TRAVEL FELLOWSHIPS FOR UNDERREPRESENTED MINORITY STUDENTS INCOMMUNICATION SCIENCES AND DISORDERS



NIH GUIDE, Volume 21, Number 34, September 25, 1992



PA NUMBER:  PA-92-108



P.T. 42, 48



Keywords:

  Communicative Disorders, Hearing 

  Communicative Disorders, Speech 



National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders



PURPOSE



The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

(NIDCD) encourages participation of minority students in scientific

meetings and research forums related to communication sciences and

disorders.  The purpose of this Program Announcement (PA) is to

encourage those organizations planning to submit conference grant

applications (R13) to NIDCD to include requests for support of travel

by minority students to those meetings.  In addition, conference grant

applications limited to support for minority student travel are

encouraged from the sponsoring organizers of scientific meetings and

conferences.



HEALTHY PEOPLE 2000



The Public Health Service (PHS) is committed to achieving the health

promotion and disease prevention objectives of "Healthy People 2000,"

a PHS-led national activity for setting priority areas.  This PA,

Travel Fellowships for Minority Students in Communication Sciences and

Disorders, is related to the priority area of special population

objectives.  Potential applicants may obtain a copy of "Healthy People

2000" (Full Report:  Stock No. 017-001-11474-0 or Summary Report:

Stock No. 017-001-11473-1) through the Superintendent of Documents,

Government Printing Office, Washington, DC  20402-9325 (telephone

202-783-3238).



ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS



Applications may be submitted by domestic and foreign, for-profit and

non-profit organizations, public and private, such as universities,

colleges, hospitals, laboratories, units of State and local

governments, and eligible agencies of the Federal government.

Applications from minority individuals and women are encouraged.



MECHANISM OF SUPPORT



The support mechanism for grants in this area will be the conference

grant (R13).



RESEARCH OBJECTIVES



The small number of African-American, Hispanic-American, Native

American, and Pacific Islander individuals electing research careers is

conspicuous in all areas of science.  The number of minority

researchers in this country is much lower than would be expected from

the proportion of the population comprising minorities.  Most

particularly, there is notable underrepresentation of ethnic minority

scientists in the communication sciences.  Preparation for research in

the communication sciences and disorders involves training in one or

more of a variety of disciplines, including otolaryngology,

speech-language pathology, audiology, auditory and chemosensory

psychophysics, and the anatomy, biochemistry, pharmacology and

physiology, and molecular biology and genetics related to hearing,

balance, smell, taste, voice, speech and language.  In each of these

disciplines, recruitment and retention of minority students for

research careers has lagged.



By supporting minority student attendance at scientific meetings, the

NIDCD anticipates that exposure to basic and clinical research

developments will encourage their participation in communication

sciences and disorders.  Information on research opportunities will be

made available to those students.  Attracting undergraduate, graduate,

and postdoctoral students from minority groups to the communication

sciences and disorders should increase the number of active researchers

in these areas.  The NIDCD encourages conference grant applications

(R13) which include a component related to travel support for minority

students, as well as overall support for the conference.  In addition,

conference grant applications limited to support of minority student

travel are encouraged from the sponsoring organizers of scientific

meetings and conferences.  A mentor specifically-assigned to each

student is required.



Issues to be addressed include, but are not limited to, the following:



o  A plan for the recruitment and selection of students, including

selection committee and criteria for selection

o  Number and level of students to be selected

o  Minority group(s) to be targeted

o  Advertisement of availability of travel fellowships

o  The conference:  purpose, content and scope; research elements or

foci; justification of value of conference to minority student

o  The mentor:  selection; qualifications, for example, research

expertise, previous grant support, prior mentoring experiences; role of

mentor prior to, during, and after the conference; plans for monitoring

mentor

o  Activities during conference, such as opportunities for contact with

other researchers in attendance, special workshops and discussions, and

announcement of the student recipients

o  Evaluation of the conference experience by students

o  Justification of associated costs



APPLICATION PROCEDURES



Applications are to be submitted on the grant application form PHS 398

(rev. 9/91) and will be accepted at the standard application deadlines

as indicated in the application kit.  In addition, applicants are

encouraged to obtain specific guidelines for the preparation of a

conference grant application.



Application kits and conference grant guidelines are available from

most institutional offices of sponsored research, the NIDCD Program

Administrator cited below, and the Division of Research Grants,

National Institutes of Health, Westwood Building, Room 449, Bethesda,

MD 20892, telephone (301) 496-7441.  The title and number of the

announcement must be typed in Section 2a on the face page of the

application.



The completed original application and five legible copies must be sent

or delivered to:



Division of Research Grants

National Institutes of Health

Westwood Building, Room 240

Bethesda, MD  20892**



REVIEW CONSIDERATIONS



Applications will be reviewed for scientific and technical merit

following the customary PHS peer review procedures.



AWARD CRITERIA



Applications will compete for available funds with all other

applications received.  The following will be considered in making

funding decisions:



o  Quality of the proposed project as determined by peer review

o  Availability of funds



INQUIRIES



Written and telephone inquiries concerning this PA are encouraged.  The

opportunity to clarify any issues or questions from potential

applicants is welcome.



Direct inquiries regarding programmatic issues to:



Judith A. Cooper, Ph.D.

Deputy Director, Division of Communication Sciences and Disorders

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

Executive Plaza South, Room 400-B

6120 Executive Boulevard

Rockville, MD  20892

Telephone:  (301) 496-5061

FAX:  (301) 402-6251



Direct inquiries regarding fiscal matters to:



Sharon Hunt

Grants Management Officer

National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

Executive Plaza South, Room 400-B

6120 Executive Boulevard

Rockville, MD  20892

Telephone:  (301) 402-0909



AUTHORITY AND REGULATIONS



This program is described in the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance

No. 93.173.  Awards are made under authorization of the Public Health

Service Act, Title IV, Part A (Public Law 78-410, as amended by Public

Law 99-158, 42 USC 241 and 285) and administered under PHS grants

policies and Federal Regulations 42CFR 52 and 45 CFR Part 74.  This

program is not subject to the intergovernmental review requirements of

Executive Order 12372 or Health Systems Agency review.



.

Return to 1992 Index

Return to NIH Guide Main Index

	Office of Extramural Research (OER)			National Institutes of Health (NIH) 9000 Rockville Pike Bethesda, Maryland 20892			Department of Health and Human Services (HHS)
Note: For help accessing PDF, RTF, MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Audio or Video files, see Help Downloading Files.