Population research infrastructure program. (Fellowships, Grants, & Awards).

The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), through the Demographic and Behavioral Sciences Branch (DBSB) of the Center for Population Research, invites applications for infrastructure grants in support of population research relevant to the DBSB mission. The primary purposes of the Population Research Infrastructure Program are to provide resources to support and advance research that will improve the understanding of the antecedents and consequences of population structure and change, facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration among investigators conducting population-related research, and promote innovative approaches to population research questions. An additional goal is to facilitate interaction among scientists in locations throughout the United States to contribute to the integration and coordination of population research. Applicants may request funds to support infrastructure and/or research designed to enhance the quality and quantity of population research conducted at an institution and develop new research capabilities to advance population research through innovative approaches.

This request for applications (RFA) invites applications for two types of awards: developmental awards and full-fledged research infrastructure awards. Developmental awards are intended to support the development and demonstrate the feasibility of programs that have high potential for advancing population research but that have not yet fully developed the necessary resources and mechanisms to qualify for a research infrastructure award.

Applicants responding to this RFA must articulate a clear vision for their research unit and its current and future contributions to population research. Applicants must identify the central scientific objectives and signature population-related themes of the unit, and these must be relevant to the DBSB mission, a description of which is available at http:// www.nichd.nih.gov/about/cpr/dbs/dbs.htm. Examples of population research topics that fall within the DBSB mission include 1) antecedents and consequences of changes in population size, structure, and composition, including the relationship of economic development to population change, population modeling and the projection and/or prediction of human population change, and the interrelationship between population and the physical environment; 2) family and household dynamics, including issues related to intergenerational relationships; 3) fertility and family planning, including issues related to union formation and dissolution, births and birth spacing, family size, gender in relation to fertility, and social acceptability of measures for the biological regulation of human fertility; 4) spatial distribution of human population groups and causes and consequences of migration, including issues related to international and internal migration, residential mobility, and interrelationships between population and the environment; 5) demographic aspects of health, morbidity, disability, and mortality, including issues related to the influence of early life on later life development and outcomes, status of children, and the interrelationship between health and socioeconomic status; and 6) social, demographic, and behavioral studies of sexual behavior, sexually transmitted diseases, and contraception.

This RFA will use the NIH Resource-Related Research Project Grant (R24) mechanism for research infrastructure awards and the Exploratory/ Developmental Grant (R21) mechanism for developmental awards. The total project period for an application submitted in response to this RFA should equal five years for R24 applications and up to three years for R21 applications. R21 applications are nonrenewable and may not be submitted by institutions that have held a P30 or P50 grant related to population research in the 10 years prior to the application date. A table summarizing the differences between the R21 and R24 mechanisms as applied to this RFA is available at http://www.nichd.nih.gov/RFA/ HD-01-010/HD-01-010.htm#summary. The NICHD expects to issue an RFA annually to solicit applications for this program. Applications may be submitted only in response to an RFA. The anticipated award date is 1 July 2002. Specific application instructions for R21 applications have been modified to reflect modular grant and "just-in-time" streamlining efforts being examined by the NIH. Complete and detailed instructions and information on modular grant applications can be found at http://grants. nih.gov/grants/funding/modular/modular.htm.

The deadline for letters of intent is 15 October 2001, with final applications due 16 November 2001. The research grant application form PHS 398 (rev. 4/98) is to be used in applying for these grants. This form is available on the Internet at http:// grants.nih.gov/grants/funding/phs398/phs398.html. More information on this RFA is available online at http://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/ RFA-HD-01-010.html.

Contact: Christine Bachrach, DBSB, CPR, NICHD, 6100 Executive Boulevard, Room 8B07, MSC 7510, Bethesda, MD 20892-7510 USA, 301496-9485, fax: [phone], e-mail: cbachrach@ nih.gov (e-mail communication preferred). Reference: RFA No. RFA-HD-01-010