Fall 2023 Call for Graduate Student Award Proposals
TriCEM is now accepting proposals to support research on evolutionary perspectives on human, animal, and plant health. In this round of funding, we are soliciting applications from graduate students at Duke, NC State, and UNC. Awards at NC State are supported by the NC State Global One Health Academy and NCSU Genetics and Genomics Academy.
Proposed research activities should focus on evolutionary medicine, broadly defined to include research at the intersection of evolutionary biology, public health, and human, animal, and/or plant health & medicine, including One Health. For this cycle, applications from NC State should ensure that their evolutionary medicine project has a One Health component (i.e., is at the intersection of 2 or more of the following: human, animal, plant, environmental, biodiversity/ecosystem health).
Graduate Student Awards are one-year awards for graduate students to pursue research in evolutionary medicine and One Health. To be eligible, a student must be enrolled at Duke, NC State, or UNC. We expect the graduate student to lead the proposed research with the approval of their advisor and under appropriate mentorship for the research project. Awards will include the option of additional funds to support an undergraduate to serve as a research assistant on the project. To use these additional funds, we expect that the graduate student will participate in training on effective mentoring and play an active role in mentoring the undergraduate.
Previously funded research areas have included: the ecology and evolution of infectious disease; psychiatric and neurodegenerative disease; evolution of antimicrobial resistance; evolutionary perspectives in global health; evolution of aging; autoimmune disease and allergy; evolution and cancer; evolutionary perspectives on emerging plant diseases and food security; One Health and comparative medicine; and the genetic basis of disease. More information on previous projects can be found here: tricem.org/grad-students/.
Funds should be used for direct research expenses, supported by a budget and budget justification; tuition, fees, and stipends are not allowable expenses. Award amounts will vary depending on funding availability, up to $7,500. Funds for the undergraduate research assistant do not need to be accounted for in the Graduate Student Award budget.
Proposals are due on Friday, October 27th, 2023 and should follow the guidelines listed below. Please contact Dr. Johnny Uelmen (johnny.uelmen@duke.edu) with any questions.
Proposal Guidelines
Proposals are short, not to exceed 3 single-spaced (12-pt type) pages, and include a brief budget justification and references. References can be in an abbreviated format (e.g., Science or Nature style). In addition to the 3-page proposal, please include a current CV). The proposal and CV should be uploaded in a single PDF. Proposals exceeding 3 pages (not including CVs) will be returned without review.
Graduate Student Award proposals must also include a single letter of recommendation from the applicant’s faculty advisor/PI. The letter of recommendation will be submitted separately by the faculty advisor, but must also be received by the proposal deadline of October 27th, 2023. Faculty letters of recommendation should be emailed to Johnny Uelmen (johnny.uelmen@duke.edu) in PDF format by the applicant’s advisor/PI.
Proposals should be organized as follows, all within the 3 page limit:
- Program Track (please see our key research areas)
- Title (80 characters max)
- Short Title (25 characters max)
- Name and contact information for investigators (Graduate Student Awards should include this for the applicant and their Advisor/PI)
- Project Summary (250 words max)
- Public Summary (250 words max) – This should be written for the public and will be visible on the TriCEM website if funded. In most cases, this should be distinct from the project summary and avoid jargon and technical terms.
- Introduction and Goals – A statement of the outstanding question in evolutionary science being addressed and a concise review of the concept and the literature to place the project in context.
- Proposed Activities – This should include a clear statement of specific outline of hypotheses, predictions, and methods (including planned statistical analyses), as well as any data (include citations or urls) and analytical tools that will be required for the project.
- Rationale for TriCEM support – Why can this activity be most effectively conducted through TriCEM? Please explicitly address the proposal’s relevance to evolutionary medicine, both in terms of the evolutionary and ecological perspectives underlying the work and its link to health or disease. For applicants from NC State, please also address the proposal’s relevance to One Health.
- Proposed Timetable – Include start date (month and year) and periods for data collection, analysis, and report writing. For successful spring 2023 applicants, the funding period is expected to be June 15, 2023 through June 15, 2024.
- Outcomes – Proposals should include a clear statement about the expected outcomes, including anticipated research products (papers, presentations, etc.).
- Budget justification –Proposals must include a brief budget justification with the total amount requested and a simplified breakdown of expenses.
- References – Literature cited in the text of the proposal should be included at the end, using the abbreviated reference style of a journal such as Science or Nature. References count toward the page limit, and should be included within the 3 allowable pages. References may be smaller than 12 pt. font, as long as still legible.
Proposal Submission
Proposals will be accepted as a single PDF file, including CV(s), with the exception of Graduate Student Award letters of recommendation submitted as described above. Graphics should be embedded directly into the proposal document. Proposals should be submitted via this form. For submission, please ensure that your document is named in the format “LastName_FirstName.pdf”.
