Supported by grant NIH U24AT011281
Letter of Intent Due Date EXTENDED: 2/01/2022 @11:59 PM EST
Summary:
The University of Connecticut (UConn) M3EWB (Mechanisms Underlying Mind-Body Interventions and Measurement of Emotional Well-Being) Network is requesting applications to support researchers around the country to conduct small-scale research studies of up to one year duration on emotional well-being (EWB). This funding opportunity focuses on advances in EWB-related measurement. A second opportunity will be announced in the fall of 2022 that focuses on mechanisms.
Who we are:
The UConn M3EWB Network is part of a collaborative web of research hubs funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH U24AT011281) to advance the study of a variety of facets of EWB. The M3EWB network aims to: (1) build consensus on a definition of EWB, (2) compile validated measures of EWB, (3) contribute to fill existing gaps in this measurement area, and (4) investigate the relationship between mind-body interventions and EWB (i.e., whereby EWB may be a mediator of improved mental and physical health or an important outcome in itself).
Funding Opportunity Announcement Number:
RFA-M3EWB-2022A
Key Dates:
• Deadline for Letter of Intent (LOI): 1/15/2022
• Invitation to submit full proposal: 2/1/2022
• Deadline of full proposal: 3/15/2022
• Notification of award: 4/1/2022
• Proposed start date: 7/1/2022
Funding
• The M3EWB Networks plans to fund:
o 5 grants with a budget up to $5,000 in total cost per grant o 3 grants with a budget up to $30,000 in total cost per grant
• Those who will be collecting MRI data at UConn, regardless of their affiliation, may additionally request up to 20 hours of MRI scan time or equivalent amount of time on other major equipment (e.g., high density EEG, TMS), which equals an additional $10,000 of resources.
• Duration of the grant is one year with a possible 6-month no-cost extension.
• The grant does not fund indirect costs. All funds must go directly towards the research project.
Eligibility
• Principal Investigators (PIs) must possess the skills, knowledge, and resources necessary to carry out the proposed research.
• Full-time faculty/staff at a domestic or foreign, public or private, non-profit or for-profit organizations are eligible to be a PI.
• Early career investigators including doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows, and research staff may also apply as PI, but require their faculty mentor/supervisor to be Co-PI.
• Projects should be staffed appropriately with expertise/experience and time commitment needed to carry out the project.
• PI/Co-PIs may only submit one proposal except for mentors/supervisors, although they may be co-investigators on other projects.
• PIs must be members of the M3EWB network or have applied to become a member at the time of application. To apply for M3EWB membership click here.
• PIs are not required to be U.S. citizens or permanent residents.
Scope
• Applications must address EWB, which is defined as: o A multi-dimensional composite that encompasses how an individual feels generally, in the moment, and about life overall.
o It has both experiential features such as the emotional quality of everyday experiences and reflective features such as judgement about: life satisfaction, sense of meaning, and ability to pursue goals that can include and extend beyond the self.
o These features occur in the context of culture, life circumstances, resources, and the life course.
• Investigators should conduct studies to develop and/or validate essential subjective and objective measures of EWB (e.g., self-report, functional MRI, cardiovascular indices), or examine their utility across a developmental continuum, or consider their interrelationships (e.g., comparison of self-report and biomarkers of specific aspects of EWB).
o Investigators are encouraged to capitalize on already ongoing or planned studies as opportunities to add and test EWB measures, and investigators are encouraged to include diverse populations (age, life course, race, ethnicity, health/illness).
o Work focused on children is encouraged, such as projects that (a) provide validation for use of adult measures in diverse child populations, (b) defines lower limits of age or cognitive functioning for reliable self-report, and/or (c) informs understanding of relationships between self-report and objective measures such as neuroimaging.
• A variety of activities may fall within the scientific scope of this RFA. These include but are not limited to one or more of the following: o Create a new measure of an aspect of EWB (e.g., wellness, positive emotions, life satisfaction) in a population where none exist.
o Validate a previously developed measure in a new way.
o Conduct psychometric investigations of EWB measures that focus on gender or cultural sensitivity.
o Analyze existing large-scale task-based functional MRI dataset that was aimed to target EWB, and examine reliability and validity of the functional MRI task.
• Unresponsive topics are those that exclusively focus on o Psychopathology or negative affect alone in the absence of an EWB measure or context.
o Mental health alone in the absence of an EWB measure or context.
o Health-related quality of life alone in the absence of an EWB measure or context.
Letter of Intent (LOI) Information:
A LOI is required for this proposal to ensure proposals fit with the RFA. Although non-binding, any major alterations without permission to the personnel or main content may be rejected without review. The information that it contains also allows for planning of the review.
By the date listed above, prospective applicants must submit an online application with a LOI that includes the following information:
• Descriptive title of proposed study
• Name(s), address(es), and telephone number(s) of the PI(s)
• Names of other key personnel
• Participating Institution(s)
• An abstract describing the aims, significance, and activities of the proposed project (800 words maximum).
The online LOI form can be found here.
Steps after LOI is approved:
• Detailed instructions on full proposals will be given to approved LOIs by February 1, 2022.
• The full proposal is due March 15. 2022.
• Full grant proposals will be no more than 6 pages in length including full details of the proposed budget. Budget proposals should be ½ page.
• PIs who are awarded research funds must provide all necessary documentation (including Human Subjects Protection, Data and Safety Monitoring) from their respective Institutional Review Boards before starting the research.
• The project should commence by July 1, 2022.