Deadline: 14-Mar-23
The Administrator of the Administration for Community Living invites applications for new awards for fiscal year 2023 for the Minority Serving Institutions Field Initiated (MSI FI) Projects Program to carry out either research or development activities.
Purpose
- The purpose of the Field Initiated (FI) Projects program is to develop knowledge, methods, procedures, and rehabilitation technology that maximize the full inclusion and integration into society, employment, independent living, family support, and economic and social self-sufficiency of individuals with disabilities, especially those with the highest support needs
- The purpose of this competition is to improve the capacity of minority entities to conduct high-quality disability and rehabilitation research. NIDILRR will accomplish this by limiting eligibility for this competition to minority entities and Indian tribes. NIDILRR makes two types of awards under the FI Projects program: research grants and development grants.
- In carrying out a research activity under a FI Projects research grant, a grantee must identify one or more hypotheses or research questions and, based on the hypotheses or research questions identified, perform an intensive, systematic study directed toward producing (1) new scientific knowledge or (2) better understanding of the subject, problem studied, or body of knowledge.
- NIDILRR plans to make two MSI FI awards. NIDILRR’s MSI FI awards may be research projects or development projects, depending on the ranking of applications provided by the peer review panel.
- The Plan is organized around the following outcome domains: (1) community living and participation; (2) health and function; and (3) employment. Applicants for FI projects must specify in their abstract and project narrative which major outcome domain their proposed project will focus on. Although applicants may propose projects that address more than one domain, they should select the primary domain addressed in their proposed project.
- An applicant must demonstrate, in its original application, that people with disabilities from diverse racial and ethnic communities will be included in proposed samples in sufficient numbers to generate knowledge and products that are relevant to the racial and ethnic diversity of the population of people with disabilities being studied. The applicant must describe and justify, in its original application, the planned racial and ethnic distribution of people with disabilities who will participate in the proposed research or development activities.
- Applicants must ensure that all materials, websites and information technology tools and products that they plan to develop or maintain are accessible, and that electronic materials are produced in full compliance. Applications must demonstrate an ability to meet these requirements.
- FI Projects research applicants must define the stage or stages of research that they propose to conduct. Any rigorous quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods research can be appropriate, depending on the hypothesis or research question being addressed by the applicant. NIDILRR does not have an absolute preference for one methodological approach or research stage. If the FI Projects grant is to conduct research that can be categorized under more than one stage including research that progresses from one stage to another, those stages must be clearly specified.
- Exploration and discovery means the stage of research that generates hypotheses or theories through new and refined analyses of data, producing observational findings and creating other sources of research-based information. This research stage may include identifying or describing the barriers to and facilitators of improved outcomes of individuals with disabilities, as well as identifying or describing existing practices, programs, or policies that are associated with important aspects of the lives of individuals with disabilities. Results achieved under this stage of research may inform the development of interventions or lead to evaluations of interventions or policies. The results of the exploration and discovery stage of research may also be used to inform decisions or priorities.
- Intervention development means the stage of research that focuses on generating and testing interventions that have the potential to improve outcomes for individuals with disabilities. Intervention development involves determining the active components of possible interventions, developing measures that would be required to illustrate outcomes, specifying target populations, conducting field tests, and assessing the feasibility of conducting a well-designed intervention study. Results from this stage of research may be used to inform the design of a study to test the efficacy of an intervention.
- Intervention efficacy means the stage of research during which a project evaluates and tests whether an intervention is feasible, practical, and has the potential to yield positive outcomes for individuals with disabilities. Efficacy research may assess the strength of the relationships between an intervention and outcomes and may identify factors or individual characteristics that affect the relationship between the intervention and outcomes. Efficacy research can inform decisions about whether there is sufficient evidence to support “scaling-up” an intervention to other sites and contexts. This stage of research may include assessing the training needed for wide-scale implementation of the intervention and approaches to evaluation of the intervention in real-world applications.
- Scale-up evaluation means the stage of research during which a project analyzes whether an intervention is effective in producing improved outcomes for individuals with disabilities when implemented in a real-world setting. During this stage of research, a project tests the outcomes of an evidence-based intervention in different settings. The project examines the challenges to successful replication of the intervention and the circumstances and activities that contribute to successful adoption of the intervention in real-world settings. This stage of research may also include well-designed studies of an intervention that has been widely adopted in practice, but lacks a sufficient evidence base to demonstrate its effectiveness.
Funding Information
- Estimated Total Funding: $200,000
- Expected Number of Awards: 1
- Award Ceiling: $200,000
- Per Budget Period Award Floor: $195,000
- Length of Project Period: 36-month project period with three 12-month budget periods
Eligibility Criteria
- Eligible Applicants:
- Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized)
- Public and State controlled institutions of higher education
- Private institutions of higher education
- Others
- Additional Information on Eligibility:
- Parties eligible to apply for MSI FI grants are limited to minority entities and Indian Tribes. A minority entity is defined as a Historically Black College or University (HCBU), a Hispanic-serving institution of higher education, an American Indian tribal college or university, or another IHE whose minority student enrollment is at least 50 percent.
- NIDILRR is especially interested in applications from individual minority entities that have historically been underrepresented in the Federal research arena.
- Foreign entities are not eligible to compete for, or receive, awards made under this announcement.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
