RFP Research - McDonnell-Pew Program
Cognitive Neuroscience
cns at clarity.Princeton.EDU
Tue Aug 17 11:30:02 EDT 1993
McDonnell-Pew Program
in Cognitive Neuroscience
SEPTEMBER 1993
Individual Grants-in-Aid
for Research
Program supported jointly by the
James S. McDonnell Foundation
and The Pew Charitable Trusts
INTRODUCTION
The McDonnell-Pew Program in Cognitive Neuroscience has been
created jointly by the James S. McDonnell Foundation and The Pew Charitable
Trusts to promote the development of cognitive neuroscience. The foundations
have allocated $20 million over a five-year period for this program.
Cognitive neuroscience attempts to understand human mental events by
specifying how neural tissue carries out computations. Work in cognitive
neuroscience is interdisciplinary in character, drawing on developments in
clinical and basic neuroscience, computer science, psychology, linguistics,
and philosophy. Cognitive neuroscience excludes descriptions of psychological
function that do not address the underlying brain mechanisms and
neuroscientific descriptions that do not speak to psychological function.
The program has three components.
(1) Institutional grants, which have already been awarded,
for the purpose of creating centers where cognitive
scientists and neuroscientists can work together.
(2) Small grants-in-aid, presently being awarded, for individual
research projects to encourage Ph.D. and M.D. investigators
in cognitive neuroscience.
(3) Small grants-in-aid, presently being awarded, for individual
training projects to encourage Ph.D. and M.D. investigators
to acquire skills for interdisciplinary research.
This brochure describes the individual grants-in-aid for research.
RESEARCH GRANTS
The McDonnell-Pew Program in Cognitive Neuroscience will issue a
limited number of awards to support collaborative work by cognitive
neuroscientists. Applications are sought for projects of exceptional merit
that are not currently fundable through other channels and from investigators
who are not at institutions already funded by an institutional grant from
the program. In order to distribute available funds as widely as possible,
preference will be given to applicants who have not received previous grants
under this program.
Preference will be given to projects that are interdisciplinary in
character. The goals of the program are to encourage broad participation
in the development of the field and to facilitate the participation of
investigators outside the major centers of cognitive neuroscience.
There are no U.S. citizenship restrictions or requirements, nor does
the proposed work need to be conducted at a U.S. institution, providing the
sponsoring organization qualifies as tax-exempt as described in the
"Applications" section of this brochure. Ph.D. thesis research of graduate
students will not be funded.
Grant support under the research component is limited to $30,000
per year for two years. Indirect costs are to be included in the $30,000
maximum and may not exceed 10 percent of total salaries and fringe
benefits. These grants are not renewable after two years.
The program is looking for innovative proposals that would, for
example:
* combine experimental data from cognitive psychology and neuroscience;
* explore the implications of neurobiological methods for the study
of the higher cognitive processes;
* bring formal modeling techniques to bear on cognition, including
emotions and higher thought processes;
* use sensing or imaging techniques to observe the brain during
conscious activity;
* make imaginative use of patient populations to analyze cognition;
* develop new theories of the human mind/brain system.
This list of examples is necessarily incomplete but should suggest the
general kind of proposals desired. Ideally, a small grant-in-aid for
research should facilitate the initial exploration of a novel or risky
idea, with success leading to more extensive funding from other sources.
APPLICATIONS
Applicants should submit five copies of the following information:
* a brief, one-page abstract describing the proposed work;
* a brief, itemized budget that includes direct and indirect
costs (indirect costs may not exceed 10 percent of total
salaries and fringe benefits);
* a budget justification;
* a narrative proposal that does not exceed 5,000 words; the
5,000-word proposal should include:
1) a description of the work to be done and where
it might lead;
2) an account of the investigator's professional
qualifications to do the work;
3) an account of any plans to collaborate with other
cognitive neuroscientists;
4) a brief description of the available research
facilities;
* curriculum(a) vitae of the participating investigator(s);
* an authorized document indicating clearance for the use of
human and animal subjects;
* an endoresement letter from the officer of the sponsoring
institution who will be responsible for administering the
grant.
One copy of the following items must also be submitted along with the
proposal. These documents should be readily available from the sponsoring
institution's grants or development office.
* A copy of the IRS determination letter, or the international
equivalent, stating that the sponsoring organization is a nonprofit,
tax-exempt institution classified as a 501(c)(3) organization.
* A copy of the IRS determination letter stating that your organization
is not listed as a private foundation under section 509(a) of the
Internal Revenue Service Code.
* A statement on the sponsoring institution's letterhead, following
the wording on Attachment A and signed by an officer of the
institution, certifying that the status or purpose of the
organization has not changed since the issuance of the IRS
determinations. (If your organization's name has changed, include
a copy of the IRS document reflecting this change.)
* An audited financial statement of the most recently completed fiscal
year of the sponsoring organization.
* A current list of the names and professional affiliations of the
members of the organization's board of trustees and the names and
titles of the principal officers.
Other appended documents will not be accepted for evaluation and will be
returned to the applicant. Any incomplete proposals will also be returned
to the applicant.
Submissions will be reviewed by the program's advisory board.
Applications must be postmarked on or before FEBRUARY 1 to be considered
for review.
INFORMATION
McDonnell-Pew Program in Cognitive Neuroscience
Green Hall 1-N-6
Princeton University
Princeton, New Jersey 08544-1010
Telephone: 609-258-5014
Facsimile: 609-258-3031
Email: cns at clarity.princeton.edu
ADVISORY BOARD
Emilio Bizzi, M.D.
Eugene McDermott Professor in the Brain
Sciences and Human Behavior
Chairman, Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences
Massachusetts Institute of Technology, E25-526
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139
Sheila E. Blumstein, Ph.D.
Professor of Cognitive and Linguistic Sciences
Dean of the College
Brown University
University Hall, Room 218
Providence, Rhode Island 02912
Stephen J. Hanson, Ph.D.
Head, Learning Systems Department
Siemens Corporate Research
755 College Road East
Princeton, New Jersey 08540
Jon H. Kaas, Ph.D.
Centennial Professor
Department of Psychology
Vanderbilt University
301 Wilson Hall
111 21st Avenue South
Nashville, Tennessee 37240
George A. Miller, Ph.D.
Director, McDonnell-Pew Program in Cognitive Neuroscience
James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychology
Princeton University
Princeton, New Jersey 08544-1010
Mortimer Mishkin, Ph.D.
Chief, Laboratory of Neurpsychology
National Institute of Mental Health
9000 Rockville Pike
Building 49, Room 1B80
Bethesda, Maryland 20892
Marcus E. Raichle, M.D.
Professor of Neurology and Radiology
Division of Radiation Sciences
Washington University School of Medicine
Campus Box 8225
510 S. Kingshighway Boulevard
St. Louis, Missouri 63110
Endel Tulving, Ph.D.
Tanenbaum Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience
Rotman Research Institute of Baycrest Centre
3560 Bathurst Street
North York, Ontario M6A 2E1
Canada
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