Community Engagement Pilot Program

The Office of Community Engagement (OCE) in the School of Medicine is soliciting applications for Pilot Grants for Community Engagement research projects. The projects must have a community engagement component. Research teams new to community engaged research are encouraged to apply. Please note, a community co-PI is required to be part of proposals.

Proposals should specifically address any or all of the following, as much as feasible:

1. Health equity and working with vulnerable groups, broadly defined.
2. Demonstrate knowledge of community based participatory research (CBPR) theoretical framework.
3. How the research team plans to engage community partners
4. How the proposed project is responsive to community partners’ needs

For research teams looking to identify community partners, the Office of Community Engagement maintains a database of community-based organizations. The table below includes organizations that have submitted project proposals to the Office of Community Engagement (projects are current as of November 2019). We encourage interested teams to reach out to OCE staff prior to initiating conversations with prospective partners listed on the table below.

Total funding available: $75,000 for an anticipated total of 3-5 awardees. Typical grants will range between $15,000 and $50,000 for one year and must be completed in that timeframe. All unexpended funds will be forfeited if not spent within the 12-month award period. The Office of Community Engagement encourages investigators to consider submitting requests less than the $50,000 maximum, as this may increase the probability of being funded and will enable the award of more grants in this cycle.

Open to Stanford faculty with PI eligibility (with UTL, MCL, NTLR faculty appointments), Clinical Educator (CE) faculty, clinical instructors, instructors, graduate students and postdoctoral scholars (clinical and non-clinical) are required to include a PI-eligible faculty member as co-PI on the application. A community partner is required to be co-PI on the application.

Letter of Intent (LOI) Submission

Format:

• Page specifications:
  
  • 8.5 x 11” page size
  • At least 0.50” margins on all sides
  • At least 11-point font size
• Save your documents as PDFs to upload to Qualtrics (online submission)
  

Applications Must Include The Following Information:

• A cover sheet that includes:
  • Title of proposal
  • PI name title, email and department
  • Mentor name (if applicable)
  • Co-investigator names, emails and departments – a representative of a community partner organization is required to be co-PI
  • Amount of funding requested
• Specific Aim (1-page limit, at least 11-point font):
  • Submit in standard NIH format (Arial font is preferred)
  • Provide a summary of the background, major goals, and specific aims
• Budget (not part of page limit)
  • Allowable expenditures include: investigator’s salary, research personnel salaries, travel (if project-related) and project supplies.
  • Unallowable expenditures include: capital equipment costing more than $5,000, intellectual property services, and food are unallowable expenses.
  • Budget-sharing information from community co-PI.
  • Do not include indirect cost expenses.
• Bios of all relevant staff (including staff working at co-PI organization) involved in the project. (One paragraph maximum each person; not part of page limit.)
• Letter of Support: From faculty mentor or department chair; letter of support from community co-PI is also required.
• Note:
  
  • References may be included and are not part of the page limit.
  • Do not include appendices to the LOI.
  • Applications that do not comply with the requirements will not be considered for review.
    

The award process is as follows:

• Submit Letter of Intent. Letters of Intent (LOI) should provide a 1-page overview of the project’s specific aims.
• Present research idea at “Shark Tank” style event.
  • Invitations to present will be communicated to the most competitive applicants.
  • A “Shark Tank” event will be held. Finalists will be allocated twenty minutes to present their research idea (ten minutes to present and ten minutes for Q&A). Judges, the “sharks,” will announce the winners at the event. In addition to members of the Stanford community, judges will include external affiliates and experts.
  • Awardees will be notified, and grants will be formally awarded.
• Presentation of Research Findings. Awardees will be required to present research through poster at the annual Stanford University Community Health Symposium.

In general, judges will select applications for consideration as finalists that have made convincing arguments that the investigator(s) is proposing a bold idea or approach that can have a major impact on health at the population level.

Letter of Intent Submission: Although a proposal may span several areas, projects will be awarded only one Stanford CTSA Pilot Grant per annual grant cycle.

Pilot Grant Application Requirements and Awardee Policies

For questions regarding application process and requirements, contact:

• Stanford CTSA Pilot Program Manager

For questions regarding scope of the proposal, criteria for awards, or the review process, contact:

• Associate Director for Community Partnerships