National Patient Safety Foundation’s Research Grants Program
NPSF Call for Letters of Intent to Conduct Research and Development in Patient Safety
Applications invited for grant projects to begin in 2011
Letter of Intent deadline: September 10, 2010
The National Patient Safety Foundation’s Research Grants Program seeks to stimulate new, innovative projects directed toward enhancing patient safety in the United States. The Program’s objective is to promote studies leading to the prevention of human errors, system errors, patient injuries, and the consequences of such adverse events in the healthcare setting. In this first stage of a two-stage application process, Letters of Intent (LOIs) are solicited for research and development that is broadly related to identifying the causes of preventable injuries and errors and/or developing prevention strategies and methods to implement them. Based on these LOIs, a limited number of applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal.
While projects that promise improved methods of patient safety with a defined and direct path to implementation into patient care settings are encouraged, of equal importance are studies of problems for which deeper understanding is needed before effective solutions can be applied. Patient care setting is considered to be any environment in which health care is provided, including but not limited to inpatient, outpatient, extended care, and home care.
Innovation and creativity are strongly encouraged, as are cross-disciplinary research teams. Because the resources of NPSF are limited, priority will be given to topics that do not have other available sources for funding. For more information, please review the Agenda for Research and Development in Patient Safety at www.npsf.org/r/npsfrd/.
NPSF research funding is made possible in part by generous contributions from NPSF Board members through their support of the NPSF Board Grant. NPSF promotes co-sponsorship initiatives with other organizations in order to increase available funding for research.
About NPSF
NPSF has been diligently pursuing one mission since its founding in 1997 – to improve the safety of the healthcare system for the patients and families it serves. NPSF is an independent, non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, and is unwavering in its determined and committed focus on uniting disciplines and organizations across the continuum of care, championing a collaborative, inclusive, multi-stakeholder approach. For more information please visit www.npsf.org.
Eligibility Requirements and Funding Availability
Awards are made to a sponsoring institution, not to individuals or departments. Applicants must be official members of a non-profit institution in the United States. Eligibility is limited to projects whose principal investigators (PIs) have not received funding as the PI of an NPSF research grant within the past three years. While there is no limit to the number of applications that may be submitted per individual or institution, NPSF will award funding to no more than one proposal per PI in a given funding cycle.
The maximum award amount is $100,000 for the entire term of the project. The maximum indirect cost rate is 15% of total direct costs, excluding equipment, and must be included in the total $100,000 maximum award. Projects may be for up to 2 years in duration. The number of grants to be awarded will depend on the nature and quality of applications received and the total funds available. In the 2010 cycle a total of 125 LOIs were received of which two were selected for funding; total funding awarded was $199,918.00.
Application Deadline
All LOI materials must be received by NPSF no later than September 10, 2010. Late arrivals will not be accepted.
Letter of Intent Format
Each application must be delivered to NPSF as five hard copies of the LOI (one original plus four copies) and an electronic copy of the LOI on CD-ROM (no email submissions). Format the electronic version as a single file in MS Word or PDF format. The LOI must be no longer than three single-sided pages, single-spaced, with a 12 pt. font size and with 1-inch margins on all sides. All pages must be numbered and include a footer with the Principal Investigator’s name. Cover letter, Research Design and Subject Area, CV, and Bibliography are not part of the three page limit. The LOI should be organized as follows:
Cover Letter: On letterhead of the institution that is sponsoring the investigation.
Title and Principal Investigator (PI): Include title of the project, the credentials, title, office address, and email address of the PI, and the PI’s primary institutional affiliation. List only one person as the PI. Identify all co-investigators, collaborators, and consultants as described below under Qualifications of Key Individuals.
Research Design and Subject Area: Please provide information about the design and disciplinary focus of the proposed research. Go to www.npsf.org/r/ to complete this required component of the application.
Executive Summary: Summarize the project. Limit to one paragraph.
Background: Describe the problem, existing knowledge about it, its importance to patient safety, and its relevance to the goals of the NPSF. Limit to 2 paragraphs.
Specific Aims: Describe what you are proposing to accomplish toward addressing the problem, i.e., what are your goals and objectives?
Methods: Describe the methods that will be employed to study the problem. Be as specific as possible without unnecessary detail. This section should be about one page, i.e., it is important to emphasize methods more than Background.
Impact: Describe how you expect the results will be used and what impact could they have in addressing the problem.
Estimated Budget and Timeline: Detail the estimated costs and indicate any funds that will be provided by the institution or other entities. Outline the timeline for completion of the work.
Qualifications of the Key Individuals Involved: Include a CV or biographical sketch of the principal investigator (2 pages maximum), listing only most relevant publications. A CV of one co-investigator (2 pages maximum) may be included if this is deemed necessary. Name other members of the research team, which should include persons from the appropriate disciplines; interdisciplinary teams are strongly encouraged. Comment on institutional support and any special characteristics.
Bibliography: Include the references of publications relevant to proposed study (one page maximum).
Do not attach any appendices. They will not be forwarded to reviewers.
Review and Announcement of Finalists
A multidisciplinary team of experts will evaluate the LOIs. Investigators will be notified of the status of their LOIs no later than November 22, 2010. The Foundation will not provide individual critiques of LOIs that are not invited to submit a full proposal.
In the second stage of the process, a limited number of applicants will be invited to submit a full proposal, for which more detailed instructions will be provided. Full proposals will be due January 31, 2011. Grant recipients will be notified no later than April 11, 2011.
Please send your hard copies and CD-ROM of the Letter of Intent to:
National Patient Safety Foundation
Attn: Anita Spielman
268 Summer Street, Sixth Floor
Boston, MA 02210
For more information: 617-391-9900
