Deadline: 30-Jul-20
The Natural Hazards Center’s Quick Response Grant Program provides training and funds for researchers to quickly collect perishable data following disasters and other extreme events.
As an effort to expand academic knowledge, and as part of the Quick Response program training function, funded researchers will submit abstracts and brief reports to be published on the Natural Hazards website to share with a multidisciplinary network of researchers, practitioners, and educators. The program promotes social science innovation in hazards and disaster research.
The Quick Response Grant Program promotes new knowledge and perspectives by prioritizing research that fills gaps in the literature and is unlikely to be funded rapidly by other means. Although a variety of rigorous empirical research designs are acceptable, proposals that are theory-driven and use widely recognized, scientific methods to examine social, behavioral, and organizational phenomena are preferred. In addition, the program seeks to fund research that is likely to be extended or more broadly disseminated. The program also has a long history of training and supporting students and emerging researchers, and members of these groups are encouraged to apply. Principal investigators must be based at institutions within the United States.
The Quick Response Grant Program provides funds to cover expenses incurred during pre-approved fieldwork and data collection. Realistic and economical budgets demonstrating an effective use of program funds will be favored.
Funding Information
Three grants of $4,000 will be provided for funded projects.
Application Process
Please submit a complete proposal as soon as possible after a disaster occurs. Grant proposals are evaluated and awarded on an on-going basis. Your proposal should clearly state the desired beginning and end dates for data collection and address how grant funds will be used to collect perishable data.
Proposals are accepted from all U.S.-based researchers.
Proposals may take different forms, but all submissions must include the following information:
- A title, full abstract of proposed research, authors names and affiliations, and 3-5 key words.
- A brief abstract (less than 100 words) to be posted on the Natural Hazards Website.
- A maximum five-page proposal (not including references) that includes the following information and clear headings:
- Title
- A brief statement on Intellectual Merit–describing the potential of the proposed activity to advance knowledge-and Broader Impacts–describing the potential of the proposed activity to benefit society and contribute to the achievement of specific, desired research applications.
- Research Question(s)
- Brief Literature Review: this should demonstrate the authors knowledge of the area of research being proposed as well as state the expressed gaps that this research will fill.
- Proposed Research Methods: should include the sampling strategy, expected number of participants, and a detailed plan and timeline for collecting data.
- Perishable Data Statement: a justification for why the proposed research is urgent and requires a quick response; should also emphasize why the data to be collected is perishable.
- Budget Justification: an economical budget limited to expenses such as airfare, car rental, hotel, and per diem. Modest data collection costs may also be considered on a case by case basis, and especially for locally-affected researchers who may not incur travel expenses but may require other forms of support. Overhead, indirect costs, and wages are not allowed. Most budgets should be under $2,000. A maximum of $5,000 is available for an exceptional proposal that involves multiple researchers who have provided evidence that they are working across boundaries to leverage resources and assets to conduct a broader scale or more in-depth investigation.
- Exception: During the COVID-19 pandmeic, the NHC encourages researchers to submit a budget that does NOT require travel or in-person data collection. If travel is absolutely necessary, please include a statement that explains how researchers will follow current public health and safety guidelines and why this data cannot be collected remotely. They will allow additional budget categories, such as survey incentives and online data collection tools, during this time.
- Students should submit a statement explaining their qualifications and ability to implement the proposed methods and complete the work. A letter of support from an advisor and other information supporting a student’s qualifications may be required before final approval is granted.
- An official letter from the applicant’s human subjects committee approving the research, or waiving the need for approval, will be required before a Quick Response Grant is activated. The proposal may be submitted to the Quick Response Grant Program before human subjects committee approval is obtained, but they recommend that approval be sought as early as possible. If a human subjects committee approval letter is not sent with your proposal, please include a short statement about your plans for meeting this requirement.
For more information, visit https://hazards.colorado.edu/news/quick-response-news/special-call-for-quick-response-research-grant-proposals-covid-19-and-transportation
