attached information) and ranked by external and internal reviewers. The funds are to be used for purchase of research supplies only and cannot be used for OPS wages, travel, equipment (costing $1000 or more), software or books. Graduate and undergraduate students, currently engaged in biomedical research are invited and encouraged to apply with a sponsorship letter from their research supervisor. To be eligible for an award a student must be enrolled in a degree program at F.I.U. and be in residence during the summer and fall, 2009. Students who will be graduating in Fall 2009 are not eligible unless they (or their research supervisor) can confirm that the project will be completed by the awardee and a report on the funded project will be presented by the student at the annual MBRS mini-symposium in the Fall (2009) or at the 2010 Biomedical and Comparative Immunology (BCI) symposium (March 5^th and 6^th, 2009) since all award recipients are required to present their research at one or other symposia to meet the eligibility requirements of the award. The Application Form and instructions for submission are available electronically (www.fiu.edu/~abr or www.fiu.edu/~ci) or may be obtained as hard copies from the ABR offices (HLS II 395/392). All students engaged in biomedical research are encouraged to apply.

DEADLINE FOR SUBMISSION OF APPLICATIONS IS 5:00 P.M., MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9^th, 2009. RECIPIENTS OF THE RESEARCH AWARDS WILL BE ANNOUNCED AND NOTIFIED BY MARCH 31^st, 2009.

Sylvia L. Smith, Ph.D.

BRI Subproject P.I.

Director, ABR (Access to Biomedical Research) Office

Email: smiths@fiu.edu

Telephone: 305-348-7019

BRI STUDENT SUMMER RESEARCH AWARD

APPLICATION GUIDELINES

INSTRUCTIONS: Read and follow the instructions carefully. Prepare the application single sided and single spaced, and stay within the one inch page margins. Use type face no less than 12 point to prepare the document. Do not exceed the page limitation for each section of the application.

The application must include the following

· Application cover page (single page)

· Abstract (no more than 250 words)

· Project Description (3 pages, single spaced, using 12 point font)

· Bibliography (one page)

· Detailed budget with justification (one page).

· Letter of recommendation/sponsorship from the investigator who will supervise the research and who will confirm that the applicant will be a registered student and work on the project for the duration of the award (April through December 2009). Your research supervisor must address this point in his/her letter of support.

· A copy of the current Approval statement from IACUC and IRB for projects involving vertebrate animals and/or humans, respectively.

· Recipients of 2008 student summer awards must submit, as an appendix to their application, a copy of the previous project’s annual report and a copy of abstract(s) or presentation(s) resulting from the funded research.

Proposal Development

Choose a specifically descriptive title. The project abstract should contain a statement of objectives, methods to be employed and the biomedical significance of the proposed research. In the project description state the hypothesis to be tested, include specific aims, i.e., what the proposed research intends to accomplish for the duration of the award. Be realistic in your research objectives, confirm with your research supervisor that the aims of the project can be achieved within the duration of the award. Include details of the research plan (a brief background sketch and importance and relevance of the research to filling existing knowledge gaps in the field) and bibliography.

Budget

When developing and justifying the project budget (maximum $3,000) keep the following points in mind. Funds can only be used to purchase supplies (consumables such as animal food, reagents, biologicals, chemicals, and safety/protective items, etc) and small items of equipment or instrumentation costing less than $1,000. Cost of poster preparation and duplicating can be charged to the award. Funds cannot be used for travel, wages, software, books, conference registration or to pay human subjects. Provide sufficient budgetary details and justification (for example, requesting funds for “molecular biological reagents” without explaining the use and application of the major reagents/kits that are requested is unhelpful). Requisitions associated with these awards must be submitted to the ABR office for processing by April 15^th, 2009. Avoid including items in the budget that will be back-ordered (check with supplier). All ordered items including animals must be received by July 31^st, 2009. Confirm that vendors are in the Panthersoft system. NOTE: If you prepare your budget in Excel format make sure it fits on a single page (font size can be smaller than 12).

Sequencing Charges

Do not include in the budget anticipated sequence charges associated with the proposed project. Estimate the cost of sequencing that is planned for the duration of the project and list as a separate category. Separate funds will be provided to cover reasonable sequencing charges. In your budget justification make it clear whether sequencing costs have been requested.

all award recipients ARE EXPECTED TO submit a final report on their project by december 31^st, 2009 and present their research data at the Fall MBRS mini-symposium (2009) and/or the Spring Biomedical/Comparative Immunology Symposium (mARCH 5^th and 6^th 2010) at FIU.

Applications will be judged and ranked by external and internal reviewers according to the following criteria.

· Project relevance to the area of biomedical research

· Significance and future potential for development of the research

· Originality and innovativeness of the proposed project

· Quality (spelling, grammar, language etc) and completeness of the application

· Scientific presentations resulting from prior student award(s) to applicant

Submit the original and three copies (copied double-sided) to the ABR office (HLS II 392/395) by Monday, February 9^th, 2009. Award recipients will be notified and funds will be available by March 31^st, 2009. Please note that all requisitions associated with the award must be submitted to the ABR office for processing no later than April 15^th, 2009.

2009 BRI STUDENT SUMMER RESEARCH AWARD

APPLICATION COVER PAGE

NAME: _____________________________ PS ID#_______________________

DEPARTMENT: _____________________ LAB LOCATION:_____________________

INSTITUTION: _________________________________________________________

STATUS: Graduate [ ] Undergraduate [ ]

EMAIL: ________________________ TELEPHONE _______________________

RESEARCH SUPERVISOR: _______________________________________________

TITLE OF PROJECT: ____________________________________________________

RECIPIENT OF PREVIOUS CI AWARD: Yes [ ] No [ ]

ANNUAL REPORT OF PREVIOUS AWARD: Submitted [ ] Not submitted [ ]

IACUC: Yes [ ] No [ ] IRB: Yes [ ] No [ ] Not aplicable [ ]

ABSTRACT: (Not to exceed 250 words)

If awarded a BRI student summer research award I agree to meet the conditions of the award as stated in the guidelines.

Applicant Signature: _____________________________ Dated:__________________

Research Supervisor ____________________________ Dated __________________