Slots: 1
Deadlines
Internal Deadline: Friday, January 10, 2025, 5pm PT
LOI: February 17, 2025
External Deadline: March 18, 2025
Recurring Deadlines: January 30, 2026; January 29, 2027
Award Information
Award Type: Grant
Estimated Number of Awards: 4
Anticipated Award Amount: $6.0M
Who May Serve as PI: Standard NIH requirements.
Link to Award: https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-ES-25-002.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 (1” margins; single-spaced; standard font type, e.g. Arial, Helvetica, Times New Roman, 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#. Please have this material prepared before beginning this application.
Purpose
The NIEHS Environmental Health Sciences Core Centers (EHSCC) Program uses a P30 grant mechanism to bring together investigators currently funded by NIH or other Federal or non-Federal sources to enhance the effectiveness of existing research and extend the focus of research for environmental health sciences. An EHSCC is expected to support innovation and be on the cutting edge of science. As such, research activities should cross a variety of disciplines to bring multiple perspectives and approaches to bear on significant environmental health research questions and health impacts. The interdisciplinary nature of an EHSCC should have a synergistic effect that results in greater depth, breadth, quality, innovation and productivity beyond what individual scientists would be likely to attain by working independently and as such lead to translational research opportunities. As intellectual hubs for environmental health research, the membership of EHSCC’s is expected to include thought leaders from the field who are well-positioned to advance the goals of the 2025-2029 NIEHS Strategic Plan (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/strategicplan/.)
The overall goals for the EHSCC Program are to enhance the capabilities of existing programs in environmental health sciences, assist with building programmatic and scientific capacity, lead in the development of novel research directions, recruit and prepare future leaders in the field, and pioneer efforts in community engagement. Ultimately the EHSCC should create a flexible structure that allows center members with different expertise to come together to answer complex and/or emerging questions, capitalize on the latest scientific trends, and accelerate the translation of research. NIEHS considers community engagement and multi-directional communication as essential activities to advance the goals and relevance of an EHSCC. Therefore, the structure of the Center should facilitate multi-directional interaction with communities (broadly defined) and EHSCC members through the required Community Engagement Core (CEC). In addition, with the continued advancement of the NIEHS translational research (TR) framework for the environmental health sciences (https://www.niehs.nih.gov/translation), it is expected that an EHSCC facilitates translational research through the Translational Research Support Core by encompassing the resources within the EHSCC.he. Finally, EHSCC are expected to attract established and promising investigators into environmental health research and provide opportunities for career enhancement. In alignment with the 2025-2029 NIEHS Strategic Plan (http://www.niehs.nih.gov/about/strategicplan/.), this NOFO requires a Plan for Enhancing Diverse Perspectives (PEDP) as part of the application (see further below).
To qualify for an EHSCC, the applicant institution must have a base of ongoing, independently supported, peer-reviewed research projects clearly dedicated to the study of environmental health sciences. The research base must exist prior to the submission of an application and will be considered by program staff to determine eligibility. See Section III.1 Eligible Applicants for more detailed description of EHS base support calculation. Prior to submission of an application, the proposed Center Director is encouraged to consult with Institute Scientific/Research Staff regarding the adequacy of the research base.
Applicants are strongly encouraged to consult with the scientific contact as you plan to develop an application prior to submitting to this NOFO.
The NIEHS will hold an informational webinar/Q&A session January 16, 2025 by Zoom. Registration is required. Please register https://nih.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_lAA7DEdbQpWyZforB6lfnA#/registration .
Plan for Enhancing Diverse Perspectives (PEDP)
The NIH recognizes that teams comprised of investigators with diverse perspectives working together and capitalizing on innovative ideas and distinct viewpoints outperform homogeneous teams. There are many benefits that flow from a scientific workforce rich with diverse perspectives, 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, the NIH encourages inclusivity in research guided by the consideration of diverse perspectives. Broadly, diverse perspectives can include but are not limited to the educational background and scientific expertise of the people who perform the research; the populations who participate as human subjects in research studies; and the places where research is done.
This NOFO requires a Plan for Enhancing Diverse Perspectives (PEDP), which will be assessed as part of the scientific and technical peer review evaluation. Assessment of applications containing a PEDP are based on the scientific and technical merit of the proposed project. Consistent with federal law, the race, ethnicity, or sex of a researcher, award participant, or trainee will not be considered during the application review process or when making funding decisions. Applications that fail to include a PEDP will be considered incomplete and will be administratively withdrawn before review.
The PEDP will be submitted as Other Project Information as an attachment (see Section IV). Applicants are strongly encouraged to read the NOFO instructions carefully and view the available PEDP Guidance materials.
Investigators proposing NIH-defined clinical trials may refer to the Research Methods Resources website for information about developing statistical methods and study designs.
Visit our Institutionally Limited Submission webpage for more updates and other announcements.