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Center for Studies in Demography and Ecology

Royalty Research Fund (RRF) Spring 2020

This is to announce the Spring 2020 round of the Royalty Research Fund (RRF) grant program. The RRF proposal submission and review process is electronic – all proposals are submitted using SAGE (System to Administer Grants Electronically). Proposals are due Monday, March 2, by 5:00 PM.  Awards will be announced by June 15, 2020.

Unlike agency-funded grants, RRF grants are not awarded to supplement or continue existing successful research programs. The purpose of the RRF is to advance new directions in research, particularly:

  1. in disciplines for which external funding opportunities are minimal, and/or
  2. for faculty who are junior in rank, and/or
  3. in cases where funding may provide unique opportunities to increase applicants’ competitiveness for subsequent funding.

Proposals must demonstrate a high probability of generating important new creative activities or scholarly understandings, new scholarly materials or resources, significant data or information, or essential instrumentation resources that are likely to significantly advance the reputation of the university, lead to external funding, or lead to developing a new technology. Proposals from all disciplines are welcome, with well-justified budgets up to $40,000.

All proposals will be peer reviewed through one of the three RRF Review Committees. The evaluators are faculty colleagues and therefore will not necessarily be specialists in the applicant’s subfield. Thought should be given, therefore, to crafting the proposal so that a wider audience may understand it. Although technical field-specific information will be expected, the major features of the proposal must also be accessible to non-specialists.

The RRF application instructions, including specific directions for completing the eGC1, are currently available at the Office of Research web site located at:

http://www.washington.edu/research/or/royalty-research-fund-rrf/

As a reminder, Deans, Directors, and Chairs should only approve RRF applications for faculty and professional staff with PI status who are eligible for the program. Faculty with acting, affiliate, visiting, postdoctoral, or temporary (including limited duration) appointments are not eligible. In addition, if a UW faculty member holds an eligible rank but is based at another institution (e.g. Seattle Children’s or Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center), all of his/her extramural grants must be run through the UW in order to be eligible for an RRF award.

Should you elect to apply, please note the following additional details:

  1. Carefully read and follow all instructions. Applications that do not adhere to program rules will be returned for immediate correction and resubmission if time permits; otherwise they will not be considered for funding.
  2. Find out how much lead time is required by each unit that needs to approve your proposal and monitor it throughout the approval process. (For example, the College of Arts and Sciences Dean’s office requires that proposals reach them via SAGE by 5:00 pm on the Thursday prior to the RRF deadline.) Applications not fully approved by the deadline will not be accepted – NO EXCEPTIONS.
  3. On the Details page of the eGC1, make sure that you choose the Research Area that is most appropriate for your specific project. This will not necessarily match your official departmental affiliation, so you should review the membership of the three RRF committees (each of which covers two Research Areas) to confirm that you are making the best choice. Your proposal has a better chance of being successful if it is appropriately aligned with the expertise of the committee.
  4. Use the sample budget template on our website as a guide when preparing your proposal budget, making sure that a) you round all figures to whole dollars, b) you group items by object code, and c) you provide a subtotal for each object code.
  5. NEW THIS ROUND: Senior faculty must, in the Need for RRF Support section of the application, describe how the proposed project meets at least one of the following criteria: a) supports a genuinely new direction in the applicant’s research and/or career development, b) provides a unique opportunity to compete for subsequent one-time (or infrequently offered) funding, or c) originates in a discipline for which external funding opportunities are minimal. Note that these criteria are not new – they have been listed on the RRF home page, in the Review section, for many years. Including this information will enhance the review committees’ funding deliberations.

Don’t hesitate to contact the RRF administrative staff if you have questions about the program; new applicants should contact Peter Wilsnack, doogieh@uw.edu, 685-9316. Questions about SAGE and the eGC1 should be directed to oris@uw.edu, 685-8335.

Elder Orphans in the Community: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Data from the Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) Study

CSDE Affiliate Janelle S. Taylor from the Department of Anthropology at the University of Toronto presents her findings from a study of “elder orphans,” older adults who have no living spouse or children, and their experiences as they develop dementia. Taylor explores answers to questions such as: what life trajectories lead people to be in this situation, what caregiving resources do they access, and what turning points trigger changes in caregiving arrangements? The study employs an innovative mixed-methods analysis of existing medical research data and health records data collected by the Adult Changes in Thought (ACT) Study, a long running study of incident dementia based at Kaiser Permanente of Washington Health Research Institute.

Click here to schedule a meeting with Janelle S. Taylor.

 

CSDE Affiliates Hill, Otten, and Buszkiewicz Examine Health Effects of Minimum Wage Policy

A key motivation for increasing minimum wages is to induce positive health outcomes for adult workers. However, CSDE Affiliates Heather Hill and Jennifer Otten, along with their co-author James Buszkiewicz, find no overall association between minimum wage increases and health in their recent article published in the American Journal of Epidemiology—“State Minimum Wage Rates and Health in Working-Age Adults using the National Health Interview Survey”—this is an outcome that contrasts with results of previous studies finding positive health benefits from minimum wage policies.

The authors use a rigorous “triple difference” strategy with a sample of more than 131,000 adults to find associations between state minimum wages and adult obesity, body mass index, hypertension, diabetes, fair or poor health, and serious psychological distress. Though Hill, Otten, and Buszkiewicz find no overall association between these health factors and minimum wage, they do find varying health outcomes within different sub-groups of the sample. For example, the authors find that wage increase is associated with higher rates of obesity among people of color.

This new study can help inform policymakers as they consider minimum wage increases. In an article for UW News, Hill stated that “cities and counties are increasing minimum wages with very good intentions, which is to benefit lower-earning workers and reduce inequality, and yet we still need more research evidence on the effects of the minimum wage on health…In particular, we need to understand how it affects different types of workers differently.”

The study was published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, you can read the full version here.

*NEW* UW Royalty Research Fund Grants

Applications are open for the Fall 2020 round of the UW Royalty Research Fund (RRF) grant program. This program aims to support new directions in research, particularly in disciplines for which external funding opportunities are minimal, for faculty who are junior in rank, or in cases where funding may provide unique opportunities to increase applicants’ competitiveness for subsequent funding. Proposals from all disciplines are welcome, with budgets up to $40,000. Application instructions can be found at the Office of Research web site: http://www.washington.edu/research/or/royalty-research-fund-rrf/

Proposals must demonstrate a high probability of generating important new creative activities or scholarly understandings, new scholarly materials or resources, significant data or information, or essential instrumentation. Proposals will be peer reviewed through one of three RRF Review Committees: Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences; Basic Biological and Biomedical Sciences; and Physical Sciences and Engineering.

NEW THIS ROUND: The Suggested Reviewers Memo will be attached as a Word document to the eGC1, rather than emailing it to the RRF office. Please see the updated instructions here.

Contact the RRF administrative staff with questions about the program; new applicants should contact Peter Wilsnack, doogieh@uw.edu, 206-685-9316.

CSDE Affiliate Nicole Errett Comments on Coronavirus Shelters in New York Times

As a response to the continuing spread of the coronavirus, Chinese government officials are isolating thousands of patients with suspected symptoms in large shelters. Though such large-scale containment measures seem necessary, experts, including CSDE Affiliate Nicole Errett, shared concerns regarding the effectiveness of shelters in a recent New York Times article. Errett explains how placing patients in immense, shared areas increases chances of spreading infections and limits the emotional support patients can receive when treated at home rather than shelters.

 

The article quoted Errett “Whenever we put people in facilities together, even during a hurricane, we are concerned about them getting infectious diseases…” Errett further stated how there are certain impalpable benefits to isolating patients at home rather than in shelters. While at home, patients can stay with their loved ones where they are able to receive emotional support during a difficult time.

Errett is a lecturer in the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health at the UW School of Public Health and co-director of the UW Collaborative on Extreme Event Resilience (UW CEER). Errett was also featured in a New York Times article last week on how US hospitals are preparing for coronavirus patients.

 

Faculty Workshop: Developing Successful NIH Diversity Supplements

Faculty and post-doctorates, mark your calendars! There is an upcoming Faculty Workshop on NIH Diversity Supplements on February 27th and 28th. RSVP now using this link! The topics that will be covered during the workshop include:

  • Purpose and benefits of applying for NIH Diversity Supplements (Administrative or Minority Supplements)
  • NEW eligibility criteria, application process and components of a successful application
  • Panel discussion highlighting the experiences of current UW faculty who have been awarded Diversity Supplements

Workshop 1: Thursday Feb. 27th (Harborview Medical Center Room 1309, 1:30 – 3:45pm)
Workshop 2: Friday, Feb. 28th (Health Sciences Building K-069, 8:30 – 10:45am)

Diversity Supplements are administrative grants that tie into existing NIH grants held by faculty. They directly align with the UW Diversity Blueprint, increasing a diverse student body and future workforce. Supplements provide additional funding for research, professional development and academic support (i.e., tuition, stipend and health insurance), with funding available for up to 4 years. The average annual cost of hiring a graduate or post-doctoral student Research Assistant ranges from $65-80K. A Diversity Supplement will defray these costs by adding supplemental grant funding, so that faculty can focus on mentorship and research. Grants requests may provide up to 4 years of funding, which includes additional research funds, tuition, stipend and health insurance. 

Click the link below for more information.

UW Evans School Coalition: Summit on Race & Equity in Public Policy (2/15/2020)

The UW Evans School Coalition is proud to present: The Summit on Race and Equity in Public Policy! Come join for an exciting day discussing and exploring various topics on race and equity in the public policy and public administration fields including: Community Organizing and Public Policy with a Racial Equity Lens, How to Effectively and Equitably Involve Marginalized Communities in the Policy Process, and more! The Summit will also have some amazing keynote speakers this year. Breakfast and Lunch are included with the purchase of a ticket. 

Here is the link to purchase a ticket, and click this link for a flyer. The Evans Coalition hopes to see you on February 15th for this critical and innovative summit!

Graduate Research Assistant, UW Environmental & Occupational Health Sciences

In January 2021, the University of Washington will be the host of a National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences Disaster Research Response Workshop. The overall goal of the workshop, co-sponsored by the UW Population Health Initiative and the Department of Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, is to improve preparedness to conduct rapid environmental and health-related disaster research that concurrently advances cumulative science and is responsive to community information needs. The graduate research assistant will work with a group of interdisciplinary University of Washington faculty, staff, and students and community and governmental partners to plan workshop activities and develop disaster research capabilities.

Submit cover letter, CV, and a list of two professional references to Nicole Errett at nerrett@uw.edu by Monday, February 17, 2020.

Call for Applications: 2020-2021 U.S. Policy Communication Training Program

The Population Reference Bureau (PRB) is pleased to announce that the 2020-2021 U.S. Policy Communication Training Program is now open for applications. Applications will close February 17th, 2020.

The U.S. Policy Communication Training Program builds on PRB’s 40-year legacy of training researchers to communicate their findings for policy change. The program is designed to develop skills that U.S. researchers need to communicate with U.S. policy audiences, including decision makers and the media. Through the generous support of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), PRB will be able to fund the participation of U.S. citizens and permanent residents studying demography, population health, and reproductive health in doctoral programs at U.S. academic institutions.

If you have questions, please contact Alfred Hylton-Dei at USPolicyTraining@prb.org.