Slots: 1
Deadlines
Internal Deadline: Friday, April 14th 2023, 5pm PT
LOI: N/A
External Deadline: June 15, 2023
Award Information
Award Type: Grant
Estimated Number of Awards: The number of awards is contingent upon NIH appropriations and the submission of a sufficient number of meritorious applications.
Anticipated Award Amount: Application may request up to $900,000 per year in direct costs including up to $250,000 for an independent research program on the evaluation and meta-analysis of exisiting modeling resources and approaches (consortium F&A costs are not included in the direct cost limit). Inflationary adjustments are not allowed. The requested budget should be consistent with the number of PDs/PIs and the complexity and needs of the proposed program.
Who May Serve as PI: Each PD/PI is required to dedicate at least 2 person-months to this effort and the contact PD/PI is required to dedicate at least 3 person-months to this effort.
Link to Award: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/pa-files/PAR-23-129.html
Process for Limited Submissions
PIs must submit their application as a Limited Submission through the Research Initiatives and Infrastructure (RII) Application Portal: https://rii.usc.edu/oor-portal/. Use the template provided here: RII Limited Submission Applicant Template
Materials to submit include:
- (1) Two-Page Proposal Summary (0.5” margins; single-spaced; font type: Arial, Helvetica, or Georgia typeface; font size: 11 pt). Page limit includes references and illustrations. Pages that exceed the 2-page limit will be excluded from review. You must use the template linked above.
- (2) CV – (5 pages maximum)
Note: The portal requires information about the PIs in addition to department and contact information, including the 10-digit USC ID#, Gender, and Ethnicity. Please have this material prepared before beginning this application.
Purpose
Objectives
This NOFO encourages applications for a MIDAS Coordination Center that will support and extend the work of the MIDAS network research groups by:
1. Providing infrastructure to collect, maintain and disseminate MIDAS-related resources
The MIDAS Coordination Center should collect, curate and share MIDAS-related resources such as data, models, software, tools, methods, etc.. The Center should make these resources available on a user-friendly website and track usage statistics. Contributed resources must adhere to Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable (FAIR) principles.
2. Acquiring and archiving harmonized and standardized infectious disease surveillance data for use by the modeling community
The MIDAS Coordination Center should identify, obtain, and make available to the research community harmonized and standardized infectious disease surveillance data for testing and evaluating infectious disease-related models. MIDAS network PDs/PIs and other relevant sources can contribute well-curated MIDAS-related datasets. The Coordination Center should proactively collect these datasets and should identify additional datasets best suited for testing specific models. The MIDAS Coordination Center will acquire bulk datasets from external resources such as private companies on behalf of MIDAS network researchers.
3. Organizing community-based activities to promote and publicize advances in infectious disease modeling science
The MIDAS Coordination Center should sponsor community-based activities, which may include workshops, modeling challenges and publication of the outcomes of these activities.
4. Performing outreach and hosting activities, including educational and mentoring activities, to cultivate the next generation of infectious disease modeling researchers
The MIDAS Coordination Center should spearhead educational efforts for MIDAS network student and postdoctoral trainees and promote diversity in the infectious disease-modeling community. These efforts may include but are not limited to broadening educational and mentoring opportunities in modeling science and sponsoring workshops to provide participants with hands-on experience in disease modeling.
5. Providing logistical support for MIDAS activities
The MIDAS Coordination Center should establish and maintain relationships with public health agencies that can benefit from access to MIDAS resources and expertise. Since the network itself is a research endeavor aimed at improving disease modeling science, the Coordination Center should not make public health recommendations.
The MIDAS Coordination Center should lead other outreach efforts, such as hosting webinars and an annual meeting to encourage collaboration and information sharing within the infectious-disease modeling community.
6. Conducting evaluation and meta-analysis of infectious-disease modeling resources and approaches
The MIDAS Coordination Center should conduct independent research. Research funding in line with the typical R01 level of support (~$250K/year Direct Cost) will be provided to enable an impactful research program on the evaluation and meta-analysis of existing modeling resources and approaches for the study of infectious disease spread and intervention.
Enhancing Diverse Perspectives
NIGMS recognizes that diverse teams working together and capitalizing on innovative ideas and distinct perspectives outperform homogeneous teams. There are many benefits that flow from a diverse scientific workforce, including: fostering scientific innovation, enhancing global competitiveness, contributing to robust learning environments, improving the quality of the research, advancing the likelihood that underserved populations participate in, and benefit from research, and enhancing public trust.
To support the best science, NIGMS encourages inclusivity in research. Examples of structures that promote diverse perspectives include but are not limited to:
- Transdisciplinary research projects and collaborations among researchers from fields such as biology, mathematics, and data sciences.
- Engagement from different types of institutions and organizations (e.g., research-intensive, undergraduate-focused, minority-serving, community-based).
- Individual applications and partnerships that enhance geographic and regional heterogeneity.
- Investigators and teams composed of researchers at different career stages.
- Participation of individuals from diverse backgrounds, including groups traditionally underrepresented in the biomedical research workforce (see NOT-OD-20-031), such as underrepresented racial and ethnic groups, those with disabilities, those from disadvantaged backgrounds, and women.
- Project-based opportunities to enhance the research environment to benefit early- and mid-career investigators.
This NOFO requires a Plan for Enhancing Diverse Perspectives (PEDP) as part of the application (see Section IV.2 SF424(R&R) Other Project Information. Other Attachments). For further information on the PEDP, please see https://braininitiative.nih.gov/about/pedp-key-elements-and-examples.
Organizational Structure of MIDAS
The MIDAS Coordination Center should build a governance team consisting of one or more PDs/PIs with expertise in modeling, data science, management of personnel in a research setting and experience with outreach, education and/or training. A multi-PD/PI structure is encouraged but not required. The Center leadership should leverage existing resources and unique institutional assets to meet the MIDAS network needs. Leadership must maintain a Steering Committee to advise on MIDAS Coordination Center resource allocation and activities.
Visit our Institutionally Limited Submission webpage for more updates and other announcements.