More on McPew
Stephen Hanson
jose at scr.siemens.com
Wed Oct 19 13:56:10 EDT 1994
Good Luck, Steve
The McDonnell-Pew Program in Cognitive Neuroscience
Investigator-Initiated Grants 1994-1995
The McDonnell-Pew Program in Cognitive Neuroscience is a
collaborative effort established by the James S. McDonnell
Foundation, St. Louis, Missouri and the Pew Charitable Trusts,
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to support research. Since its
inception in 1990, the Program has awarded $21.5 million in
support of institutional centers and individual investigators.
Cognitive neuroscience attempts to understand human mental
events by specifying how neural tissue carries out computations.
Work in cognitive neuroscience is multidisciplinary, drawing on
developments in clinical and basic neuroscience, computer science,
psychology, linguistics and philosophy.
The McDonnell-Pew Program does not support research based on
descriptions of psychological function that do not address
underlying brain mechanisms or neuroscientific descriptions that
do not speak to psychological function.
The Program has two components:
1) Institutional Center grants that established large research and
training programs; all Center grants have been awarded.
2) Investigator-initiated grants supporting interdisciplinary
training and providing seed funds for collaborative research.
The Program accepts investigator-initiated grants as described
in this brochure.
Program goals:
The Program will preferentially support innovative,
interdisciplinary research of the highest caliber that is unlikely to
be funded from traditional sources. The Program hopes to
encourage researchers to seek interdisciplinary training and
collaborations with persons outside their own discipline.
The Program particularly encourages research on higher cognitive
functions including, high-order vision, language, planning, and
problem-solving. The cognitive question to be studied and the
neuroscientific methods to be applied must be clearly
articulated in the research proposal.
The awards will provide a maximum of $35,000 per year for up to
3 years. Indirect costs are included in the $35,000 maximum and
cannot exceed 10% of total salaries plus fringe benefits. An
individual cannot receive support from more than one investigator-
initiated grant. The grants are non-renewable.
Examples of the types of research proposals sought by the program
include:
using neurobiological methods to study higher cognitive
processes
applying formal modelling techniques to cognitive functions,
including emotions and higher thought processes
dveloping new theories of the human mind/brain systems using
sensing (EEG, MEG) or imaging techniques (PET, MRI) to
observe the brain during conscious activity.
Preference will be given to training proposals that exemplify multi-
disciplinary and collaborative research as described below:
a junior scientist pursuing a research project in the laboratory
of a senior scientist in a different field of cognitive
neuroscience;
collaborations between two or more scientists representing
different subdisciplines of cognitive neuroscience;
a scientist with expertise in a subdiscipline of cognitive
neuroscience obtaining hands-on training in a new
methodology or technique to be used in the study of higher
cognitive function.
Eligibility:
Individual investigators at institutions with McDonnell-Pew
Center grants, who are already receiving support from a
McDonnell-Pew Center grant are not eligible for the
investigator-initiated grant program. Researchers who are at
institutions that have been awarded a McDonnell-Pew Center grant
but who do not receive any support from the Center are eligible.
There are no US citizenship restrictions or requirements, nor must
the proposed work be conducted at a US institution, providing the
sponsoring organization qualifies as tax-exempt under IRS
guidelines (see the "Applications" section of this brochure).
The Program described in this brochure will not support
dissertation research, workshops, conferences, or travel for the
purpose of attending meetings.
Proposals to investigate basic neurobiology unrelated to
human, higher-order cognition will not be funded.
Application guidelines:
Applicants should submit five (5) copies of the following
information:
1) A completed cover sheet (enclosed);
2) A brief, one-page abstract describing the proposed work;
3) A brief, itemized budget that includes direct and indirect costs
(indirect costs may not exceed 10 percent of total salaries and
fringe benefits);
4) A budget justification;
5) A narrative proposal (not to exceed 5,000 words) that describes
the cognitive question to be investigated and all
methodological approaches in sufficient detail to allow the
proposal to be evaluated by the advisory board. If the
application is requesting support for training, a description of
the training plan and the relationship of the training to the
applicant's research goals should be included;
6) Curriculum vitae for each of the participating investigators;
7) An authorized document indicating clearance for the use of
human and animal subjects;
8) An endorsement letter from the officer of the sponsoring
institution who will be responsible for administering the grant.
One copy of each of the following items must also be submitted
along with the proposal. These documents can be obtained 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 the
sponsoring organization is not listed as a private foundation
under section 509(a) of the Internal Revenue Service Code.
No other documents should be appended to the application.
Submissions will be reviewed by the program's advisory board.
Applications must be received in the Foundation office no later
than February 20, 1995. Incomplete or late proposals will not be
reviewed.
Contact:
Susan M. Fitzpatrick, Ph.D.
McDonnell-Pew Program in Cognitive
Neuroscience
James S. McDonnell Foundation
1034 South Brentwood Blvd., Suite 1610
St. Louis, Missouri 63117
Phone: 314/721-1532
e-mail: C 6819CN at WUVMD.WUSTL.edu
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