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ANNOUNCEMENT and REQUEST for 2025-2026 PROPOSALS 

PROPOSALS DUE AUGUST 3, 2025.

**Click here see a summary of Pilot Project Research Training awards from 2004 - 2023** 

Description

The program’s objective is to enhance occupational research training through direct support of research activities. Funds from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health will support student, postdoctoral, and early investigator research projects with 3 to 5 awards of up to $15,000 each for the budget period October 1, 2025, through June 30, 2026. Projects can only be funded for up to 8 months; no cost extensions are not possible. Preference may be given to smaller awards that can be finished in the 8-month period.

Eligibility

Applicants must be predoctoral candidates, postdoctoral fellows (including occupational medicine residents), or junior faculty not above the rank of assistant professor and without established research in the project topic area, who are (or have the possibility to be) involved in occupational health research or training. Exceptions to the rank requirement will be made for faculty not traditionally working in occupational health, in order to stimulate investigators from other fields to apply their expertise to worker health issues, particularly if their work is relevant to the NORA objectives and if there is evidence that research training capacity will be enhanced through support of their pilot work. 

Applications must be received by Sunday, August 3, 2025. Because of the reduced funding period this year, investigators must demonstrate approval of the research project by their institutional review board or animal care and use committee, as appropriate, to be eligible.

Use of Funds

Budgets will be allocated in the name of the junior faculty member or faculty advisor (for student awards) and are to be used exclusively for the described research. This support may be used for research expenses for which there are no other means of support, including supplies, domestic travel related to data collection or presentation, services such as data entry or laboratory analysis, and printing or photocopying. These funds may not be used for student tuition or stipend or for faculty salary except with prior approval. Awardees will be required to provide a final written report within 30 days of the end of the budget period, and to present their findings at a multidisciplinary occupational health symposium in the Baltimore region. 

Evaluation of Applications

A committee of professionals and academics working in the area of occupational health representing NIOSH region 3, will evaluate applications based on relevance to worker health and safety (priorities identified in NIOSH’s ), merit of the research, need for support, and potential to enhance research training capacity. Likelihood to lead to further research, inclusion of multiple stakeholders, as well as attention to diversity and outreach, will be considered strengths. As per federal regulations, any exclusion of portions of populations (e.g., based on gender or race) as potential research subjects must be specifically justified.

Application Format

Applications must include the following elements:

• Project Title
• Investigator (include biographical sketch)
• Faculty advisor (student applications only) and collaborators (include biographical sketches for advisor and/or collaborators at the end of the proposal)
• Budget and Budget Justification
  • Include an itemization of costs, with a full description and detailed justification of each item; no indirect costs should be included in the budget.​​​
  • Given the time required to set up sub-awards and the short period of performance allowed, non-JHU applications will not be considered this year.
• Description of research project (3 single-spaced pages, 11 font or larger, 0.5 margins):
  • Abstract (complete and suitable for reproduction)
  • Introduction (one paragraph) –Specify which NORA priority is addressed
  • Objectives and Research Question (one paragraph). Clearly describe the purpose of your research.
  • Research Plan: fully describe how the project is innovative, the study population, sample size, data collection methods, analytical framework and methods, expected output (publication, database, etc), expected outcome(s).
• Timeline. Please provide a detailed timeline for the 8-month project period and detailed justification of how this timeline will be met.
• References
• List of current funding sources (if any) for this project and the investigator
• Brief letter of support from faculty advisor (student applications only)
• Description of student involvement and enhancement of research training capacity (faculty applications only)
• Documentation of institutional review board or committee on animal care and use approval must be submitted before funds can be released. Highly encourage only projects with approved projects to apply.

Deadline for Applications

Submit applications electronically to Dr. Ana M. Rule at arule1@jhu.edu by Sunday, August 3, 2025. Direct any questions to Dr. Rule at arule1@jhu.edu. Expected award notification by early October.

Mentorship

Applicants can request to be paired with a mentor, who will be selected from faculty at Johns Hopkins University (with help from ERC’s external advisory board) based on expertise and area of research. Please contact Dr. Ana Rule.

Flyer

Click here to download this information as a pdf form.