[CCoE Notice] CORRECTED: Request for Proposals: UH/HMRI Graduate Fellowships in Translational Research

[Grayson, Audrey A]

Request for Proposals:
UH/HMRI Graduate Fellowships in Translational Research

The University of Houston Cullen College of Engineering and The Methodist Hospital Research Institute are pleased to announce a unique fellowship opportunity for Ph.D. students who wish to pursue a degree in engineering and translational biomedical research.  The awardees of this fellowship will be enrolled in a Ph.D. program in the Cullen College of Engineering at the University of Houston (UH) and will be co-mentored by faculty from UH and The Houston Methodist Research Institute (HMRI). The Fellows will have the opportunity to work in UH and TMHRI laboratories during their co-mentored doctoral research.

GRADUATE STUDENT FELLOWSHIPS (Up to 3 Fellowships Awarded)

The total annual cost of supporting a Fellow is currently $49,984 (including tuition, fees, stipend, benefits, and fellow support). For the first two years of the fellowship, the costs are shared as follows: 1/3 Methodist Academy, 1/3 UH Cullen College of Engineering, 1/3 divided among UH and TMHRI mentors (1/6 per mentor). Each mentor is expected to pay approximately $5,450 for each of the first two years.  After Year 2, the UH and TMHRI mentors are expected to support the full cost of the students. The sharing of these costs will be negotiated between the co-mentors.

MEMBER INSTITUTIONS
•                The Methodist Hospital Research Institute
•                The University of Houston

FACULTY ELIGIBILITY
•       Primary Members at TMHRI (not affiliate members)
•       Primary Faculty at UH Cullen College of Engineering (not adjunct faculty)

KEY DATES
Full Proposals due:                October 30, 2013 5:00pm (CST)
Applicants will be notified:     November 15 2013
Planned Start for Fellows:      Fall 2014

OBJECTIVE
The UH/TMHRI Graduate Fellowship is designed for UH and TMHRI faculty to co-mentor highly competitive graduate students through an innovative clinical translational research project. The co-mentors are highly encouraged to seek external funding for future student stipends and laboratory research costs.

UH/TMHRI GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP PROPOSAL REQUIREMENTS

The proposals will adhere to the following guidelines:

•       Proposals are expected to describe the relevance of a joint research project to clinical translation in engineering. Proposals are not limited to any particular areas of engineering, but the components should be clearly defined, and the proposals should be directly relevant to a clinical goal.

•       The Graduate Fellowship proposal will require cross-disciplinary collaboration between at least one (1) mentor from UH and one (1) mentor from TMHRI.

•       The proposal should include a plan to recruit an exceptional student. The student’s credentials should exceed the criteria for unconditional admission to the PhD program in the UH College of Engineering, and should be endorsed by both mentors.

•       Co-mentors must show funding available to support students as follows:
o   Year 1 and Year 2: 1/6 of student total annual costs (including tuition, fees, stipend, benefits, and fellow support) which is  currently approximately $5,450 each year
o   A plan to establish funding for the Graduate Fellow beyond Year 2.


Proposal Submission Process
Please submit proposals via email by 5:00pm (CST), October 30, 2013 to Amy Wright (aswright at tmhs.org<mailto:aswright at tmhs.org>).

APPLICATION CONTENT AND FORM
Applications must be prepared under the following guidelines. The proposal should utilize 12-point font with at least one-inch margins. Submit applications as a single document, preferably in PDF format. Applications that do not adhere to these guidelines will be returned without review.

1. Title and Affiliations: Page 1 will include the title, names and affiliations of the Collaborating Mentors and any additional co-mentors involved in the project.

2. Short Description of Research: A brief one-page abstract that describes the current research of each of the PIs

3. Project Statement: Page 3 will be a one-paragraph abstract (limit 500 words) that clearly includes a project statement that will be the focus of the application, the planned co-mentored approach, specific goals of the project, a synergy statement about the collaboration between the two institutions and the potential translational significance.

4. Biographical Sketches. Provide a biographical sketch of the Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator. Limit to two (2) pages each with relevant publications using the standard NIH format. If the biosketch of the graduate fellow is available, please include it.

5. Funding and Infrastructure: Please list current funding/grants and unique resources/facilities available to support student stipend and the research project.


REVIEW & IMPLEMENTATION PROCESS
1. The UH/TMHRI Joint Steering Committee will serve in an advisory role to the UH Dean of Cullen College of Engineering, Dr. Joseph Tedesco and TMHRI President and CEO, Dr. Mauro Ferrari and will consist of at least three (3) individuals from both UH and TMHRI institutions. This committee will screen applications for technical merit and will provide a subset for further review and final evaluation by Dean Tedesco and Dr. Ferrari.

2. Dr. Tedesco and Dr. Ferrari will perform the final review and select the co-mentor recipients by November 15, 2013

3. The co-mentors will be expected to recruit an exceptional student in time for the Fall 2014 semester. The joint steering committee will review and approve the credentials of the students.


QUESTIONS?
Please direct any questions regarding this RFP to Amy Wright, Program Manager, aswright at tmhs.org<mailto:aswright at tmhs.org>, (713) 441-7267.

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://Bug.EGR.UH.EDU/pipermail/engi-dist/attachments/20131007/3f68e1fb/attachment-0001.html