Introduction

This page lists key dates for all the research programs and discusses procedures and processes common to all of the research grant categories.

For additional information, download the Program Announcement (33 pages). You may also contact grantsapp@alz.org or call 312.335.5747.

Key dates 2008

For more detailed information about specific types of grants, please click on the grant categories below.
Grant Category	New Investigator Research Grants*	Investigator Initiated Research Grants*	The Senator Mark Hatfield Award for Clinical Research	The Zenith Fellows Award	Everyday Technolo-gies in Alzheimer Care (ETAC)
Letter of intent:	Open Receipt Date: September 24, 2007 Deadline Date: December 1, 2007 5:00 PM EST
Application deadline date:	January 4, 2008 5:00 PM EST
Review process:	February – June 2008
Award announcement:	July 2008
Number of awards:	Anticipate funding 20	Anticipate funding 55	Anticipate funding 1	Anticipate funding 5	Anticipate funding 4
Requests per year (in any given year) may not exceed:	$60,000	$100,000	$112,500	$250,000	$90,000
Maximum per award:	$100,000	$240,000	$225,000	$450,000	$200,000
Maximum number of years:	2	3	3	3	3

*Scientists from underrepresented minority groups are especially encouraged to apply to the NIRG and IIRG competitions.

The funding level for fiscal year 2007 was 14.9 percent of submitted applications. Each of the grant competitions, except the ETAC Research Grant and Zenith Fellows Award, shares the preceding areas of focus for fiscal year 2007 covered in Section II.  Section IV of this program announcement provides complete details about each individual competition, including objectives, funding and award period, eligibility, receipt and award dates, mechanism of award, reporting requirements, and allowable costs.Procedures and processes common to all of the grant competitions are discussed here.

Scientific categories of proposals

Each proposal must be submitted to a specific grant competition. In addition, all applicants in every competition are asked to classify their proposals according to four broad categories of scientific inquiry: (1) social and behavioral research
(2) clinical investigations
(3) basic biology
(4) adaptive technology

During second-level review, these categories help the Alzheimer's Association Medical and Scientific Advisory Council ensure a balanced, well-distributed award portfolio.

Topics that would fall into the four cross-competition categories might include, but are not limited to:  

1. Social and behavioral research (relevant to the NIRG, IIRG, ETAC, and Hatfield competitions): research in diverse populations; assessment of novel approaches to care and support of diagnosed individuals and caregivers; special needs of early-stage and early-onset individuals; analysis of the impact of the physical and social environment; evaluation of services and interventions; quality of life; ethical issues; and health policy.
   
   
2. Clinical investigations (relevant to all competitions): projects in which the majority of data is derived directly from studies involving active participation of human subjects. Examples include pilot studies of new therapies; neuropsychological testing; drug administration; biomarker collection; imaging technology; and risk factors, including genetics, cardiovascular issues, diabetes and metabolic factors, and lifestyle issues. In vitro projects conducted in human samples should be categorized as basic biology rather than clinical work.
   
   
3. Basic biology (relevant to NIRG, IIRG, and Zenith competitions): these are bench science projects involving in vitro or animal work pertaining to the causes of dementia; early and accurate detection and diagnosis; animal models; treatments; and prevention. Please note that in vitro work involving human samples falls into this category.
   
   
4. Adaptive technology (relevant to NIRG, IIRG, ETAC and Hatfield competitions): research focusing on the use of emerging technologies and their clinical and social implications, including mobile computing, high-bandwidth sensing, "smart" environments, robotics, imaging, face recognition, natural language processing, and behavioral monitoring for early detection. Please note that there are a few cases in which certain scientific categories do not apply to specific grant competitions. Applicability of categories to competitions is summarized in the table below.

Please note that there are a few cases in which certain scientific categories do not apply to specific grant competitions. Applicability of categories to competitions is summarized in the table below.

 

	Scientific Category	NIRG	IIRG	Zenith	ETAC	Hatfield
	Social/behavioral	X	X		X	X
	Clinical	X	X	X	X	X
	Basic biology	X	X	X
	Adaptive technology	X	X		X	X

Eligibility, ineligibility and nondiscrimination statement

To avoid disqualification, investigators are encouraged to carefully consider these eligibility and ineligibility requirements before applying.

Eligibility

In general, public, private, domestic and foreign research laboratories, medical centers, hospitals, and universities are eligible to apply, with the exception of state and federal government-appropriated laboratories and for-profit organizations, which are prohibited from serving as the applicant institution. However, state and federal government scientists can participate as collaborating scientists with research teams from other eligible applicant institutions.

Ineligibility

This section describes general exclusion criteria. Specific requirements and additional exclusions to eligibility are noted in some detailed competition descriptions.

1. Overlapping funding of more than one Alzheimer's Association grant is not allowed. Investigators who are receiving an active Association grant may apply for another award in the last year of their grant if that last year concludes by June 30 prior to the start of the new funding year, which begins on July 1.

2. Investigators delinquent in reporting: The Alzheimer's Association will not accept new grant applications from currently funded investigators who are delinquent in submitting interim/final scientific reports or interim/final financial reports on active grants. This policy will be strictly adhered to with no exceptions.

3. Current and past holders of a Zenith Fellows Award will not be considered for another award in the Zenith competition.

4. Members of the Association's Medical and Scientific Advisory Council are ineligible to compete for any research grant.

5. Postdoctoral fellows are not eligible to apply for any Alzheimer's Association grant, except in one special case relevant to one competition. Applications for a New Investigator Research Grant (NIRG) will be accepted from postdocs who can provide a letter indicating they will have a full-time faculty position, such as an assistant professorship, by the application deadline. The letter of employment must be on hiring institution letterhead and must indicate that the position will be activated by the grant award date. If the anticipated position is not activated by the award date for any reason, any offer of funding will be withdrawn.

Nondiscrimination statement

The Alzheimer's Association values diversity and seeks applicants from diverse backgrounds. The Alzheimer's Association does not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, sexual orientation, religion, color, nationality or ethnic origin, age, disability, or status as a Vietnam Era Veteran or disabled veteran, in the administration of educational policies, programs or activities.

Submitting a letter of intent online via Proposal CENTRAL

The first step in applying to the Alzheimer's Association for any research grant is to submit a Letter of Intent (LOI) through the proposalCENTRAL on-line application system at http://proposalcentral.altum.com/. First time users must register and fill out a Professional Profile in proposalCENTRAL to begin the application process.

The Principal Investigator (PI) who submits the Letter of Intent (LOI) and is approved, must be the same PI that submits the full application on line. Additionally, a PI cannot submit a letter of intent that had been approved or rejected during a previous grant cycle. All LOIs must be approved or rejected in the current grant cycle. Hard copies of the LOI will not be accepted. The purpose of the letter of intent is to ensure that all applicants are eligible for the competition they are applying to and to assist Association staff in planning for peer reviews. Letters of intent will not be accepted after the deadline date. No exceptions will be made.

The letter of intent must include:

• Name of the principal investigator

• Contact information for the principal investigator (complete mailing address, telephone number, fax number and e-mail address)

• Institution(s) involved in the research proposal

• Title of the investigation

• Area of focus of the submission, such as diverse populations, social and behavioral, or biological, as outlined in Section II

• Grant competition for which you are applying (Investigator-Initiated Research Grant, New Investigator Research Grant, Zenith Fellows Award, Hatfield Award or Everyday Technologies for Alzheimer Care)

• Brief rationale for the proposal
  

Online application via Proposal CENTRAL

Once the online letter of intent is approved, e-mail notification will be sent granting access to the online application at proposalCENTRAL. The online system must be used to submit a grant application – hardcopies of the application will not be accepted. The Principal Investigator who submits the Letter of Intent must be the same PI who submits the application. LOIs submitted on behalf of other applicants will result in  rejected application. The application does not have to be completed in one session; you can save a partially completed application.

It is the responsibility of the applicant to ensure and to verify that:

1. The application is received by the receipt date deadline

2. The application is complete and correct prior to submission. Only a single copy of an application will be accepted. Signatures are not required at the time of submission.

3. Revisions, additional materials, letters of collaboration and/or reference, manuscripts, appendices, etc., are not allowed and if attached, will be removed from your application.  

 

Multiple and overlapping submissions

If separate proposals are submitted to different grant competitions, each proposal submitted must address a distinctly different topic. Only one proposal will be funded if scores for multiple submissions fall within funding range of different grant competitions.

Applicants cannot submit two proposals in the same grant competition-even if the proposals cover distinctly different topics.

Applicants may revise and resubmit an application that was previously submitted for an earlier grant cycle; however, a letter of intent is required each year. A current letter of intent corresponding to the application year must accompany each application. Revisions of previous submissions will be treated as new applications. Efforts will be made to provide some continuity in reviews. 

Overlapping funding of more than one Alzheimer's Association grant is not allowed. Investigators who are receiving an active Association grant may apply for another award in the last year of their grant if that last year concludes June 30, prior to the start of the new funding year which begins on July 1. 

Review procedures

All proposals are subject to a two-stage peer-review process carried out with an on-line system. In the first stage, we obtain ratings and reviews from three to four peer scientists with expertise in the proposed area of research. The second stage includes further review and discussion of the scores and comments resulting from the initial review process. This second review is carried out by the Medical and Scientific Advisory Council of the Alzheimer's Association to ensure fairness and equity in the initial review procedures and to make funding recommendations to the Association. Members of this Council are internationally recognized experts with distinguished careers in Alzheimer's and related diseases.

This two-stage process is central to our award decisions and is designed to ensure both scientific rigor and fairness to all submitted applications.

Appeals of scientific peer review

In order to maintain a fair and rigorous review system, the Alzheimer's Association has established a process for appeal of funding decisions. An appeal is intended to address extraordinary circumstances. Appropriate reasons for initiating an appeal might include:

• Evidence that a reviewer has an undeclared conflict of interest

• An egregious error or misunderstanding in the review process

• Active malfeasance or demonstrable lack of due diligence

The appeal process is not intended to provide a mechanism for routine protest of failure to receive a grant. Disparities in peer reviewers' enthusiasm for a proposal and the scores they assign are nearly always considered part of the normal variation in human judgment.

The reality is that the Alzheimer's Association research grants program is extremely competitive, and is limited by availability of funds. In recent grant cycles, 12 to 15 percent of proposals have been awarded grants, although at least twice that number fall into the "fundable" category based on overall score.

If you believe an extraordinary circumstance has contributed to your failure to receive funding, the principal investigator may send a two-page, double-spaced formal letter of appeal to grantsappeals@alz.org. Appeals must be submitted by July 25, 2008 5:00 p.m. EST to be considered. You will receive notification of action on the appeal within via e-mail, usually 30 days of the appeal deadline.

Animal welfare and human subject protection

Animal welfare and human subject certifications are not required at the time of application, and investigators have up to 90 days after receipt of their award notification to submit these documents. However, the Alzheimer's Association encourages investigators to initiate their certification applications on a schedule that recognizes the fact that IRB/IACUC approval at many institutions can take more than 90 days. The Association accepts only certifications that apply specifically to the funded project. An award letter will not be issued unless the appropriate certifications are in place within the 90 day window.

Contact information

For additional information, please refer to the full-text Program Announcement  (33 pages). You may also e-mail grantsapp@alz.org or call 312.335.5747 or 312.335.5889.