Research @ U I C

Research@UIC > Campus Research Board: Guidelines

CRB Guidelines | CRB Eligibility | Grant Conditions | Review Process | CRB Contact

CRB Guidelines

Notice of Intent

Faculty who intend to submit CRB applications are asked to submit the following information:

Proposed Research Title
Five keywords describing your research
One paragraph lay summary
Name of Subcommittee to review proposal (choose one: Basic Life Sciences, Clinical Sciences, Natural Sciences & Engineering, or Social Sciences).

Please email this to ahalford@uic.edu with “Notice of Intent” in the subject line.This information is used to identify areas where additional or outside reviewers might be needed. Providing this information does not commit you to submitting an application. You may still submit a CRB application even if you do not submit a notice of intent.

What to Submit

Click here for the CRB Funding Application & Instructions

CRB requires one (1) original application, signed by the department head and principal investigator and,
Fourteen (14) additional copies, double-sided and,
One (1) electronic copy of the 1 page summary emailed to ahalford@uic.edu

Submission Deadlines

Please submit…	On or before…
Notice of Intent	Friday, February 17, 2006
CRB Funding Application	Friday, March 17, 2006, 3:00 p.m.
Note: Materials must be submitted to the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, 310 AOB, 1737 W. Polk Street MC 672, attn: A. Halford. Please do not rely on campus mail for submitting your applications, as late applications will not be accepted. 1 page summary should be emailed to ahalford@uic.edu. Materials will not be accepted after 3:00 p.m.

CRB Eligibility

Rules

Recipients with active non-CRB grants must demonstrate that the proposed CRB project does not overlap with the active grant. Failure to provide this information may result in the application's deferral from the competition, and will almost certainly result in a much lower ranking score.
If you have an active CRB grant on March 17, 2006, you are not yet eligible to apply for another grant funded by OVCR. This includes the OVCR-Arts, Architecture, & Humanities (OVCR-AAH) grants administered by the Institute for the Humanities and the Center for Research on Women and Gender grants. A PI may not have concurrent OVCR seed funding.

Please consult the table below to determine if you are eligible to submit a CRB Application:

Faculty Eligible to Submit to CRB

Faculty Ineligible to Submit to CRB

Full-time (at least .80 appointment) junior faculty are eligible to apply as a principal investigator (PI), including full-time non-tenure track Research and Clinical Faculty. Instructors are also eligible, provided they are full time and within ten years of their PH.D.
Non-tenure track faculty with less than full-time appointments at UIC, who have geographic full-time appointments with the Westside VA are also eligible to apply for the CRB. Note: Their eligibility will be subject to a case-by-case consideration. These individuals must demonstrate that they normally submit grant applications for external funds through UIC’s Office of Research Services.

Faculty with the title of either Professor or Associate Professor.
Retired UIC faculty members.
Faculty with “Visiting” as part of their title.
Previous CRB grant recipients, unless they have submitted a proposal for external funding since receiving the CRB grant. Note: An exception could be made for those who received a CRB grant for a pilot project, the results of which point to a redirection of a research project. Such a case would require careful and convincing documentation.

Grant Conditions

Awards will be announced in May 2006. Project periods run from June 1, 2006 until May 31, 2007.

Recipients Terms and Conditions

Release of Funds - In order to access funds:Grant recipients must provide the CRB Program Coordinator the following information:
- Appropriate documentation that all permissions have been secured and protocols have been approved for the CRB funded research.
- All research projects must be in compliance with the Office for the Protection of Research Subjects (OPRS) guidelines (if applicable to your research) in order to receive funding. This includes completion of required training. Please visit their website at http://www.uic.edu/depts/ovcr/oprs if you have questions.
  Note: If you are using an existing protocol, it must be updated to include this specific CRB funded research in order to be considered valid. Project delays resulting from untimely requests for relevant approvals are not grounds for requesting a project extension and may result in the termination of funding.
- Award recipients must provide a 100 – 200 word lay abstract of their research in order that OVCR and CRB can promote these project.
Account Administration and Budget Modifications
- Campus Research Board accounts assigned by the CRB may not be used for any other purpose without CRB approval
- No non-CRB funds may be added to the CRB accounts
- No budget transfers may be made to, or from, the accounts other than by the CRB
- If a CRB grant is awarded and the PI learns that s/he will be leaving UIC during the CRB award period, the PI is expected to alert the CRB Program Coordinator immediately so that the project can be closed out. CRB awards are not transferable
- Modification in the approved budget for use of funds (e.g., paying wages from research assistant funds, purchasing supplies from equipment funds, substituting equipment items) is not permitted without prior written approval of the Program Coordinator
- Research assistantships are awarded only for a specific number of assistantships, time period and percent appointment.
Account Termination - Award Recipients have one year to begin and complete projects.
- Project extensions may be considered in cases where delays are reasonable and documented to be beyond the PI ’s control.
- All bills must be paid before the expiration date unless written prior approval is obtained from the CRB Program Coordinator.
- No cost transactions may be made after the expiration date. Any overdraft must be covered prior to the end of the fiscal year in which the account expires.
- Accounts are intended to be for one year only – balances in CRB accounts revert to the CRB on the expiration date.
- Balances cannot be used for non-CRB purposes – all unexpended funds are returned to the general CRB fund to support future projects.
- The CRB reserves the right to terminate projects for a lack of progress.
Final Report - Award recipients must submit a brief report within two months of the scheduled completion of their project. For S06 recipients, this report will be due on August 1, 2007. Recipients are expected to notify the CRB upon receiving external grants leading from their CRB funded research.
Future CRB Reviews - Award recipients may be asked to review future CRB proposals.

Review Process

Proposals will be reviewed by one of four CRB subcommittees. Applicants are responsible for designating the most appropriate subcommittee on the application. CRB staff will not choose a subcommittee for you.

Review Criteria for CRB Proposals
- When preparing an application, note the following criteria that will be used to evaluate all CRB proposals:
  - Significance -- Extent to which the project, if successfully carried out, will make an original, important and/or novel contribution to the relevant field.
  - Approach -- Extent to which the conceptual framework, design, methods, and analyses are properly developed, well integrated, and appropriate to the aims of the project.
  - Feasibility -- The likelihood that the proposed work can be accomplished by the investigators, given their documented experience and expertise, past progress, preliminary data, requested and available resources, institutional commitment, and (if appropriate) documented access to special reagents, or technologies and adequacy of plans for recruitment and retention of subjects.
  - Submission -- Plan for submission to external funding agency (specify) and expected submission date.
- The following questions may be helpful in addressing the criteria described above.
  - Will the information be relevant to the field, represent novel research or have apparent applications?
  - Will results allow the investigator to be more competitive in generating extramural research funding?
  - Is the rationale easily understood, ideas easy to follow?
  - Are the hypothesis, objectives and experimental approach concise and logical?
  - Is there a clear relationship between all sections of the proposal, i.e. the background, the objectives of the project, and the methods used?
  - Has information been tailored in a coherent way for a CRB proposal?
  - Is the time frame realistic for what the investigator wants to accomplish in one year?

CRB Contact

Questions concerning the CRB may be addressed to Mr. Anthony Halford, Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research, Room 310 AOB, M/C 672; phone 312-996-7036; ahalford@uic.edu.