The announcement states eligible applicants are “instructors and assistant professors.” I am an Adjunct Assistant Professor. Does this make me ineligible? Adjunct faculty are not eligible to apply.
My appointment as an assistant professor is pending.Am I eligible to apply? In order to apply, your appointment must be in place at the time of application for a faculty grant.
I am a part-time research scientist, may I apply? No, only full-time faculty may apply.
The announcement talks about $50,000 per grant, but then in states they can be of up to two years. Does this mean the maximum is $50,000 per year or $50,000 per grant? The maximum allowed per award (grant) is $50,000. Investigators have two years in which to use these funds.
Does the $50,000 limit include or exclude overhead? Indirect costs (overhead) may not be taken from the $50,000 award. This includes overhead/indirect costs at international sites– these, too, may not be taken from the award. Indirect costs will be added at the time of the award by the CFAR financial administrator.
The announcement says that this is to encourage inter-school collaboration and lists the Schools of Public Health, Medicine and Nursing. Would a project that includes the School of Engineering being equally attractive? HIV/AIDS -related projects involving the School of Engineering or other Schools within JHU are also encouraged.
Are co-PIs allowed (as recently allowed by NIH)? There can only be one applicant since we need one point of contact and clearly need to send the money to one department. However, recognition of another investigator as a co-PI is allowed.
Is international research allowed? Yes, international research is allowed. The NIH must review all International projects and you will not be able to start until their approval has been given. This can take several months.
How many applications can one faculty member submit? A faculty member may only submit one application per cycle as the “Applicant.” However, an individual may be an “applicant” on his/her own project as well as a “co-investigator” with a different applicant; duplicate applications (same project) with different named “Applicants” are not allowed.”
Will the award support faculty salary? Salary to support the applicant may be requested.
Is the application a one-time occurrence or can one resubmit in the future? CFAR grants will be made available each year, so one can resubmit the following year. However, a grant that did not get funded one year would need to be substantially improved upon to have a chance in a future year. We encourage you to utilize the CFAR Core services to improve your application.
Can faculty apply for more than one award in his/her career at Hopkins? One person can receive only one award in their career at Hopkins.
Are Implementation Science/Program Implementation studies allowed? Yes! Implementation Science/Program Implementation studies are encouraged.
In the past, other Fac. Development Awards allowed only one submission per Department to make the process equitable for all. Could you please let us know if this is the case? There is not a restriction on the number of applications from a given department.
On the Application form it asks for name and e-mail of the Department Administrator. Who does this refer to? This refers to the person in your department that needs to be notified that you have received a grant and who will manage the transfer of funds.
Can my project be a clinical trial? Studies involving new drugs, treatments, or devices, or off-label use of a licensed drug are not allowed through the CFAR. This is a NIH rule. Please see the document entitled “Guidance for CFAR Clinical Research Studies” for information regarding other types of clinical trials. These other types must be reviewed and approved by the NIH prior to beginning the study. This can take several months.
Are mentors supposed to be considered collaborators/co-PIs? Specifically, on the Application cover form, do I list my mentors as co-investigators if they are not in my department? We are not setting rules about mentors as investigators. It will vary by study and relationship, so it should be “organic” or “natural” for the needs of you and the study.
Do I need to include the biosketches for my mentors as "co-investigators"? Please submit only the biosketch for the PI/applicant.
It says here that one of the review criteria is "are the [aims] feasible given the small award". I interpret this to mean that I should not put in something like the K08 grant but maybe expand out one of the aims so it sounds like something I could do in one year. The research should be doable given the resources, but it should be clear how the research will put you on a pathway to a larger K or R award—show us how the development award will get you closer to an R01.
Should the actual project narrative and the budget justification both be on the narrative template, but submitted as separate word files? The budget template should be used for the budget, but no budget justification is necessary.
Is there any guidance on the layout of the grant, i.e. minimum font, line spacing, margins? Please follow the NIH guidance on the layout of the grant. A copy of their instructions can be found on the CFAR website.
Is the CFAR Clinical Research Checklist due at the same time the grant application is submitted or only if the project is funded? No, neither the Clinical Research Checklist nor the International Studies Checklist is due at the time of the application. They are only required if your study is funded.
Do I need to submit my application through Research Administration? No, you do not need to involve research Administration with this process. This funding mechanism uses internal funding and does not require review or approval by an Office of Research Administration.
I was contemplating submitting a proposal, but one of the things I was thinking was potentially taking a section that I am proposing for my R01 and spinning that as a grant for CFAR. You may submit a CFAR Scholar Grant application only if it was a clear and distinct piece of research from the R01 in question AND it could lead to an independent and separate R01.
